James Dinsmore won the 2014 British Slalom Championship ahead of some pretty favored competition, successfully defending his 2013 title after a busy year. Here he talks about his 2014 season, his gear and his aims for 2015.

© Andy Stallman

What were your aims for 2014?

James Dinsmore: Having won the British Slalom Championships in 2013, I was keen to try and retain the title and it seemed only right to let my fellow racers have the chance to fight me for it in 2014. This did mean that I would be limited in my options for international competition as many of the British events were clashing with PWA ones.

How did your season start off?

JD: I was able to make a short trip to Tenerife to join in with some winter training in early February but was pretty unlucky with the wind. The British season started in April in Marazion in Cornwall. I had fantastic board speed in rolling swell on my new Reflex 5 9.5m² and iSonic 130 combo and had the unusual luxury of being able to pull away from my arch-rivals Kevin Greenslade and Simon Cofield on the first reach. I ended up winning with five bullets from six eliminations.

© Dave White

What was the worst point of the season?

JD: Our second event was in Weymouth and it howled. The first day I was almost blown off the water on my Reflex 5 5.6m² and iSonic 90. In particular, I struggled to gybe and was spinning out every time I initiated a turn. I felt very disheartened especially after I failed to qualify for one of the finals. Overnight, I went back to the drawing board and on day two I tried a different fin which made all the difference. Instead of experiencing immediate spin out on entry, I could now commit to the turn. Over the course of the day, I managed to gradually overhaul Kevin to secure second position behind Ross Williams.

Off the water, the worst bit was a succession of events mid-season when the wind failed to materialize and we twiddled our thumbs in Aberdovey, Worthing and Weymouth. It is hard for the sailors to keep motivated and gutting for organizers who put so much effort into running the events.

What was your best move of the season?

JD: Perhaps the pivotal moment of the championships was in the penultimate event at Tenby in Wales. Going into the seventh and final round Kevin, Simon Cofield and I each had two bullets. Kev led into the last gybe mark with Simon and I right on his tail. Things were looking a bit bleak for me but I fully committed and managed to nail my gybe and exited in between them at speed overtaking them both and so won the event.

My Tenby win meant that I had a healthy but not un-surpassable lead over Kev going into the last event in Weymouth. A podium finish would be enough so in lightish winds with ten sailors per final, I started by playing it safe at the boat end and made sure I didn’t go over early. Simon deservedly won the event with Kev ahead of me in second.

© Uros Derenda

Did you do any international events in 2014?

JD: I went out with a team of Brits to take part in the IFCA European Slalom Championships in Bol, Croatia in August. The Croatians warmly welcomed us and it was a chance to experience a new country, meet new people and have a great time on and off the water. We were not all that lucky with the wind and the result of one elimination decided the event. I was going well on my Reflex 5 9.5m² and iSonic 130 combo and came fifth overall after a final sailed in pretty light conditions. I was first master ahead of Starboard & Severne teammate Chris Pressler. We didn’t finish the second elimination, which was a shame as I was sailing well and still in the mix at the semi-final stage.

How did you find your Reflex 5?

JD: For me the Reflex 5 represented a step up in user-friendliness from the previous generations of the sails. This was very fortunate, as I didn’t get to spend much time on the water before the first event because my wife Aneeta, gave birth to our daughter very prematurely in February. In spite of my rustiness I still felt confident at Marazion, as I knew the sails were easy and quick. In particular the rotation of all my sails was pretty effortless and during the year I found that I gained a lot of positions at gybe marks.

© Uros Derenda

What are your plans for 2015 and how will you prepare?

JD: It is too early to know what my options will be. Having only been able to do one event overseas in 2014, I am keen to do more in 2015. Depending on timing I am keen to do several PWA events. Costa Brava is certainly a family-friendly venue and we can drive down to it with all the baby gear in the back of the van! I am also keen to go to new places and it will be interesting to see where the new IFCA European Cup will be visiting. The IFCA Slalom Worlds are being held in Sylt, which is somewhere I have never been so that would be fun.

To prepare, I will try to keep fit through the short and dark days of winter. I have found high repetition weight training to be excellent conditioning for slalom racing and only this morning I took delivery of a barbell and some weights for home. I will still try to get out on the water as much as possible and for the next few months will enjoy the winter waves when I can. Like last year I will probably head out to Tenerife for a couple of weeks after Christmas.

Finally I would like to give my appreciation to my supporters. In particular thank you to my wife Aneeta who encouraged me to keep up my racing even with our tiny baby in hospital. Thanks also to Severne, Starboard Windsurfing, Tushingham, the National Watersports Festival, my Starboard & Severne teammate Allan Cross, Bob Ingram and his UKWA crew for running the British Championships to such a high standard and for my fellow competitors for being a great bunch of guys and girls.

© Dave White