let's go to Defi Wind/Wing/Kite

    Ja kenn ich!

    Heute im dritten Rennen das erstmal am Start nicht eingeparkt!

    Sogar mal das Startboot aus der Nähe gesehen ?

    Ist ja auch erst meine vierte drei Teilnahme, da ist wohl noch Luft nach oben!

    Gruß und schöne saubere Rennen euch!

    • Official Post

    Das war der gestrige Tag 2:

    Nicolas Goyard completes superb hat-trick while Justine Le Meteyer maintains control at the top of the rankings

    Another windy day in Gruissan, south of France, the place where the Tramontana never stops blowing! The Défi WIND organisation took advantage of the 25 knots offshore breeze to run 2 additional mass start races with more than a thousand frantic sailors on the same course all together. Event leaders Justine Lemeteyer (FMX Racing / S2Maui / LokeFoils) and Nicolas Goyard (Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils) showed no signs of weakness as the both “easily” defended their position at the top of the men’s and women’s rankings.

    eba3cdff60021b8e096d5bc3ebdaf582.jpeg

    Johan Soe (rear) together with Nicolas Goyard

    Right on time, the rabbit boat displayed no fear, even though tension on-board is escalating before the start: pro riders and amateurs start their race within a metre of the engines of the power boat, which opens the colossal 900 metre long start line! The Foilers - aka most of the pros - are at the pin end of the line, whereas the majority of the recreational sailors prefer to start close to the shore, on the flat water on the upwind side. While the pros are pushing to their limits to the brink, easy going sailors are packed in a gigantic traffic jam before the fleet stretches away. Quickly, the Goyard brothers and Johan Soe (FMX Racing / Point-7) are in the lead. Bruno Martini (JP / NeilPryde) and Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins / Phantom Foils) both try their best to reduce the gap - depending on who’s the most agile to deal with seaweed on the course. Behind, we can see all kind of achievements on fins such as a family fight between the Dunkerbeck’s (Starboard / Severne Sails), father and son, Björn and Liam, tridem with Helen Noesmoen (IQ Foil World Champ) + 2 friends on board, as well as a fierce competition between lightweight wavesailor Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA SAils) and heavy slalom sailors from all over the world, or Sunday sailors on vintage gear.

    ca0c306fea839563f4ad7b0a75d9633b.jpeg

    Waiting for battle to commence

    In the girls ranking, Justine Le Meteyer holds on to her 1st place while Sara Wennekes (FMX Racing / Severne Sails) stays in second. Delphine Cousin Questel (FMX Racing / S2Maui) exchanges place with Blanca Alabau (Starboard / Severne Sails) for 3rd. The 4th race, and the all important discard are on the radar for Saturday, which seems like it will be the last day of racing according to the forecast.

    Men's Current Results 2023 Défi Wind

    1st Nicolas Goyard (FRA | Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)

    2nd Johan Soe (DEN | FMX Racing / Point-7)

    3rd Thomas Goyard (FRA | Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)

    4th Bruno Martini (ITA | JP / NeilPryde)

    5th William Huppert (FRA | Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)

    6th Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins / Phantom Foils)

    7th Antoine Albeau (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)

    8th Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly Boards / Severne Sails)

    9th Alexandre Cousin (FRA | Patrik / Patrik Sails / Chopper Fins / Patrik Foils)

    10th Enrico Marotti (CRO | JP / NeilPryde)

    Women's Current Results 2023 Défi Wind

    1st Justine Lemeteyer (FRA |FMX Racing / S2Maui / LokeFoils) (60th)

    2nd Sara Wennekes (NED | Future Fly Boards / Severne Sails)

    3rd Blanca Alabau (ESP | Starboard / Severne Sails)

    4th Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA | FMX Racing / S2Maui)

    5th Marion Couturier (FRA | Starboard / Severne Sails)

    6th Marion Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Phantom Foils)

    7th Jenna Gibson (GBR | Fanatic / Duotone)

    8th Alice Read (GBR | Fanatic / Duotone)

    9th Femke Van Der Veen (NED | Starboard / Severne Sails)

    10th Karo Van Tonder (SA | AV Boards / Severne Sails)

    External Content www.youtube.com
    Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.
    Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.

    heute keine rennen mehr, wind aus, regen ein

    Bin halbwegs zufrieden, wollte aber eigntlich etwas besser fahren. Wie bei andy... schlechte starts wohl der hauptfehler

    In meiner altersklasse finne 16. Von über 70 is ok

    Finne gesamt geht auch

    Die klasse ist mmn ziemlich gestiegen, die rückstände der top 100 sind echt wenig, in lauf vier war man mit weniger als 10 min (glaub ich) rückstand schon über 500.

    • Official Post

    Das war der gestrige Tag 3:

    Johan Soe & Sara Wennekes shake up the French dominance in Elimination 4

    A black Tramontana welcomed the racers on day 3 of the Défi WIND, which means the trend of breeze is easing down, but there was plenty of gasoline left to run race nº4. In lighter wind, the young sailor from the Netherlands Sara Wennekes (Future Fly Boards / Severne Sails) and the strong Danish Johan Soe (FMX Racing / Point-7) decided to step on the throttle to claim victory, whilst halting the total dominance of the French fleet so far.

    5072760c3073aad29281a402a8b5d3b9.jpeg

    Johan Soe leads the way

    If it Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix it!

    We don’t change a concept that works: race 4 followed the same successful format as the previous races, 2 laps of 10km reaches, a rabbit start and more than a thousand contestants on the line. 18-25 knots of the local “trade wind” powered the racers for the most intense and aggressive start ever on any of the Défi’s run so far around the globe. Appetite for victory was clear in the top ranked racer’s eyes as much as it was on amateur’s, who wanted to finish before their friends. Let’s put it this way, for most of the riders, common sense was lost as they prepared to cross the wake of the rabbit boat!

    Every specialist was expecting to see Justine Lemeteyer (FMX Racing / S2Maui), event leader and current world Nº1, to be first lady to cross the finish line, but Dutch Sara Wennekes decided otherwise by claiming victory and a brilliant 47th place overall. That sterling achievement puts Wennekes on top of the leader board of the women’s division.

    On the men’s side, a similar scenario was drawn. At the start of the day, Nicolas Goyard (Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils) held a perfect clean sheet, 3 bullets out of 3 races. The New Caledonian took race 4 under control from the start, but somehow, a young boy, 19-years-old, chose to disturb Nico’s supremacy. A black sail was seen in the lead halfway through the course: Johan Soe took command of race 4 by grabbing the bull by the horns, knowing that Goyard was on his tail for the remaining 20km. The French racer accelerated in the last hundred metres of an epic battle, close to a top speed of 35 knots, only to fall 2 boards length short of Soe. What a fantastic finish of an enthralling long distance it was! Goyard discards a second place to confirm his event lead with an incredible record of 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, while Soe confirmed again that he is one of the fastest sailors on the foil, currently sitting 2nd overall.

    6fed2593c297efc3dbe63ba956d27f0a.jpeg

    Johan Soe (left) holds of the challenge of Nicolas Goyard

    Men's Current Results 2023 Défi Wind

    1st Nicolas Goyard (FRA | Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)

    2nd Johan Soe (DEN | FMX Racing / Point-7)

    3rd Thomas Goyard (FRA | Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)

    4th Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins / Phantom Foils)

    5th William Huppert (FRA | Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)

    6th Enrico Marotti (CRO | JP / NeilPryde) Bruno Martini

    7th Bruno Martini (ITA | JP / NeilPryde)

    8th Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly Boards / Severne Sails)

    9th Antoine Albeau (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)

    10th Nicolas Warembourg (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)

    Women's Current Results 2023 Défi Wind

    1st Sara Wennekes (NED | Future Fly Boards / Severne Sails)

    2nd Justine Lemeteyer (FRA |FMX Racing / S2Maui / LokeFoils)

    3rd Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA | FMX Racing / S2Maui)

    4th Blanca Alabau (ESP | Starboard / Severne Sails) Marion Couturier

    5th Marion Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Phantom Foils)

    6th Marion Couturier (FRA | Starboard / Severne Sails)

    7th Alice Read (GBR | Fanatic / Duotone)

    8th Jenna Gibson (GBR | Fanatic / Duotone)

    9th Ambre Papazian (FRA | Starboard / Severne Sails)

    10th Femke Van Der Veen (NED | Starboard / Severne Sails)

    • Official Post

    Das war der gestrige und letzte Tag 4 und das Endergebnis:

    Nico Goyard and Sara Wennekes crowned 2023 Défi champions

    After a never ending trend of 10 days of Tramontana, the wind eventually disappeared in Gruissan to give a well deserved rest to 1400 sailors, who were still hungry for more long distance racing. Besides the fun on the water and at night, adding a Défi WIND trophy to a pro’s career equals a Champion’s League title in the windsurfing world. Nicolas Goyard (Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils) claimed a second successive victory, whilst Sara Wennekes (Future Fly Boards / Severne Sails) is a new event champion.

    Defi is a unique accessible racing format combining full fleet races, rabbit starts, long distance, strong wind, whilst all at the same time gathering pro & amateurs together. This year, new rankings were introduced: foil, fin, and unlimited for those who wanted to choose according to the wind strength: 64 racers registered foil, 299 signed up for the open division, and the thousand remaining competitors opted for fin. Lohan Jules (Future Fly Boards / S2Maui) (20th) and Marine Hunter (Quatro / KA Sail) take the fin category, Johan Soe (FMX Racing / Point-7) and Justine Lemeteyer (FMX Racing / S2Maui) claim the open division, and Nicolas Goyard together with Sara Wennekes are the foil champions.

    d0a8afcb544ba7c8e81e70e694601978.jpeg

    Nicolas Goyard claims back-to-back Défi Wind victories

    The overall result is still the main goal and giant Danish Johan Soe, who finished second and is still only 19 years old, made a clear statement of his strength in long distance: “I’m well satisfied with my result; I was not expecting to be second. I got brand new gear, board, sails, and front wing before the event. I didn’t expect to go as fast as I did. It was very special to win a race in front of Nico Goyard, who was unbeatable. I was pushing like hell to do so. Defi was a really nice experience loaded with adrenaline when you have to face so many people. I don’t trust anyone when you have to go the opposite way. I sometime did very wide jibes and you have to concentrate the whole race with so many people around you.”

    Nicolas Goyard, with 3 wins from 4 races is undoubtedly the 2023 Défi champion: ”I’m coming from a month of IQ Foil training and competitions. I got a new foil the day before the event started; I actually think I can go faster as I’m not fully tuned with it. It is fast and stable. I can tune my foil for a high speed on a long run. Defi was clearly one of my goals for the season. Johan (Soe) is coming. He’s going to be a serious opponent. I wish we had stronger wind, it would have been even more fun in a solid 35-40 knots to see how far we can push the limit in front of the fins.”

    Sara Wennekes, 1st lady, made an impressive performance finishing 57th overall, in front of a large group of male slalom experts: “My tactic was to try to avoid the crowd on the starting line and have a free start, and that’s not easy. I was trying to follow the big boys and learn from them. I managed quite well I guess. Jibing a mark is just trying to find your free lane and avoiding crashes into other sailors. I tried my best, Justine (Lemeteyer) and I were quite close on every race, we could see each other. We were chasing each other. I managed to do one race in the top 50 overall (including men’s). It’s super cool! I’m happy to have beaten some of the big boys.”

    Men's Overall Result 2023 Défi Wind

    1st Nicolas Goyard (FRA | Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)

    2nd Johan Soe (U20) (DEN | FMX Racing / Point-7)

    3rd Thomas Goyard (FRA | Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)

    4th Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins / Phantom Foils)

    5th William Huppert (FRA | Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)

    6th Enrico Marotti (CRO | JP / NeilPryde) Bruno Martini

    7th Bruno Martini (ITA | JP / NeilPryde)

    8th Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly Boards / Severne Sails)

    9th Antoine Albeau (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)

    10th Nicolas Warembourg (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)

    Women's Overall Result 2023 Défi Wind

    1st Sara Wennekes (NED | Future Fly Boards / Severne Sails)

    2nd Justine Lemeteyer (FRA |FMX Racing / S2Maui / LokeFoils)

    3rd Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA | FMX Racing / S2Maui)

    4th Blanca Alabau (ESP | Starboard / Severne Sails)

    5th Marion Couturier (FRA | Starboard / Severne Sails)

    6th Marion Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Phantom Foils)

    7th Alice Read (GBR | Fanatic / Duotone)

    8th Jenna Gibson (GBR | Fanatic / Duotone)

    9th Ambre Papazian (FRA | Starboard / Severne Sails)

    10th Femke Van Der Veen (NED | Starboard / Severne Sails)

    Ich hab die allererste 1er Bahnmarke mit zwei Wasserstartwenden geschafft, jedoch wurde es in den Abwinden knapper als erwartet.

    Wegen meiner erstmaligen Teilnahme waren auch die Peilungen nach Port la Nouvelle von so weit offshore mehr als ungewohnt und der genaue Standort der Bahnmarke schwer ersichtlich.

    Quote from doubleheelslide

    Ähnliches Setting bei mir für Race 2: 110/6.3/36.

    Habe beim Start unendlich viel Kraft gebraucht - jetzt ist mein Bizeps fertig. Nach Speed und Kontrolle beurteilt, war das Setting jedoch richtig.

    Freitag und Samstag hatte ich 7.0, 115 und 36,5 (Freitag Nachmittag war's ziemlich groß) - Donnerstag 6.2, 97 und 32,5

    Am geilsten war den Start zur zweiten Wettfahrt, relativ weit oben und für einige Minuten völlig freien Wind, unzerfahrenen Wasser und die volle Übersicht über das Feld - das gab dann Gesamtrang 160 und 61igster Finnenfahrer.

    Den Step in die hintere Fußschlaufe habe ich mich erst nach dem Durchfahren des Rabbit-Fahrwassers getraut - war ja mein allererster derartiger Defi-Start und das Wellenbild für mich schwer vorherzusehen. War wohl zu vorsichtig.

    Quote from doubleheelslide

    Live: Präsentation Patrik Windsurfing:

    The content cannot be displayed because you do not have authorisation to view this content.

    patrik diethelm war super nett und ausführlich erklärend am Patrik-Stand :)

    Am Ende war es für mich Defi-Gesamtrang 223 von 1406 und 101. reiner Finnenwindsurfer (fin only) - bin zufrieden mit dem ersten Auftritt.

    Drei von vier Starts sind allerdings stark verbesserbar.

    Wieder zu Hause ☺️

    Mein erstes Defi war ein tolles Erlebnis. Ich bin alle Rennen auf Foil gefahren, beim letzten Rennen hat dann auch endlich der Trimm gepasst, leider zu spät am Start gewesen und einen Crash vor der ersten Halse gehabt. Ich weiß jetzt, was ich für nächstes Jahr üben muss.

    Viele, viele nette Menschen dort und da ich Frankreich liebe, habe ich mich sofort wohl gefühlt.

    Für mich eine Riesen Motivation, dort mitgefahren zu sein!

    Nico_GER7 hat sein Video zum Defi veröffentlicht:

    External Content youtu.be
    Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.
    Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.