ROSS WILLIAMS - THE HEAT IS ON

ROSS WILLIAMS – THE HEAT IS ON

Few of us will reach a PWA slalom final but here at Windsurf, ever inquisitive, we wanted to know exactly what it feels like to race the world’s elite. Britain’s most successful PWA racer, Ross Williams, is no stranger to the front of the PWA fleet, so after a challenging Turkey campaign we sat him down to guide us from adrenaline charged start to tactical flying finish of his best final of the event. Sheet in and lean back for the lowdown, the heat is on!

Story ROSS WILLIAMS // Photos JOHN CARTER

(This feature originally appeared in the October 2014 issue of Windsurf Magazine. To read more features like this first, Print and Digital subscriptions are available. Prices include delivery globally for 10 x issues a year!)

If I am in the first heat of the day I’ll make sure I have a good warm up on the water beforehand. I’ll normally sail for around 20 minutes at race pace and do quite a few one minute runs to the start line, gauging distances and getting a feel for my approach speed so I can feel confident starting anywhere not just the critical pin end of the line.

After battling my way through the earlier rounds I finally made it to my first final of the event. As I am sailing to the start line I am watching the loser’s final, checking where everyone has started and who has the best position leading into the first gybe mark. I take a quick look at the starting line from the pin end to the boat and see if there is a favoured end to start from. I then head to the boat to get the warning signal and from that I go into auto pilot mode. All the equipment choices have already been made on the beach; I am using my 8.6m which is my go to sail in Turkey as I find we never race in wind that requires me to take a larger sail. I like to use a powerful fin because of the solid pressure it gives me when I am not in a leading position, the power also helps me get up and planing out of the marks quicker. Turkey’s course is quite tight so the extra lift under my feet helps again to fight around sailors in an overtaking situation. As the time ticks down in the first minute you find that most of the sailors will do the same routine in every start, even taking the same path to and from the boat to the first buoy during and under the 3 minute mark, there is rarely any pushing and fighting so early on and more a sense of calm before the storm. The first key moment comes at the 2 minute mark when we head back through the start line and head away from the course.

The guys that want to start at the boat are usually staying up wind and clear of those who want the pin end more, so there is two groups hustling for position. In this particular start I wanted the pin bad and so I head to the lowest point behind the line that I would not be challenged for as we made our way back to the line for the start. There are a bunch of guys on tour that will really push you for this position, Arnon Dagon, Josh Angulo, Sebastian Kordel, to name a few. Thirty seconds to the start is when I make my move, Turkey is easy for setting a good time and distance judgement. You can go as far away from the line as possible and know that you can get back to the start within 30 seconds. I was down low and the pin looked to be secure. Most of the sailors had settled to go for a start a little way further up but unfortunately Julian Quintel was set to give me a battle for the pin. I kept back and a little low, mistiming the key sheet in moment by a whisker and he was able to shoot over the top of me and take the pin with a beautiful start…
the swine!!

“ The second reach you actually notice how much your heart rate was pumping in the first leg, it feels almost like you might not have taken a breath for the whole first leg! ”

Starting at the pin is favoured, but starting late at the pin is probably the worst thing you can do! I was rolled by most of the guys directly on top of Julian, I think this was Benny Van Der Steen who was giving me most of the bad air, fortunately he is so fast that before things get too bad he is ahead and I was clear again. Josh Angulo was lucky also, pushing the guys in the middle to the top of the line up high so I was able to set a nice trim and get into the mix at the first mark just behind the main pack. This is not actually too bad of a position to attack from; usually the top 3 or 4 guys are pushing each other so hard and fast into the first gybe that they will end up leaving a little gap. I call this the Julian Quintel trade mark move. He is so good at picking these tiny gaps and really gives his exit from the gybes 110% pumping effort.

Heading into the first gybe, it’s Benny with his extra speed that has a clear edge and clean line in and out of the gybe. Josh is fighting in second with Julian being pushed a little low out of the mark. From my position at the back of the pack I can now see a clear opening to come in and take the most wind ward position, which is a great place to be if you are chasing the top guys. The second reach you actually notice how much your heart rate was pumping in the first leg, it feels almost like you might not have taken a breath for the whole first leg! So with that heavy heartbeat in your chest, the second reach is a chance to gather your thoughts and focus on the pray in front of you. I am on top of the leading pack in 5th and chasing Tristan Algret in fourth into the second gybe. Ben is clean away and Julian and Josh look to be having a tight battle for second. I would say at this point, and I am sure all the other sailors would agree, you can’t help hoping for someone to fall and make a mistake; it’s becoming so hard to overtake guys in a straight line now that really the best chance to improve your position is in the gybe.

On cue, I see the young French man fall into the water, his head pops up about half a foot away from the nose of my board as I cut inside him. It was tight, real tight and I’m sure he saw his life flashing in front of him but “what happens on the race course isn’t personal it’s just business baby!!” So now I am in fourth and in a good position to watch the battle between Josh and Julian unfold in front of me and watch for my time to attack. Usually the guys are so caught up with their own battle they won’t even see the next guy in the field. All I have to do is focus on getting that ultra fast trim and wait for my moment, like a tiger lying in the long grass watching his prey.

“ All I have to do is focus on getting that ultra fast trim and wait for my moment, like a tiger lying in the long grass watching his prEy ”

At the third gybe I would imagine Benny was signing the sweet song of victory as he had a good lead and there was no sign of the wind faulting. Josh was pushing Julian up high away from the mark to give himself a nice bit of space to make the third mark with speed and he makes a good gybe but Julian is right there, not making a mistake and gains a small bit of ground on Josh while I stay as close as I can putting as much pressure on them as possible. It’s now the final leg out and away from the finish line. This is the one everyone really puts in a big effort to close down any gaps between them and their prey, always hoping for the slightly wide gybe, spin out or complete failure. I am watching the two guys in front of me and I know there could be one more shot at over taking someone. I decided 50m away from the mark that I was going to go in at full speed and try to come out below but with more speed hoping that Julian would push Josh into a mistake and at the same time fluff his own gybe. As it turned out, my gamble was correct. Benny made an easy gybe and is cruising to the finish, next is Josh, he makes an ok gybe under pressure from Julian comes out of the gybe nice and tight shutting the door on me and gaining on Josh. At this point however I have not slowed down at all and I am flying around the mark outside of Julian’s wake with eyes on nothing else but the finish line. Just as I can feel that I am neck and neck with Julian out of the gybe, I see Josh getting pulled around the front of his board!! Julian has to adjust his course ever so slightly to avoid Josh’s crash, but it’s still a full on fight to get to the finish. Looking back, I feel like my eyes went into tunnel version and there was no way I was going to let Julian beat me. Those last few metres felt like a life time to the finish, but I held on ferociously and thankfully to second. As I crossed the line, I felt my body relax and a mix of relief, excitement and adrenaline come over me, I was bloody chuffed! I looked at Julian and he looked at me, and there was a moment of respect between us; both happy with our result, but there was a long way to go. One of us would go on to win the event and the other would not. Congratulations to Julian who really sailed amazing and deserved the event win, next time though, I want to be first! JC