Speed World Cup Preview - Port Saint-Louis

You would be forgiven for thinking that the PWA Cabo Verde event is the only windsurfing contest this week but just as things are starting to heat up on the desert island (and I can’t wait to see the live video) the best and most dedicated speed sailors are making their way to the south of France to rather less glamorous industrialal town and port annex of Marseille at the mouth of the River Rhône.

The Speed World Cup which started the season back in April with the F2 Gruissan Speedweek (Gruissan France) and has taken in ranking events in France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and the UK before returning to France for the final 2010 showdown which will decide who finishes the year as the world’s #1 ranked speed sailor. While GPS tracks have increased in popularity with sailors competing virtually with each other across continents it is always great to get people together and tackle the same conditions and push each other forward in more traditional competition.

The rankings are currently being led by Anders Bjorkqvist SWE with Steven Flanagan IRL not far behind. Bjorn Dunkerbeck SUI is currently ranked in 8th and I will be interested to see if he makes the journey south. With a weighting of 3.5 this event proves to be decisive and the 5000 Euro prize fund should help to temp a few more of Europe’s fastest sailors who want to end the year with a little bonus going into the expensive Christmas period.

My man on the inside Martyn Oiger currently ranked 14th will be reporting from the event. He has been training hard and after a 3rd place finish at the last event in Weymouth he is poised to challenge for the title and improve his ranking. The wind report looks good for the event which runs from the 16th through to 21st of November in the town of Port Saint-Louis, France.

Not much so far on the event website but I believe that tracks will be posted when the event kicks off.

More to follow…