Yesterday, all registered competitors took to the water for the practice race – an opportunity for race officials and racers to familiarise themselves with the conditions and to test themselves ahead of official racing which commences today.[more]
With a light north wind blowing across the racing areas the competitors had their first race experience on the waters of Brest. “The weather this week is expected to remain constant,” said Didier Flame, a director of the race committee: “there is not much air and the wind direction should not change . . .”
It was with great satisfaction that the organizers saw all the national flags hoisted at the official welcoming ceremony on Sunday night!
The organisation involves three clubs, and all are used to managing the sporting side of events. Three race areas are defined and each managed by one club:
– junior sailors, the under 15 boys and girls, will race on the yellow course;
– youth boys, under 17, will race on the orange course;
– youth girls and those competitors over 17 will race on the white course.
A maximum of 3 races a day for all competitors can be run, with the daily target of 2 races in less favourable conditions.
It is also possible for the clubs to rotate their teams around the different race areas, to allow the sailors to experience all aspects of Brest as a windsurfing venue.
A daily schedule will be published to inform all racers of the plans for that day.
Benoit Treguilly, in charge of marketing and communications at the Breton company Bic Sport, commented, “The involvement of Bic on this event is important because we are close here in Brest to our company based in Vannes. For this event, we have rented boards to 80 riders from afar (Asia, USA, South America), for those who find transportation of equipment to be complex. Our boards were designed and built in Vannes: these “monotype” boards all have the same shape, and come from the same mould, a mould manufactured in aluminum. They are the same weight, they have the same shape; sailors also use the same sails, the same masts, booms . . . everything. Our manufacturing process allows us to produce all our boards in France. We have invested in machinery that enables us to deliver very quickly and be competitive with Asia. Currently 130 people are employed in the company: it is a great success in the field of windsurfing in Europe, because it is the only plant on the continent to make boards!”
Racing commences Monday afternoon, 21 July.
Photos by Patrik Pollak on Flickr
Video Day 0
Event Website – with Live Tracking!
Techno 293 Class on Facebook
