WindsurfingUK Issue 3 May 2017 | Page 70

70 TRAINING SLALOM “You can have the best start in the world but if you cannot go around corners you are in trouble.” Kurosh Kiani The idea of slalom pro training came from Kurosh Kiani. We spend a lot of time together dissecting his sessions and his set up but is it faster? Was that gybe more efficient? Will it work in competition? How does performance compare to those being raced against? All valid questions needing answers. The idea was for it to be just the top guys on the Black Team (Point 7) getting together to do some testing and kit development. So Andrea Cucchi (Mr Point 7) decided to come over with a full van of gear and make the most of it. Unsurprisingly the word got around and people started to ask if they could join in. OK game is on we thought! ‘Sparky’ (Mark Hosegood) UK rider ‘Sparky’ (Mark Hosegood) made the effort to come over and run the water side and structure the training. After all, his experience as PWA judge, and as a sailor himself, meant he’d have valuable knowledge to impart and therefore all riders benefit. It was then Giuseppe Pugliese who would deliver the personal physical training side – another important aspect of conditioning for slalom. Aloha Lanzarote provided a base, a focal point and place to stay for the organisation team and some of the riders. Calero Marinas provided the large rib and uk WIND SURFING Windsurfing Club Las Cucharas provided board storage and facilities for running repairs and modifications. Finally, Poco Loco were doling out those much needed refreshments, and providing a discussion point and chill out area. All in it was a completely 360 set up with various entities cooperating and making things work – as it should be. In the end we had over 20 people on the water every training session, meaning a three heat starting sequence. Pro training is about simulating actual race conditions, so this worked out really well. There was time to get back up to the start, wait for your call and change heats depending on your position. This is slalom windsurf training simulating competition environments as much as possible without actually running an official event – gold! Five start sequence Racing is all about the start – nail it and you are almost guaranteed to go through to the next round. So yes, there were a lot of starts practiced. The crew worked on a five start sequence per session with up to three sessions a day. That works out as 15 starts per person per day – Sparky was doing a whopping 45! Add in ‘over the lines’ and the number rises even higher! Most definitely ‘all in a day’s work’ – the emphasis being on the word ‘work’ as that’s what it is.