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.