![MauiSails News [RSS]](gfx/rss.gif) Greek National Slalom Championship 13th November 2009 First day of the Greek National Slalom Championship in Athens - Loutsa.
Wind was gusty 12-20kts. Forty competitors registered for the Championship. We had only one slalom. In the semi-final I was using 8.4 TR-5 and Falcon 125 with 42 sl2 Deb. The course was figure eight with long legs. After the start the wind picked up and I was really powered up but no problems handling the 8.4. In final I was using 7.6 TR-5 and Falcon 110 with 40 sl3 Deb. Not a good start but I had a lot of speed for passing almost everybody till the second half of the first leg. 100 meters before the first mark the guy who was in first had a crash because he caught something on his fin and in the first gybe I turned alone easy in first and I finished in first with no problem.
Second day - Wind was forcing 35-45 kts.
It was time for using my high wind slalom. I picked my 5.5 TR-5 and my Falcon 79 with 28 Falcon tech. We had two slaloms. For both of them it was easy in the semi-finals. The speed and the control was the reason for having good time in the heats. In the first final I caught a bag on my fin and I finished 5th. In the second final I finished easy 1st. In that final the wind was forcing more than 40 kts but I was in control with really good speed. The 5.5 is great.
Final day - Wind is forcing more than 40 kts.
Nothing changed regarding the equipment of the last day. We had four slaloms. I won easy the first two. I had a lot of control and as much speed as I wanted to have. I knew that if there is a need I can push easy for enough speed for passing everyone but there was no need. Control was the most important thing as everybody was out of control. After winning the 2nd slalom there was no reason for racing the other two slaloms because I already secured my first place in overall and I could discard the other two races.
There is a video of the first slalom of the final day. You can see in the video the 2 semifinals and the final results here.
Thanks Barry for the great sails.
John Papaspirou GR 71
OXBOW, BOLLE, FANATIC, MAUISAILS
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