Marta's report : Alacati was my second slalom event in PWA this year. I came to Turkey with some dose of uncertainty as I had not too much opportunity to train Slalom lately. But after I did fifth in Turkey last year I had lots of determination to improve my result. Everything started better than I was expecting. After six races as I came 2,5,5,3,3 in finals, I gained strong 3rd position in overall.

So all was looking great, I was very satisfied with my starts and speed, on my favorite 6,6m2 TR-4. Unfortunately day four appeared as a slump one for me. In the first race of that day I was going second and I dropped the gibe, that made me a little bit confused as I got a little bit nervous and decide to attack while chasing....unluckily with same effect. Next race I had a crash due to someone hitting me from behind. Such mistakes pushed me down to sixth position in overall, as girls like Sarah Hebert or Verena Fauster were really consistent and good in this contest.

However I'm very happy with this event as now I exactly know what I need to improve and change to be more confident in this rivalry.

I'm really pleased with my TR4 MauiSails rigs as great slalom sails. They are so powerful and really comfortable to handle, merging the two most important things needed to score the best performance in slalom.

What I need is more experience in this discipline to feel 100% comfy in each part of the race. So it's the matter of more training which I had little this year. I still have a big gap to fill in, and that also gives me a feeling of a good prospect to jump on the top.

Valerie and Karin as always were really strong and almost unbeatable. It was great opportunity to sail with them. I'm looking forward to do the whole tour next year !!! and contest with them.

The atmosphere of the event was great as always. It's to much to write what a good time I had in Turkey besides competing. I'm happy I could watch and learn from such a great guys from MauiSails Team like Josh Angulo or Dan Ellis. The men's fleet was veeery strong. I just couldn't believe what big names where in losers final sometimes. That showed the high level of this event. That is why I'm proud of my brother's 21th place, and he did nearly all races to the loser's final. It was especially good since he didn't train too much slalom this year.

Regards,
Marta Hlavaty POL-111

Pawel's report : Alacati was my first stop on the PWA calendar this year. I decided to put most of my efforts into formula in 2008. Despite that I like slalom a lot, and I knew Alacati is a perfect spot for slalom event. Trade winds and hot weather make this place truly great for windsurfing. I have been in Alacati two times before, so I knew exactly what to expect.

It's best to take big slalom boards and sails between 7-9 square meters. I've registered Maui Sails TR-4 8.4 , 7.6 and 6.6 and Isonic 122 and 96. Most of the time I was using 8.4 and 7.6 in combo with a 122 Isonic.

At the beginning I didn't have the feeling of the range of certain sail sizes, so I did a couple of bad races by a wrong choice of equipment. From the 3rd day on, my form was getting better and better. I had some good starts and good boat speed, especially because the 8.4 works just fantastic in flat water and wide range of wind.

I think the key to slalom victory is focus and determination> From a technical side it's starting and rounding the first mark – which is very difficult given the thousands of various situations that you need to know. In slalom there is never enough time to think, there is only time to act and you need to act in right way.

My feelings are very positive at the moment. I've entered 7 out of 11 semi finals. A few times I was just centimeters away from going into the top 10 final. I have taken another windsurfing lesson in Alacati and with that knowledge and good spirit I want to go to Sylt. My aim is to get into the top 10 at some single races.

Boards and sails I use this year are just going fast and easy, I feel comfortable in slalom racing for the first time in a few years!

Aloha,
Pawel Hlavaty POL-11

Check out more event photos from John Carter/PWA