I first visited Guincho Portugal for the 2006 KPWT Wave Masters event and I had memories of incredibly gusty strong wind from the right, which are not my favorable conditions.
Despite this I was looking forward to the challenge of this years competition and was very excited about using using my new Flexifoil Atom in the crazy Guincho wind.
Unfortunately, as competitions sometimes go, the wind and wave forecast deteriorated as the comp began so we had a couple of days of absolutely no wind.
When the wind did return the pressure was on to run the comp quickly as time was ticking away, and there were a lot of heats to get through.
They began the ladies heats first, in light gusty winds and small waves, making it a battle to catch the waves needed to score. The tide was high and most of the waves ended in a big shore dump so finishing the wave sometimes ended with a faceful of sand!
I used the 9m Atom for my first heat then the 12m Ion for the next heat as the wind become even lighter in the lulls. The 12m Ion helped with staying up wind but was also easy to de-power once on the wave.
As it is not my best side for wave riding with wind from the right I was very pleased to hear I made it to the final with Aurélia Herpin.
I knew I was going to have to put a strong heat together for the final, as Aurélia is a powerful, impressive rider recently winning the World speed Championships. If I had a chance of winning I knew I was going to have to ride on the left and right peeling waves, using my ambidextrous ability to demonstrate variety and more technical surfing using the kite.
Just before the ladies final the wind started doing it’s crazy Guincho thing with gusts of about 35knots. I took out the 7m with maximum depower and was really impressed with my kites performance in this wind. I was very powered up, but felt in control on the waves.
The heats were a short 12 minutes long, so I focused hard to choose the best waves then used my surfing skills as well as using the kite to get big sprays and powerful turns.
Whenever I’m in a final, I always try and assume that I had got a 2nd place and feel pleased that I got that far…
When I heard that I had got 1st place I was over the moon!
Kirsty
To read more about Flexifoil Team Rider Kirsty click here
To visit Kirsty’s own website click here
To read more about the Flexifoil Atom click here
