Starboard riders take 1st-2nd in 2018 UKWA British Slalom Championships
Over the weekend Weymouth played host to a nail-biting last event of the British Slalom Windsurfing Championships. Going in to the event there were four sailors in contention for the overall crown. Happily, there was plenty of wind and Starboard riders James Dinsmore (GBR659) and Scott Stallman (GBR68) were able to use their 2019 iSonic 72s with 7.0-7.8m sails to devastating effect. James took two bullets on the Saturday putting him a good position overnight. Scott then took the first Sunday final which was a massive boost for both his event and overall Championships rankings. James ended up taking the event win and in doing so retained his overall British crown for the sixth consecutive year (all on Starboard iSonics!). By finishing third in the event Scott was able to leap into the runners-up position for the Championships which is a fabulous achievement for a youth in only his third season in the top fleet.
James: ‘It has been a particularly tough season. With comparatively little wind we had no discards towards the overall rankings so there was absolutely no room for error. The last event had great conditions and Scott and I were very happy to be able to race all weekend on our new iSonic 72s which are brilliant all-round boards that give you the confidence to push hard. I am delighted to have retained the title again.’
Scott: ‘I went into the last event in fourth place and my aim was to at least maintain it and if I could challenge for third I would. Luckily the 2019 iSonics had been delivered a few weeks previously and I had been able to fit in some good higher wind training on them. With a classic medium kit forecast I felt really happy entering the event. After day one I was sitting in fourth but on day two I felt super happy with my kit and managed to nail my starts. Winning the first final of day two set me up to finish third at the event and amazingly I jumped to finish second overall Pro for the season.’
Scotty Stallman - UKWA British Championship Report
The UKWA British Slalom Championship has a habit of being a very tight competition with the winner often not being decided until the last couple of rounds, this year was no exception other than there were 4 sailors all within 2.3 points of each other!, I entered the final round in 4th place after a really good event at Tenby where in very rough seas I ended up 2nd in the Pro Fleet. The forecast was looking like classic Portland Harbour conditions, windy but gusty. At the start of racing I was hoping to hang onto 4th and maybe challenge for 3rd, Day 1 went well with a 3rd and a 4th in the winners finals, the kit felt good and other than a 50 knots Squall during which I found myself heading off alone in the really bad visibility for the 2nd Gybe Mark, luckily everyone else had abandoned the race anyway, explaining why I was on my own! Day 2 started well I had some really good starts which always put you in a good position, A bullet in round 3 really gave me chance to hold onto if not improve my position in the event ranking and of course the overall positions for the year, I must admit my kit performed so well, the new 2019 iSonic 72 wide, the replacement for the ‘old’ 107 matched with the Severne Mach 1 7.8 with a 38cm F-Hot fin was just on fire, even sailed overpowered it behaved itself incredibly well, the speed this set up produces is amazing. I did drop down briefly to a Severne Mach 1 7.0 but decided to return back to the 7.8 when the wind temporarily dropped slightly.
After the last final ,in which a dropped gybe was offset by a discard, I had just pipped Leigh Kingaby point-wise and taken a 3rd at the event behind Si Cofield (2nd) and James Dinsmore (1st). Topping that though I had done just enough to finish the year in 2nd Overall!, so Stoked with the result after a quite windless Slalom season. Well back to winter training now and dialling in the new boards…p.s the 63 wide iSonic seems to hit 40knots in not a lot of wind, but keep that to yourselves…