The ISWC Speed tour had been to Karpathos 3 times before but this time it was different. The World title was on the line and the winners here would be crowned the King and Queen of Speed 2009.
The event was oversubscribed by a long way, not only for the title chance or the fact that it is the friendliest location on the tour but because Karpathos, Devils Bay speed strip has a fantastic reputation for delivering superb conditions and very strong winds.
The World Cup event was preceded by the Greek Speedsailing Open championships at the same site, which a few of the world cuppers including me used as practice for the main event. The sites notoriety for strong winds kicked in on the first day of this event with 50 knots of wind!
The result was three lost rigs, one set of broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder and an unbelievable run by Chris Lockwood from Australia of 42.5 knots. Not a bad start, depending on where you sat!!!. Luckily for all concerned the wind died down to a sensible albeit gusty 35 knots for the rest of the week. The Greeks finished with a clear win for Chris Lockwood in the men’s and me in the ladies.
The main event started to take shape with cream of windsurfing talent arriving from the canaries all looking to raise the title for 2009. Including Bjorn Dunkerbeck, Antoine Albeau, Finian Maynard and back out of retirement, Anders Bringdal.
In the women’s fleet Valerie Ghibaudo the current tour leader was the favourite with me her only real challenger as Karin Jaggi was out injured. Little did I know?
The first day started with a very gusty 35 + knots on the course with the top men taking 7.0m sails to ensure they had enough wind on the course. Finian Maynard showed his experience in these conditions with two storming runs at 40 + knots with Antoine in 2nd and a total surprise of the event a rookie in on a wild card, Hans Kreisel from Holland in third.
The women’s fleet was also not going to form. Valerie won with two 33 knot runs but I managed a major wipe-out on my second run and ended up in hospital with a damaged liver. So that was me out of the competition.

My Painfull Crash, Photo courtesy of Pierre Bisson / GSYPHOTO.COM

But the surprises didn’t finish there. Marion Raisi managed 2nd but just ahead of another rookie Marie-Paule Geldhof from Belgium. Could this new blood upset the status quo?
The answer in round two was yes.  Dirk Jan Knol another wild card entry from Holland (What are they feeding them over there?) Takes 1st place with two runs over 41 knots. With Antoine in 2nd and Anders in 3rd and Finian wondering what happened in 4th.

In the following men’s rounds the form book and years of experience came back in to play. With lighter winds Finian, Antoine and Bjorn all putting in consistent results the new players were slowly overhauled and toward the middle of the week Anders the new “Mr Mistral” found his form with his set up and posted 3 X 2nd places’. But In the end it was a clear victory for an on form Finian with 5 wins.

The women’s fleet was as expected  with Valarie No1 and Marion 2nd. However 3rd place where it was neck and neck with an experienced Birgit verses the rookie Marie-Paul. It was down to the final round and Marie Paul just got the podium place with a solid 3rd in the final round and a slim 2 points overall.

Finian & Valerie

Final results

Men’s

1. 1 MAYNARD Finian BVI 0.7 (4) 0.7 0.7 0.7 (5) 0.7 3.5 40.79
2. 192 ALBEAU Antoine FRA 2 2 3 (5) 2 0.7 (5) 9.7 40.69
Quiksilver, Ford Autovital, Orangina, De
3. 10 BRINGDAL Anders SWE (6) 3 (5) 2 5 2 2 14.0 40.29
Mistral Clothing, Deboichet, AL-360, DaK
4. 11 DUNKERBECK Bjorn SUI (15) (5) 2 3 4 4 4 17.0 40.16
Starboard, Severne, Red Bull, VW, Mystic
5. 116 KREISEL Hans NED 3 (22) 6 (10) 3 7 10 29.0 39.63
Jonker Funsports, Klassenoten
6. 74 LOCKWOOD Chris AUS 9 (11) (15) 6 8 3 6 32.0 39.54
Carbon Art
7. 14 BENGTSSON Magnus SWE 8 9 7 (11) 9 (22) 8 41.0 39.25
Skidsport, Hyrstallningar i Nykoping AB
8. 57 VAN DER STEEN Ben NED 5 7 11 (13) 7 (14) 12 42.0 39.25
Select, Mystic
9. 211 LUIG Thorsten GER 4 6 14 (19) 10 10 (15) 44.0 40.22
Victoria, InJoy, AM-Sport, CalmWear, Win
10. 24 VOLWATER Peter NED 11 (15) 4 8 11 11 (14) 45.0 38.88
ProLimit

Women’s

1. 444 GHIBAUDO Valerie FRA (0.7) 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 (0.7) 4.2  36.82
Loft Sails, Gasoil, Kia, DaKine, Semapho
2. 213 RAISI Marion FRA (2) (2) 2 2 2 2 2 2 12.0  34.78
DaKine, Select, Ion, Hoalen
3. 106 GELDHOF Marie-Paule BEL 3 (4) (4) 3 3 4 3 3 19.0  31.62