When foiling becomes an adventure you will remember for the rest of your life!
The Lanzarote Foil Challenge was hectic, long and hard! Over 200km is what it took to go around the island of Lanzarote on a foil. The fleet set off from the south of the island at 9 am only to return over nine hours later. It was a massive challenge, but some riders managed to finish the longest race they have ever done in their windsurfing careers! We congratulate our Starboard riders Mateus Isaac, Sebastian Kördel and Ramon Pastor for finishing an amazing long distance foil race around the whole island of Lanzarote and finishing on the podium! The Lanzarote Foil challenge was for real a true challenge. Mateus won the race ahead of Sebastian and Ramon after foiling 214 kilometers and spending 9 hours and 44 minutes on the foil!
Mateus Isaac
“The event was super successful! I am so happy that I could take part in this amazing challenge. It’s the longest competition I have done, and I have never been to Lanzarote before. What a place for windsurfing! About the racing, Sebastian and I were far ahead and pretty close. On the first race he had a better upwind angle and I had a better start, but he finished just ahead of me with a few meters. That was pretty awesome after being on the foil for a whole hour pushing really hard. Later in the race I did some good tactics and managed to win the whole race, even though it was close until the end. Sebastian was a bit faster, but since I am from an island in Brazil, I used some tactics I use when I sail at home. I stayed closer to shore to find some gusts that could put me into the lead. It was gamble as I have never been to Lanzarote before, but it worked! I managed to pass him and then I was leading.
When you go around the island like this it can be dangerous. But I felt safe since Severne organized security boats, and I had a bag with me with water and energy bars. I was actually not hungry during the race, but really tired from the sun and all the hours of foiling.”
Sebastian Kördel
“It was really a challenge. It was really long and hard! All the emotions got mixed from feeling super high to being frustrated. I saw some whales, they followed me for a while! It was super sick! The nature was so amazing. All the different conditions we got around the island varied from flat water to waves. Light wind to strong wind! At the beginning of the race when we had to go upwind the wind was really light. We could not even risk to tack, we had to foil gybe to stay up on the foil. If you dropped down, you would not make it back up to have a change to win the race. About the result I had a good upwind in the beginning, but at the 2nd upwind I made some mistakes and Mateus got a good gust to take the lead. On the downwind I did not adjust my gear properly and he rolled me. On the reach I had good control. It was nice to arrive back to the island with the local people cheering for us! The event was nice, great hotel and food! It was very exhausting to do this event. Imagine sailing one direction for more than 1,5 hour. Then you really learn how to handle your equipment. It was a great experience! In total I was 9 hours and 38 minutes on the foil. Security was good as we had 6 boats following is. They gave us water and power bars. I had a camelback that I refilled 2 times during the race. It was great to be able to drink every 5 minutes to stay hydrated. What an event!”
Photos by Dieter Van der Eyken/Severne
