Not quite enough – even for a Formula board…

Euro-Cup Portimão – Wind is teasing the Windsurfers

Portimão (Portugal), Kiel (Germany), May 5th 2005.

The first day of the Windsurfing Euro-Cup Portimão brought again perfect
weather. But unfortunately the wind resisted to play the game. It never got
consistent enough to run official races.

In the morning it started with the usual onshore breeze. Around noon it
started to build up and turned a little bit clockwise. Race Director Walter
Mielke set up an upwind-downwind-course with a leeward gate. With eight to
ten knots the competitors were sent out. But during the starting sequence
the wind dropped and the race had to be cancelled.

The wind turned clockwise towards the typical thermical offshore direction
and while the competitors were waiting ashore the course was re adjusted to
the new wind direction. Again the competitors were sent out. But the wind
dropped again and shifted too much to enable a start. After some waiting and
evaluation of the situation the competition was closed at 17:30.

For the next day the locals expect a solid Levante breeze in the morning. So
the race committee has decided to set the skippers meeting for 9:30 with the
first possible start at 10:00. If the rumours materialize we can expect
around 15 to 18, perhaps even over 20 knots. This would even make Slalom a
realistic option.

The event is covered on www.euro-cup.org, www.overpower.net and
www.formulawindsurfing.org. On the official website www.euro-cup.orga live
ticker is provided. So check out the internet!