From a misserable 15-degree summer to a humid hot nearly 40 degrees Alacati! The first few days I really strugeled with the temperature. Nevertheless I won the very first race on day number one. Unfortunately in the second final I got run over and only finished 7th. The perfectly flat water and light wind of this popular windsurfing spot are not my favorite conditions. To hit the starting line at zero with maximum speed is more than 50% of the whole race in this place. I knew that with a good result in Alacati I could strengthen my lead in the year ranking. Therefore I played it "safe" and did not risk too much. By the end this earned me a solid second position after a total of 4 races.

I am in the best position now to win the 2010 slalom world champion title in two weeks at the final in Almanarre / south of France. Hope it will be windy again!

Back to the high-wind zone! Due to the financial difficulties in Spain the event was only 4 days. On the first day there were a lot of sad faces looking at a completely calm Pozo beach. But Gran Canaria never fails and sure enought the wind returned for the second competition day - picked up on the third and by the end everybody was blown "away" again in the finals on day four.

Once again I only used my 3.3 sail and 63 litre trailer wave board. it's a combination I sail exactly once per year - at the Pozo contest. But even though I am not used to those conditions I felt really comfortable and my latest board just worked amazing on the onshore, choppy wind waves.

The best thing about wave contests is that during your heat you got the spot pretty much to yourself. At least 15 minutes per heat, 6 heats in total - that's a fun 90 minutes!

I am stoked with my third place. The heat against Iballa was really close. If I want to do better in Pozo I simply would have to take the time and go training there for a few weeks - and this season that was simply not an option. In Sylt the twins usually have less of a local advantage and I'm already looking forward to that competition!

A second - very narrow win! Simply stoked!

The first race was pretty windy. But the wind was very gusty and constantly shifting. In my semi-final the one leg was a bit upwind and I had a hard time to make the buoy. Therefore I chose a bigger fin for the final. Just before the start it picked up. I started from the top - while Valerie chose a start from the downwind side of the line. I had good speed - but fighted a bit with control in what was very windy conditions by then. I constantly had the experience from Korea in my head - where I started with a last place... So I was holding back a bit - thinking "rather second" than catapulting and getting last... Usually not my style and once I realized that this might be the only race of the week I was quite disappointed.

Lucky it wasn't the last one. Day 3 brought wind and even waves! This was the first "wavy" slalom we had since years. Unfortunately the buoy that was placed right in the surf swam away and by the end the course was a bit outside of the breaking waves and we only had to cross surf just before the finishing line. In that race my equipment just worked perfect - pretty light wind let me choose the biggest sail and board I have registered. This time a good decision as the wind was very light on the finishing leg. I had a ok start - arrived first at the buoy - and then that's pretty much the race.

All in all I am naturally very happy to have won in Costa Brava. In reality naturally Valerie and me had the same points it was sure lucky that the draw favoured me. She definitely showed a strong performance as well!

I simply had a terrible start : disqualified in round one for an overearly start. It took me a full week to catch up from the last place and work up the ranking. Lucky for me this year we had many windy days in Korea.

By the end I won with a marginal point difference to the next place. Somehow it's good to know that even after 15 years in the sport and 27 world titles you still can get nervous.

But best of all is that I know I am very fast on my equipment this year! Much faster than the past years - especially in light winds. So I am really looking forward to the next races!!!