Roundup of BSA Slalom from Ed (The Bullet) Texier

31st Aug 2010 @ 01:18:32 PM

This bank holiday weekend I had an unexpected window of opportunity to check out the BSA slalom event in Worthing. The forecast looked good and boy were we in for a treat. After a delayed start and some buoy repositioning due to the constant change in wind direction we were off for 6-8 races virtually back-to-back.

I was expecting to use the 122 for the day but as the wind picked up and with just 5 minutes before the start of the first race I switched it for the 105. I wasn't at all expecting the 36 fin to hold the 7.5 Severne Overdrive (tri-cam) but what I experienced for the ensuing 4 hours can only be described as 'off-the-scale'. I must've had the mast-track position completely dialled as the 105 was so stable it stuck to the water like glue. It was a 3-buoy downwind slalom course so very little risk of spinning out and so I didn't throughout the course of the day.

I managed to get out of the blocks on nearly every race only to struggle with my gybes (I admit these need work) possibly caused to being ridiculously overpowered on every turn. Straight line speed I could match or overtake most thus giving me one first and four second places out of 6 or 7 races (there were so many I lost count as I nearly reached for the phone to dial 999). Two massive wipe-outs pushed me back down the field on the remaining 2 races but this was to be expected.

Overall result was 3rd as I didn't manage to bag enough first places which is a shame. Still, for turning up for a bit of fun I got more than my monies' worth.