Ask the pro's

Exocet’s new Warp-100 formula race board performed very well during last month’s  Argentinian nationals, 1^st and 3^rd place. In order to speed up the European racers with tuning of the board, Localsailing.nl asked top Exocet formula racer Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (ARG 3) to reveal his tuning secrets and techniques.

The type of fins, mast foot position, windsurfing techniques, etc. will all be addressed. Pointing high with good speed is a major advantage when sailing up wind in up-wind / down- wind courses. However, not…. when you are going in the wrong direction. (wrong side of the course). Gonzalo explains how he prepares for the race and what to focus on.

So, if you want to gear up fast for the 2010 season; read on!!!!

Localsailing.nl: What fins work best for you with the board and what size fits best with what size sail? I guess, sail size; 12, 11 and 9 will be most popular.

GONZALO: With the 12 I would say a K70 T2 XS 4.3 rake would be the best for the board. Always when sailing on big stuff I like to have a lot of stability on the fin. This is a very noble fin that will make you point, will give you a lot of acceleration in light gusts and will give you a very good downwind speed. I would go with thicker tips only if you are sailing in choppy or messy water.

I feel that when sailing on 11 you can use this sort of fin as well depending your style. If it is power up 11 maybe a K70 XS 4.3 or a Ifju 70 XS will be a little better, More slippery.

When you get to 10 weather I normally like to use a K68 T2 XS or a 70 MW Ifju. Both of this fins are very fast and easy.

LOCALSAILING: What is your preferred setting of the mast foot position in respect to the rigs used.

GONZALO: I like to use the mast base and footstraps all the way back. The mast base plate covers half of the square where the mastbase goes in. When is light that position wil be pretty far back for the 12, but this will make the board feel very alive. When going down on sails I normally move it further back, but on this board I like to use it always there and work on my fins.

LOCALSAILING: Chicken straps seemed to be used more often, single double what do you advise?

GONZALO: Only in case of hard wind conditions or also with lighter wind conditions

This new board is extremely easy downwind so the single chicken strap is not needed at all. We came out with the double chicken strap that turn out to be a great feature of the board. Many of weekend formula sailors that are not much in shape love this position. When it is 15 kts they prefer to go in this setup that is very competitive than being burning their untrained legs on the outer strap. Like this they can feel full power for the next upwind.

I love this position when it gets hardcore. My bro, that normally never has good results when is over 25 kts, last year got his 3rd place on the national event on this conditions. He claimed he had a big advantage in the downwinds compare to the other guys.

LOCALSAILING: Up-wind and down-wind performance, acceleration after jibing an tacking.

GONZALO: I like to read a lot the waves before decinding when to jybe or tack. A good jybe on a wave at the downwind can give you a lot of mts to your adversary.

Preparing your tack and to finish it on a wave so that when you have to accell you are going down the wave is key too.

LOCALSAILING: What are your specific strategic and tactical strengths?

GONZALO: I like to sail before the races. I check how the course is set, and when it gets close to start the race I do some more legs to see if the wind had changed. Sometimes I go very far to both corners of the course to see if there are differences in strength.

LOCALSAILING: Tips and tricks when formula racing; “ What works best for you??”

GONZALO: I try to be very focus at starts and first upwinds. After that the race is almost finish. So I take my time to analyse very deeply where to start and where to go on the first leg.

Thank you Gonzalo for the interview with LOCALSAILING.NL and we hope to hear a lot from you in the 2010 formula racing season.