Dave Coles formula worlds report from Poland

For our June road trip we headed of to Puck in Poland for the formula foil worlds. This being the second visit for me to Puck, for those that have never been its a great race site, very sheltered water as its behind a large spit of land about 14 miles long. Known for being windy but not rough, so great for foil racing as well as a renowned kitesurfing and windsurfing area.

The Foil Worlds followed on from the Raceboard Europeans which was held the week before and a few sailors sailed at both events. The Foil Worlds were held between 17 - 22 June with over 120 people taking part from 11 different countries, Poland being the biggest fleet with over 90 sailors, many of them IQ sailors.

For me it was mixed results, I had some good races and some not so good. Old age is definitely taking effect, my eyes not seeing windward mark was the biggest killer for me. The wind was from 5 knots to 30 knots so a mixed bag of racing covering most conditions with 21 races overall. I was 48th out of 61 seniors, but felt I should have done better. However, the standard was very high this year, with some of the Olympic sailors taking part, some very good sailors were still down in the late 30s. I managed some good racing with guys I normally struggle to beat so maybe not as bad as it felt. I finished 2nd veteran beating Bruno Strauss from Latvia with Sefan Voxby from Sweden taking first place.

Great event, felt more like the old events days before Covid got in the way so hopefully things will keep getting better and fleets will keep growing again. Lots of talk about next year events so fingers crossed they happen as they could be in some of the best spots. The next event now will be the Scottish Fin and Foil which is part of the UKWA series this year, then it will be off to Wales for the next UKWA event in Pwllheli, reports to follow...

- Dave Coles GBR-69