Photos: Nicolas Slijk

The new Italian Slalom Champion U-20 sails the JP Slalom 71. Daniel Slijk reports:

This past week 2 important contests were held here on Lake Garda: The Italian Junior Championship and the One Hour Classic. Both were prestigious competitions for me.

The Italian contest started on Thursday but unluckily we didn’t get the chance to compete because of the weather conditions. On Friday the south wind started to blow really strong early in the morning. We’ve been lucky enough to catch a full day of strong south wind and we could finish 6 eliminations! I was out with my 7.8 and the JP Slalom 71 and was pretty overpowered. At the end of the day it’s been good fun competing all day long. At that point I was sitting in first position.

The next day the one hour classic started which also would have counted as a part of the Italian Championships. The wind was pretty light but seemed enough to compete. So, we started… I managed to be amongst the fastest 15 riders to round the first jibe mark even though the wind was getting lighter and lighter. Then the wind dropped too much and the race’s been cancelled.After half an hour we tried to start one more time, but then the wind stopped completely and that was it for the day.

The last day, on Sunday, there was a light northerly breeze in the morning which seemed good enough to start the race but it wasn’t consistent. In the afternoon the south wind picked up a bit and the commissioners decided to start the race. But unluckily once again the wind dropped completely and that was it. Such a bummer because it would have been a great opportunity for me to compete with the big names of the PWA.

So, at the end I kept my first place and I won my first U-20 Italian Slalom Championships. Big thanks to NeilPryde and JP which allow me to always push my limit and sail with the best gear.I’m super stoked and can’t wait to compete again.

CiaoDanielITA-364

[JP comment: It has to be mentioned that Daniel competed in the Youth Class with youngsters under 20 years – despite the fact that he only is 16 years old!]