Waszps

Alongside the Nacra we both have been sailing Waszps to aid our racing. This is because even though the Nacra fleet contains some of the highest quality sailors in the world there is only a limited number of events a year. Therefore, due to the frequent events with large volumes of sailors in the fleet, Waszp seems like the perfect solution to keep us foiling and racing.

For this season in the Waszp we were invited to join the elite Waszp team named Drylaps. Run by Simone, this team has curated some of the best talent in the Waszp including this and last years world champion. Alongside these sailors we have really been able to work on boat setup and race craft with people at the top of the fleet.

We started the year competing in Italy in the Italia cup in Talamone. This was a short event over three days, each day with its own challenge. The event had a mix of conditions with the first day being light and having limited racing. The second day was at the other end of conditions, with an onshore gusty breeze blowing over 20knts and creating a tricky sea state. Thankfully we have been training out of Imperia which is known for its extreme conditions over the winter so we were prepared. At the end of it all Chloe managed to finish an impressive 11th and 1st girl and Arthur achieved 5th overall! This was a perfect first event of the year with over 30 boats to warm us up for the season.

Next we headed to Lake Garda in north Italy for a few weeks of training and foiling week. This event brings some of the best sailors from around the world to compete in a variety of foiling boats such as the Moth and the ETF. The largest fleet at the event though was the Waszp, consisting of 109 boats. The wind, as always in garda, was excellent only missing one day over weeks of sailing which is unheard of in our sport.

The event started well, during the first day Arthur managed a 6th and a 10th and Chloe managed some consistent results with both of us comfortably inside of gold fleet at the end of the day. Sadly things went sideways quickly in the second day when Chloe had a boat breakage during the first race ruling her out for the rest of the qualifying day. Even with this, we still managed to get some amazing racing in a large fleet both putting in some top results.

Next stop, the UK for the World Championships!