15th
July 2014, Hayling Island, UK – After having started his summer schedule
with the Moth Italian National Championships in Lake Garda last week, Seb Col
has taken part to the first Foiling Week event, mixing different types of
foiling engines, including the Foiling Week Moth Invitational, all being part
of an extensive and successful training session for Seb to prepare for the Moth
Worlds in particular. The Worlds will actually be taking place right after the
Moth UK National Championships starting tomorrow in
Hayling Island, UK. Besides training and racing on the Moth, Seb Col sailed
again on a GC32 in Lake Garda, where he actually broke the speed record of the
boat reaching 37,9 knots!
Sebastien Col is now
getting ready for the UK National Championships in Hayling Island, July 16-17th,
where he’s training on the competition’s race course today. The UK Nationals
will be followed right after by the Moth World Championships, July 19-25th,
still in Hayling Island, UK. The International Moth World Championships at Hayling
Island Sailing Club (Hampshire, UK) have attracted 130 competitors from 18
nations, with sailing stars from the Olympics and America’s Cup all converging
to race for one of the most coveted titles in the dinghy sailing world.
Seb Col has had a busy and
successful time in Lake Garda to prepare himself for that.
Seb Col summarizes about
the two last weeks and what he has achieved during The Foiling Week in
particular: “I now know that I took the best decision going to Lake Garda and
taking part to the Moth Italian Nationals: this was all about sailing, testing
different configurations and tuning of the boat, generating more experience by
spending hours on the race course, finding out about the right speeds upwind
and downwind, and above all learning from the bests. I achieved some great
starts, but need to work on the speed to reach the same level as the other sailors
who have been sailing those incredible flying machines for a while. I have observed
them a lot, and also improved a lot obviously thanks to that during the past
week. But I know I need to continue to work, it’s no secret. I also need to
work on my foils and their profiling; everybody does, this is key besides
spending hours on the water.
This was really a great
call to go to Lake Garda in order to prepare the Worlds. I know where I stand
now, which is amongst the top 20 in the Italian Nationals. I know I have a good
speed downwind, but also that I need to work to improve it upwind. I clearly
see the “before” and the “after” Lake Garda. I also see my improvement margin,
which is really encouraging and that motivates me a lot. The World champions
were also in Garda, it really is a big motivation to sail with them.
We did 9 races during the
Italian Nationals, but I carried on sailing a lot after the official races in
order to train. So I was a bit tired after the end of the event I must admit,
but now I recovered and I’m ready to go again, starting with some training
today. My ideal target would be to finish the Worlds in the first half of the
general ranking and the first French.
©Martina Orsini
Also what is really
important to me is that it confirmed that sailing and competing in the Moth
class to develop my foiling skills was a perfect choice. I know exactly where I
am going, which was not totally the case before that event. So I can only
repeat that this is all very positive, also in the feedback I got from sailors
like Josh McKnight, Chris Rast or Stefano Rizzi, who are amongst the best
competitors sailing within the Moth class. They have been really supportive and
we did a lot of sharing. We will actually train together this week and exchange
boats, which will be very good since there is a lot of “feeling” with the Moths
and the way you can sail them at their best. It will be good to see how the
other boats work, which ones are fast and why. I know I can do better and I
will, I just need to be a bit patient, and to remember that I said 2014 was a
“learning year”, and obviously it could not happen in just one week!”
Seb Col also took part to the Moth Invitational with the 10 best Moth
sailors on site, a privilege that came on top after the Italian Nationals were
over.
With 10-20 knots of wind, he actually took it for a great training
session, with some good starts in front of the fleet, and he improved his speed
upwind thanks to the modifications he did on his foils and his rig by then,
with Seb adding again: “it is really nice to feel so much progress after this
week, even if there is still much work ahead of me, and it is great to be able
to count on Gurit to support me in this project.”
Gurit is actually supporting Seb Col since he started his foiling
campaign. Gurit has over 30 years’
experience working alongside the world’s leading designers and boat builders,
combining a unique technical approach, integrating structural design, materials
science and advanced process engineering, enabling Gurit to offer the most
comprehensive composite solution in the marketplace. Indeed, the well-known
composite materials specialist has a dedicated marine projects department that now supplies
the full spectrum of marine projects worldwide.
©Martina Orsini
©Martina Orsini
Last but not least, the Foiling Week also brought some other nice surprises on foiling machines.
Seb Col was actually taking part to a test session of the GC32 with a
French sailing magazine on July 10th, where he was at helm for
specific manoeuvres and speed tests.
Seb chose a crew of experienced Moth sailors for the GC32 test session with
Josh McKnight, (2012 World Champion), Chris Rast (Swiss Champion), and Benoit
Marie (winner of the Mini Transat), and besides this was really great for him to
sail the GC32 with those experienced sailors especially, the highlight was
definitely that with 25-30 knots of wind, Seb Col and his crew broke the speed
record for the GC32 and reached 37,9 knots! A great performance looking at
Seb’s projects for 2015 and to possibly enter the circuit with his own team.
