Slalom World Champion
In 2015 Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7) emerged as a genuine title contender — leading the PWA Slalom World Tour for the majority of the year before falling at the last hurdle in New Caledonia to eventually finish 3rd overall.
This year, which saw a change of sponsors, Iachino made his intentions clear from the outset that he would be one of the leading contenders again as the Italian won the opening event of the year in South Korea — which would prove to be his first of three victories — with Iachino claiming further clinical victories in Hvide Sande, Denmark and perhaps most impressively in Sylt, Germany, when the 26-year-old won three out of the four eliminations completed.
This proved to be the defining moment of the season with Iachino opening a more decisive lead at the top of the rankings over Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails) as the pair headed into the final event of the year.
A long week of anxiously waiting in La Torche, France, was finally brought to an end and it was official that Iachino had become the first man to crack the stranglehold that two of the greats, Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) and Björn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Dunkerbeck Eyewear) had previously held — prompting the start of a new era in the sport.
After an outstanding season we caught up with Matteo for an interview, which you can read below:
PWA: Hey Matteo, congratulations again on winning your first world title… you’ve had a bit of time now has it finally settled in and how does it feel?
MI: “It feels great! It’s really a dream come true and a few years ago I would never expect to be slalom World Champion at the age of 26, or ever in life.”
PWA: In 2015 you came so close to winning the title already — leading the tour for the whole year — do you think the pressure was too much in the final event of 2015 as it was the first time you made any mistakes at all… How painful was that loss at the time and do you think that experience helped get you over the finish line this time around?
MI: “Last year I was really close but at the same time really far. I was not ready… that’s it. It was really painful but actually thinking about it just the day after the race in New Caledonia, I was super happy about the result. I was 3rd in the world and it was not at all a bad result! There are good riders who have never made the podium in their whole career and I couldn’t be sad because of a third place. And as I’ve already said, sport is all about experience and what I gained last year from my loss has been a good advantage for this season as I already knew the feeling of being on top and the pressure that comes when you are fighting for the title.”
PWA: 2016 is obviously going to be a year that lives long in your memory… are there one or two moments that really standout for you?
MI: “I guess more than two moments… The first event victory of the season in Korea showed me what I could do and the victory in Sylt has been just amazing. I didn’t know I could win 3 out of 4 slalom eliminations and the feeling in the moment I won the third one in a row has been crazy!”
PWA: With your social media presence you always use the hashtag #ridingforalby — can you tell us a little bit about what your relationship was like with Alberto [Menegatti] and do you think it helped you to reach the very top of the sport?
MI: “I always put it because it’s thanks to him that I’ve achieved such a big result. It’s not about the friendship because we were friends but he had many other friends from Garda and they were like brothers to him. It’s about an inspiration. He was the guy I wanted to be and the guy I wanted to beat, and that’s the most important thing in the sport and in life. I’ve been really lucky to train and to spend so much time with him. And when he showed me an Italian could win the world title then I went for it and in that moment I started getting better and better. The whole Italian windsurfing movement, at least the racing part, should be grateful because without him we wouldn’t t be where we are now and I think looking at the ranking from last year and this year, that Italian’s have never had so many riders in the top positions.”
PWA: You are the first man to crack the domination of the slalom world held by Bjorn Dunkerbeck and Antoine Albeau — how does it feel to be the man to end their reign and do you think this is the start of a new era for slalom?
MI: “It’s a honour to be the first guy beating them after such a long time. They are true champions and legends. They were my idols when I was a kid and a teenager and now I’m there… It’s quite unbelievable ahaha. For sure the new era has already started.”
PWA: Over the last couple of seasons you and Pierre Mortefon have emerged as genuine title challengers and it looks as though you two may share the next great rivalry in the slalom world. What’s your rivalry with Pierre like both on and off the water?
MI: “We were in the same team until last year. Pierre is an amazing sailor and it’s always great to battle with him. It has always been okay until the second part of the 2016 when he started thinking wrong things about me and the point-7 team and he started writing negatively in the interviews too — especially in the French magazines and websites. But from my side, from next season it’s going to be all good again and I hope he has understood that what he said was wrong.”
PWA: This season you changed sponsors after an excellent season last year — do you think that was a brave move?
MI: “Yes, it has been a pretty brave move to change after such a great season. But I think in the sport, such as in life, you need to be brave and to gamble to get better and to grow. If you never take risks then you’ll never know your potential and you’ll get stuck in one position.”
PWA: The Point-7 team seem like a close-knit community and it looks as though you are a real team together — how important do you think that has been in your success?
MI: “The Point-7 team is a great windsurfing community and we are all friends. But if I have to thank somebody, then I have to say thanks to Andrea [Cucchi] himself as he helped me during the whole season staying with me in the hardest moments on the beach, and in Fuerte he has been the key to my comeback as he started caddying for me and nobody had every done that for me before.”
PWA: How much goes into training during the close season and in between events? What’s a typical routine for you?
MI: “Well, I spend my life training. Before this period I’m living right now, I didn’t stop training for almost two years. I try to train for everything. That means gym, running or biking, training for starts, gybes and testing to obtain the best top speed physically possible. So that’s what I do between the events too. I try to keep my level as it was at the beginning of the season without losing anything.”
PWA: You’ve mentioned before that you are from a city/region of Italy where nobody cares about water sports… how did you originally get into windsurfing?
MI: “We could talk about Italy more than about my region. Even if we have a lot of spots to go windsurfing and the coast around the peninsula is really long, the windsurfing community is not as big as expected. And imagine that everybody thinks my region, Liguria, close to France, is the worst for windsurfing. While on the west coast, close to Savona, the city where I live, we have great conditions from September until June and it’s a really good place to live and to train. Anyway, I started windsurfing at the age of 10 thanks to my dad who was already windsurfing since 1982 and that’s where my passion started.”
PWA: Did you always know you wanted to concentrate on slalom? And what first attracted you to racing?
MI: “No I didn’t. I was a freerider, basic freestyler and wave sailor when I was 16. The sailing club of my hometown “LNI Albisola” organised a fun race. I took part with a freewave board and a 6.5m, no cam and I really enjoyed it. I started thinking about it and I decided I wanted to try. Then during the winter when I was 17 my dad brought me to Andrea in Sardinia and I tried a slalom gear for the first time."
PWA: Away from the world for windsurfing what do you like to get up to in your free time?
MI: I really love surfing and traveling. When I have some time off (as I said, it was 2 years I didn’t have until now) I love organising trips with my girlfriend and try to discover new and different places, if possible with a surfboard with me. When I am at home I try to spend time with my friends and my family as I travel a lot and I spend only a couple of months at home per year.”
PWA: Finally, you are currently in Perù — is that your first time travelling there and what’s it like?
MI: “Yes I’m here now and it’s really cool-different. It’s a good place to discover and we are enjoying our time here!”
PWA: Any last thoughts?
MI: "I would like to thank my sponsors Starboard, Point-7, Citroen, TWS Windsurf Tenerife and Xcel for the great support during the last season, we are on the top together."
PWA: Thanks, Matteo and once again a huge congratulations on becoming the 2016 PWA Slalom World Champion.
You can stay up to date with all of Matteo Iachino’s latest news and adventures via his Social Media Networks:
Facebook: @matteoIachinoProWindsurfer
Instagram: @matteoita140