PWA discipline ::: SLALOM

Early in 2005 the PWA announced the creation of a new format in the Race discipline Slalom. As a natural progression in windsurf racing, Slalom is designed to bring the action close to the beach and right in front of the crowds and media. Competitors use a maximum of four sails and two boards, further increasing the emphasis on sailor skill and race tactics.

Fully utilizing recent developments in equipment, the new format allows a wide variety of courses to be set, enabling each race to be tailored in a way that allows both public and TV cameras to easily follow the competition, creating maximum excitement, interaction and enjoyment for spectators both on the beach and watching the event onTV.

Courses are generally based around downwind or figure-eight slalom courses, but can include any number of variations, some of the most dramatic of which include including long distance and between the island style races for the entire fleet. The spectacle of up to one hundred sailors blasting across a start line, at over thirty knots, to do battle over miles of open water has to be seen to be fully appreciated!