3 Is The Magic Number
Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) quickly wracked up back-to-back world titles in 2013 and ’14, but until now that magic third crown had eluded her, but not anymore after the 27-year-old produced a truly domineering performance this season, which saw her win all 3 events, while extending her event winning run to 4 events on the bounce after also dominating the final event of 2017 in New Caledonia. Having finally captured that 3rd world crown S2Maui caught up with Delphine for an interview.
Firstly, big congratulations on winning 2018 PWA slalom championship. How do you feel?
I feel super happy about my performance! I dreamt about this title since my last world title in 2014!
You made it clear that it was your goal to be world champion again, since your last titles 4 years ago. Please tell us about your training and equipment to achieve this.
I didn’t change a lot of things in my training this year. I was in St Barth this winter and it was a very windy winter! I spent more time at the gym too to give me all the chance to be ready. In St Barth I tried to have the maximum amount of time on the water with my equipment to find the right tuning and of course working on my technique too. I was in Lanzarote to sail in racing conditions with a lot of starts and gybe action, it was really interesting! I did the same work in south France in various wind conditions.
I felt really good with my S2 Maui Venom and Starboard ISonic this year! We had pretty strong conditions at the end of the season and the gear is really easy to control, taking great acceleration, and for sure it helped me a lot to win some races and be World Champion this year!
You showed excellent consistency and strength under pressure this year to win all 3 events. How do you maintain such focus to perform so consistently under the pressure of competitive World Cup competition?
It’s really not easy to contain the pressure. I tried to forget the pressure and to just concentrate on taking it race-by-race. But honestly I didn’t sleep really well at the end of the competition in Portugal because of pressure! But I think sometimes it’s possible to develop a “good stress” which helps you to give the best of yourself!
Please tell us about conditions and which gear you used for each event this season?
In Japan we did only one race in light wind so I used my S2Maui Venom 7,7 and Starboard iSonic 117.
In South Korea I used my medium and small gear : Venom 5.0 until 6,3 and iSonic 87 and 97.
In Portugal, only my small gear : most of the time the Venom 5.0 and iSonic 87 and sometimes my 5.7.
How do you see the level of competition in the PWA slalom?
About my opinion, the level has never been higher since I am competing in PWA. In light wind, a lot of women can win a race! And now with strong conditions we had in South Korea and Portugal, I think Women’s fleet showed we have a good level! In Portugal sometimes we had the same sail size as some of the guys !
Would you like to see more events in 2019? How do you think this can be achieved?
Of course I would like to have more events! It would be nice if we could have the same number of events as the men. It could be interesting to have some “only women” events combined with other discipline like freestyle or even wave! It’s not easy because everything is a question of money, but with all women we made some meeting to try to find solution like for example bring the women fleet in Fuerteventura for next year! It would be awesome!
You also have a high level on Foil. Do you think there will be opportunity for you to participate in foil competition in 2019?
Unfortunately, we were not enough women to compete at foil event this year on the PWA but I am sure next year will be different! I’m already going to train more this year to be ready for next year. I would also like to participate in the international foil which will take place in November in the Azores!
What advice would you give to a young rider wishing to follow in your footsteps?
To continue to follow your dreams and when you want something nothing is impossible!
Congratulations again and thank you for taking the time for this interview.