Fly! ANA Yokosuka, Miura Windsurf World Cup

Day one of the 2024 Fly! ANA Yokosuka, Miura Windsurf World Cup proved to be a relatively quiet affair with the wind dropping throughout the day. Having finished registration at 11:30am a few of the sailors ventured out on to the water, but by 2pm, the wind was only between 3-10 knots and with it showing no signs of improving the sailors were released at 3pm. 

With plenty of downtime during the afternoon we managed to catchup with World Tour leaders Justine Lemeteyer (FMX Racing / S2Maui) and Pierre Mortefon (Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils) to see how they are feeling ahead of the contest.

Hi Justine, you’re in a pretty good position when it comes to the world title… How are you feeling mentally before the start of the event?


Justine: “I’m feeling good. I’m excited that we will finally battle it out for the world title because being in a good position, and actually having it, is not the same. I’m excited to race, we’ll battle it out on the water and see how it goes by the end of the week. But I’m feeling good about my racing, so we will see out there.”

When did you come to Japan?


Justine: “I arrived on 5th November, so I had a few days to recover from the jet lag. I’ve had two great sessions, one in strong wind in the morning and one in light wind in the afternoon and the gear feels good.”

And before the event, how were you preparing?

Justine: “Before the event, it was a lot of resting, eating, drinking water, and sailing of course. Then right before the competition, I do some stuff in the morning to put me in the game and everything. It’s all part of routine."

What does your morning routine consist of?

Justine: “I have a lot of things, just to get my body up and running, connecting the body to the mind, stuff like this. I’m taking cold showers also, so it’s just a few things like this that I work on with my mental and physical coach. It has worked well so far this season, so I keep doing it.”

Thanks, Justine and good luck for the event. 

Next up we spoke to Pierre...

Hi Pierre, you’ve already won one world title this year and you’re in a very good position coming into this event. How are you feeling ahead of the start of the racing?

Pierre: “I feel happy already with the season. I want to finish it well of course, but in the end, there’s not too much pressure because the season has been a success already. I just want to continue to sail the way I have sailed all year—let’s say, safely and efficiently. We’ve had good conditions before the event and the forecast looks good. It’s going to be close, but the best will win.”

When did you come to Japan and how has it been so far?

Pierre: “I arrived last Monday and I have sailed every day - one day with south wind and all the other days with north wind. Actually, the forecast has always predicted about 5-8 knots less than what we actually got, so I think the next days, especially tomorrow, will be pretty cool. All day. But stronger in the morning—we had one morning with 5.5m, and then it dropped a bit, but not by much."

Before you came to Japan, how were you preparing for the event?


Pierre: “First, I took some rest after Sylt because it was a long event, I also had a good camp in France before Sylt, so I was away from home for more than three weeks. Then I sailed at home. We had good conditions, and it was almost like summer. We also had one event on the French Tour, which was good to be part of and to have that similar sort of pressure. And that’s it. I have some experience to rely on." 

Thanks Pierre, and good luck.

The forecast for Saturday looks promising with 12-15 north-northeast winds predicted for the entirety of the day, which should hopefully provide plenty of great racing. The sailors will meet again tomorrow morning at 8am (GMT+9) for the skippers’ meeting with the action commencing from 9am onwards.

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