The slalom fleet?s second day of competition in Mui Ne was met with uncharacteristically light conditions at the morning?s skippers meeting, placing the sailors on standby with rolling hourly announcements.

Despite the thermal wind showing signs of promise in the afternoon, as the light breeze switched to the prevailing north east direction, the conditions never built sufficiently to complete any more of the previous day?s eliminations, leaving the event standings unchanged.

During the afternoon?s standby period, we caught up with the Netherlands? Peter Volwater (Fanatic / MauiSails) to see what he?s made of the conditions so far, and what gear he?s got racked up for the next three days of racing:??

PWA: Can you describe what the conditions are like in Mui Ne, and do they compare to any of the other tour destinations?

PV: ?I?d say Mui Ne compares to Pozo, in a sense that Pozo is also onshore, and at high tide there, there?s also a backwash from the rocks in the shoreline, so it gets extremely bouncy when you?re sailing. It makes things really tricky here, as there?s usually enough things to concentrate on, like getting your timing right on the start line, so the chop definitely adds a new dimension to things. Also, when you have 12 people at the start line, and wind is right on the edge, say 7-9 knots, the back wash makes it really technical.?

PWA: What gear have you chosen for the event?

PV: ?With my sails, i?ve registered my 9.2m, 8.4m, 7.6m, 7.0m, and 6.3m. My boards are my 134, 111, and 85.?

PWA: Did you do any specific training for this event?

PV: ?This event is earlier on in year than what we?re used to, normally the first slalom event of the season is later on, so it?s been a challenge to get all my gear together, and tune everything. I was in Maui at the end of January to test my gear, and spend a month tuning everything in preparation for the event, but it wasn?t as windy as i?d hoped out there, so i didn?t get quite the preparation i?d hoped for.?

Tomorrow?s skippers meeting has been scheduled for 10.00am (GMT +7), with a first possible start to racing at 10.30am. Tune into pwaworldtour.com then to pick up the action where it left off on day five.
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