My LOFT debut was amazing!...  finally on my new Blades and I raced in the Alacati One Hour slalom marathon.
How does this work?  Everybody starts at the same time, and we race between 2 bouys (the classic figure 8), the person who makes the most rounds within one hour of racing wins the race. Overearlies get counted one round less than the others, and everybody is allowed to finish his/her last round when time is up.
67 racers; masters, guys, girls, and youth all racing at the same time gives, as one can imagine, a big mess around the bouys, especially in such a busy place as Alacati.
 
In the mens fleet Loft rider Ruben Petrisie was leading from the start, with fast Turkish windsurfer Enes just a few meters behind him.  Enes and Ruben were battling eachother and the wind at the inside buoy was tricky and very light.  35 minutes into the race the winds became more gusty- it was even more interesting and challenging.  In the end Enes (NP) won, Ruben (Loft) came second and Emir(NP) third.  Forth and fifth were Sinan Gerzile and Can Coskun- both also on Loft Blades.
 
For me the race passed without so much exitement- I started first (in front of the girls), and instead of a fierce battle like Enes and Ruben, I fought against the increasingly low wind, but with the help of my new Blades I kept planing when the others didn't. And at the end of this one hour race I finished three rounds ahead of the second girl, finally beating my biggest rival Cagla Kubat! I won, Cagla Kubat second and Melek Toraman third.
I hope I can keep my success up for next weeks Turkish Championships, and of course the PWA in Alacati!

Good winds
Lena Erdil