3 questions for Pierre Mortefon

21/06/2023

France's Pierre Mortefon, the reigning slalom world champion for 2019, remains a serious contender for the title after his fine 2nd place at the Torbole PWA World Cup in May. Before heading to Pozo Izquierdo at the end of the month for the second event of the season, he talks to Windsurfjournal.com about this first stop in Italy, his 4th place in the Défi Wind and the return of slalom to Gran Canaria.

Windsurfjournal.com: 2nd place at the Torbole PWA World Cup in Italy, you came back from far behind to win the final race. How did the event go for you?
Pierre Mortefon: This event wasn't easy for me or anyone else. We'd arrived a week before and we had great conditions. We sailed 7.5s, 6.5s and even 5.5s one afternoon, all in good weather. The real Lake Garda as I know it, having spent time there. It's more or less what everyone expected and unfortunately, as is often the case in competitions, it didn't turn out as usual! We had a north wind, which can be good, but in this case it was very erratic, especially around Torbole itself, because it's an offshore wind. The choice of equipment was very difficult and when you left, it was for the morning, there was no way to come back and change anything. It was also cold because there was snow above Torbole. There were parts of the course where there was no wind. We had a couple of heats with 7 to 10 knots in the start area and 20 to 25 knots at the first buoy. I didn't get off to a good start, and then we had to wait quite a bit. There were little bits of racing here and there until we had a great last day and even a final race in 20 knots. I myself didn't have a great start and tried to be there when I needed to be. In the end, the start wasn't great, but the day was pretty good with a 3rd place, a win in the losers final where I stupidly missed qualifying for the final with an attack that was useless, and finally a win in the last race where it was very close. That puts me on the podium. I was surprised when I came out of the water. I had a few successes there but I'm happy because I kept going even though it wasn't easy. The final ranking is very close because the level is very tight, and you don't have much room for error.

WJ: And then there was the Défi Wind, a different event but with a lot at stake. A nice 4th place and above all another great event, what did you think of it?
PM: It was a great event in every way, I think it was a success! People were really happy to be there and there was a really big fleet. The conditions allowed everyone to get out on the water. All the top riders were there, and I'm happy with the result. Of course, a podium would have been nice, but I fought hard. I crashed at the start of race two and that was fatal! I came back strong, but it wasn't enough. There were some great battles and some great races, and the foil now seems to be out in front. It would have been nice to have had at least one fin race as some of us had sailed 5.0 and 5.8 with fins in the previous days, and it still goes fast. What I'll take away is the organisation, the smiles on everyone's faces and the great windsurfing atmosphere!

WJ: Announced at the start of the year, the PWA event at Pozo Izquierdo will now take place. On the face of it, it's a windy and sporting event that should reshuffle the cards this season?
PM: That's great news! The confirmation has come late, even though the announcement was made at the beginning of the year. It was a desire on the part of the racers to try and get into these strong wind events. We haven't done a finned race for a while, so it's good. But you have to take this news with a grain of salt, because foils are becoming more and more effective and more and more present in all conditions. And it's quite possible that we'll be doing nothing but foiling at Pozo! As this is a Grand Slam event with another discipline, we know today that we'll have 3 days of racing reserved, no more, no less. So we'll see what happens depending on the conditions. I think this event is also down to the determination of Björn Dunkerbeck, the organiser, who has done so many slalom events there. It can reshuffle the cards, there are guys who are strong in both disciplines. Torbole has brought out some new faces who aren't necessarily at the top of their game or known for their wings, so we'll have to wait and see, and maybe there'll be some surprises! It also allows us to look ahead to stages like Pozo and Fuerteventura, where we should be racing a bit under fin, whereas Lake Garda didn't allow us to do so at all. It makes for a more complete round...