3 questions to Antoine Questel

01/06/2022

3rd of the Défi Wind which has just finished in Gruissan, with the added bonus of 2 good 2nd places, Antoine Questel has succeeded in his event. Sailing exclusively with his fins, he held off the foil competitors right to the end, proving that the game is not yet completely lost... Interview.

Windsurfjournal.com: The Défi Wind is doing well for you in general and this 3rd place (and first in fin) confirms it, what does it inspire you?
Antoine Questel : Yes, the Défi Wind is often a successful event for me! With the presence of my partners and so many participants on site, I always take this race very seriously, the Défi Wind is part of my main objectives especially this season when it seems that the PWA events will not necessarily be there. So I'm very happy to be on the 3rd step of the podium once again, my speed with a fin really allowed me to go for the best places! My starts were, in general, very good, I did a good job, it's great!

WJ: The battle with fin and foil was very expected and this event was very interesting in more than one way, what lessons do you draw from it?
AQ: Although we had strong winds, the foil is more and more present. It was a bit risky given the wind direction to do the last two races on Saturday with fin but I didn't have much of a choice, I was missing my little foil sails which didn't arrive in time. I was still very confident knowing the performance of my new S2Maui Venom and FMX Racing Invictus gear! I had quickly noticed that I was able to place myself on the course as well as my foil-equipped opponents, so that allowed me to fight at the front. On the 2 Friday races where I was in contact with Nicolas Goyard, it was the start phases and the few jibes where he was able to extract himself and launch himself at full speed more easily than the fins because in pure speed, I was faster than him!

WJ: After 2 years without the Défi Wind, how did you experience this 20th edition from a sporting point of view, but also personally and festively?
AQ: The Défi Wind is great! I couldn't wait to be there and to see all these passionate windsurfers, there is a real sharing of our sport, we had incredible conditions, the riders had a smile on their faces, we couldn't hope for better! Thanks to Philippe Bru and all his team, I had a great time! See you next year.