3 questions to Johan Søe

09/06/2022

11th in the Défi Wind SuperStars last autumn, 9th in the 20th edition of the Défi Wind which has just ended, the young Dane Johan Søe continues to make a name for himself and is progressing competition after competition. With him, let's look back at this event and its 5 races, all contested with a fin!

Windsurfjournal.com: 11th in the Défi Wind SuperStars last autumn, 9th in this 20th edition of the Défi Wind, and 1st in U21 each time, what does this last result inspire you?
Johan Søe: For sure, it feels very good to improve my result from the superstar event with 2 places! Hopefully it will keep going that way ! The start of the season has been really good for me so far, first becoming U21 European Champion in IQFOil at Lake Garda in May 2022, just a couple of days before the 20th edition of Defi Wind. The next competition for me will be the IFCA youth European Championship in Sardinia. So the season is already fully on!

WJ: What differences did you find between these two events?
JS: I think that the SuperStars event was quite different from the “normal” Défi Wind we just had. We were of course a lot less people on the course at the SuperStars, but the conditions we had were also a lot different. In the SuperStars event we had a couple of days with quite light winds and only one day with clean wind. For my part, this meant a lot more races on the foil compared to the Défi Wind 2022, where I was on the fin in all 5 races. Therefore, I’m really happy to fight with the top guys in both events because the events were really different condition wise.

WJ: How did you manage the 5 races, and especially the choice between foil and fin before each start?
JS: For me, the choice was actually not so difficult. I had just received my foiling gear right before the event, and was therefore not quite comfortable enough on the equipment yet. Because of this, the fin was an obvious choice for me in all the races. But it was still difficult sometimes which sail I should choose, and in one of the races I ended up on my 7.1 where everybody else was fully powered on their 5.6! Nevertheless, I’m still very happy to have stayed consistent throughout the whole event. It was for sure an extraordinary experience to start with more than 1200 windsurfers on the starting line and I think that the Défi Wind is a must-do for all passionate windsurfers. Also, the organization did an incredibly good job, and the energy and conditions of the event were superb! I will for sure be back next year.