3 questions to Pierre Mortefon

30/03/2022

PWA World Champion in slalom in 2019, vice World Champion last year, the Frenchman Pierre Mortefon was in Hyères in the South of France recently to take part in the training course organised for the French Team. For Windsurfjournal.com, he looks back on this experience and the lessons learnt in the match between fin and foil...

Windsurfjournal.com: What is different between this training course with the French team in Hyères and the one you took part in a few weeks earlier at the TWS Pro Slalom & iQFOil Training in Tenerife?
Pierre Mortefon: We are more of a closed circle, there are already only French people and only targeted people, members of the French Team or guests. Even if we don't have a real annual and continuous follow-up as it exists in the Olympics, compared to Tenerife, there is an exchange with the coaches and the other riders. In Tenerife, the system is very good, but it is only the situation, the coach only informs about the validity or not of the start. These are two different ways of training. But considering the level we have in France, there is nothing to be ashamed of compared to training in Tenerife, I even think that we have an advantage. I hope that we can continue to have such groupings with a growing quality.

WJ: What lessons do you draw from this sequence at the beginning of this new season in slalom on the PWA Word Tour?
PM: Ah not easy! We've explored tons of situations and I think we've got the outline of what we're going to do in the race but not the details. We're really in a new world and with two years lighter on the World Cup, we'll get into the nitty-gritty on the first few events. There are obviously huge advantages with the foil, especially in the irregular and light conditions which will allow us to race a lot more. On the other hand, it will definitely affect us! We were a small group of guys who were rather thoughtful on the water and there was nothing at stake and it hit, and sometimes hard. So we'll see how it goes once we're in official competition, and it's often hard to find the culprit. As for me, I am quite happy with my preparation, I am keeping the course for the moment by being among the most versatile. Of course I spend a lot of time in the air on the foil to progress and learn from my equipment but I love to get back on my fin and press in a different way. We'll see, I just hope this versatility pays off!

WJ: The conditions have obviously been favourable for the foils and fins to play off against each other, what has been the trend in this confrontation at the start of the season and how do you see it developing in the future?
PM: Yes, we have had some nice easterly conditions with 6-40 knots, so we have seen a lot of things. We just didn't have enough wind from the west to see much more! What is certain is that the foil is progressing and taking up more and more space for different reasons. The equipment is evolving and I think we're making progress too. Besides that, I found that the foil can still be pretty competitive and fast at times. What I hope is that we will have a varied season with a little bit of everything and still some races on the fin, because otherwise there is no point in training on it... I think that, in any case, we will have to be careful in the near future, because the foil is certainly ultra efficient but do the riders and the racers only want to do that?