JENNA GIBSON: SPEED DEMON
Jenna Gibson reflects on becoming a four-time IFCA Slalom World Champion, finishing third overall in PWA Slalom X & having her sights firmly set on breaking the speed world record at the Lüderitz Speed Challenge.
Words: Jenna Gibson // Photos: John Carter & Carter / pwaworldtour.com
ROAD TO FOURTH IFCA SLALOM WORLD TITLE
It feels amazing, especially after thinking I had lost the title on the final day. The forecast in the days leading up to the event was changing hourly, giving anything from 10 to 40 knots, which made choosing just two boards and four sails for the week an impossible task. In the end, we had three days of racing, one windy day on 5.8m, a medium day on 7.8m and the final day on 8.4m. Despite the variety of conditions, Justine [Lemeteyer] and I were well matched throughout the week, with alternating wins for the first part of the event. Late in the day on the last day of wind, Justine won the final, putting her into the event lead, and with it already being 5pm, I was sure that would be the last race of the day and, sadly for me, of the event. To my luck, the race crew decided to push for one last round as the wind was dropping and the sun was setting. I knew that winning this race would be my only chance of retaining the world title. I pumped down the whole first reach to ensure I gybed ahead and led the final race from there. That race win definitely felt the sweetest!
THIRD IN THE WORLD – SLALOM X
I’m happy enough, it’s my first time on the overall PWA podium, so I’m super happy about that, and I didn’t have any expectations going into the Slalom X season as the new format meant that anything could happen on the racecourse. My consistency has always been one of my weaknesses, so I knew the Slalom X format would challenge that even more, so I’m happy with how it turned out in the end.
SLALOM X OUTLOOK
In the lead up to the first event, we didn’t really know what Slalom X would entail. I still have a love-hate relationship with the jump as I still struggle to get over the sausage when there isn’t a good bit of chop, so for the jump obstacle to be in almost every race, I feel that took away a bit of the tightness and close fought racing that I love. I hope next year there will be a bit more variety in the formats. A beach finish in Fuerte for example would be really cool.
ADDICTED TO SPEED
I have only just gotten really into speed this year, after years of my boyfriend Simon [Pettifer] trying to draw me into it… Finally, I have managed to feel the subtleties between a fast run because of a gust, and a fast run because I’m sailing well, and that’s what’s got me so addicted to speed sailing. And it’s definitely helped, that as that clicked, I’ve gotten faster and now I can compare speeds with the local guys, which makes every session a bit more competitive — I love that.
LÜDERITZ SPEED CHALLENGE
Lüderitz has always been on my bucket list, but with my recent performances, i feel like i am really in my prime. I’m hoping to go this November if I can raise enough money. I’ve been so overwhelmed by the support I have received through the GoFundMe page as it’s insane to see how many people believe in me. I’m also currently still trying to find companies to work with that will help sponsor this project.
SPEED NEEDLE
The channel has quite unique conditions, the smallest board I have ever used so far is 45cm wide, but for Lüderitz I will most likely be using a 38cm wide board, which is definitely going to take some getting used to.
CURRENT SPEED RECORD?
My current 500m record is 39.37 knots (not on a course), set just two months ago at West Kirby. Throughout the year I have kept breaking PB after PB on different size kit, so now I’m looking for the conditions to continue progressing and really test just how fast I can go. Of course breaking the world record will be the goal, whether that happens this year, or whether it will take some more time and experience, we’ll just have to wait and see, but I will keep pushing. Fingers crossed the wind blows.
FAVOURITE CONDITIONS AND SETUP?
At the moment I have really been loving my 5.8m Warp_Fin, whether that’s putting it on the 99L Falcon in the waves, or breaking PBs on the 55L speed board in the flat harbour, it’s an amazingly versatile sail, I can’t get enough of it!
If you are interested in helping Jenna compete at the Lüderitz Speed Challenge please visit @ www.gofundme.com/f/womens-windsurfing-world-speed-record-attempt
