SHQ

Antoine Albeau joined Micah Buzianis in Cape Town on his first visit to the JP Test Centre to start the testing process for the 2010 slalom boards.

With Werner Gnigler at the helm we wanted to know what pressure he felt producing a board for the World Champion, what Antoine himself was feeling going into a racing season having not been involved with the R&D of the board under his feet and how Micah really felt about having the Frenchman on the same team. Oh, and also what they think about Bjorn's chances this season. It was a truly revealing interview!

What are you doing here?
Micah: Just hanging out waiting for the wind (joking)! No, this is where the JP Test Centre is located so I come down here with Werner, this year with Antoine, and start the first round of slalom board testing for next year's race season (2010 - Generation VI boards).

Werner: The race boards the guys are on for the PWA season this year came out in December 2008 so I have had a month of feedback from them on these 09 (Generation V) production boards. I then did roughly one 2010 prototype of each size. We are not sure about the sizes yet, so we have a lot of different sizes, however we aim for six. Now we have seven prototypes ready, they sail them all, we see where we are going ready for the next round of testing.

You're here in Cape Town for only 10 days - is that enough?
Micah: Ten days is plenty of time to get through the seven boards.

Have you got any competitors boards here?
Werner: Of course! Whatever we hear that people like, we go and try them, different sizes have different feels and we do try them all out.

You sail seven prototype boards here in Cape Town. What happens if you don't like them?
Antoine: Werner has the workshop in town so two days ago we tried the boards then this morning they were back in the workshop being adjusted.

Micah: This is just the first stage in the testing. We leave on the 15th (March) but we still have until July to sort them. When we leave, Werner makes a whole new set or just a couple of sizes, whatever is needed, then Werner and the boards come to Maui in April for a second round of testing. Depending upon where we are, if we need to do some more then he will come to the Canaries and round three, if needed, goes on there.

If a board works for YOU (100kgs/best sailor in the world) how are you sure it will work for an 80kg weekend racer?
Antoine: It will work for sure. We try to make the easiest board to ride, to gybe, to sail fast. Easy for me to gybe, should be easy to gybe for everyone else.

Do you ever find a board that's fast but you know it will be hard to sail for the 'masses'?
Antoine: We find if a board is fast, it is normally easy to sail.

Micah: We have a good range of people testing the boards, for example Werner, Robby Swift. These are light guys so we are not designing the boards strictly for us.

Antoine: We also remember that in 20knots we are going to use one size of board whilst someone lighter will use another.

Werner - do you feel any pressure having got the World No.1 on JP to make sure he wins on racing your boards?
Werner: Yes! But we always try to make the best possible board, that's the first thing. Antoine was winning in the past and if he stops doing that people will ask why he isn't winning anymore - that is an issue definitely!

Antoine - do you feel the pressure?
Antoine: I'm going to be on JP, but I think Bjorn (Dunkerbeck) and Cyril (Moussilmani) are going to have a lot of pressure as they can't blame the board. I've tried the JP boards for one month and I feel confident, they are pretty fast.

Micah - what's it like having Antoine on the team? Any disadvantage?
Micah: No negatives! We get along really well. There can always be problems when you have two top riders on the team but they can also help each other. If they work together they can achieve anything - as fast as he is, as good as he is, he's going to push me even more. I see it as a big benefit.

Do you think then the pressure is going to all be on Bjorn this season?
Micah: Yes, I think there is going to be a lot of pressure on him but I think we are the only ones who are going to be competing for the title! (Ed: cheeky)

Werner: The biggest disadvantage (for Bjorn) is that he is on Severne Sails!

Antoine: As soon as it is strong winds, he will go fast with all his power but in light winds they are not as good as the Neil Pryde sails and with Micah we will show how fast the JP boards are.

What's the main difference between the Starboard and the JP slalom board?
Antoine: It's not the same style of sailing. At the beginning I had a few problems; the way you stand on the board, use the sails the mast track position, fins - totally different. It was harder on the legs - I had to work on it differently. The Starboard is 'more dead' in the water but it still goes, but the JP boards you really feel that you're 'going'.

Are you trying to make the JP more like the Starboard?
Antoine: We don't try to copy - we try to do better!

Antoine - have you brought quite a bit of change to the 2010 JP?
Antoine: We are just starting to change right here in Cape Town. I can hopefully bring some overview on the boards to what I need, what I want.

Werner - you're stuck in the middle of all this advice. How do you filter all this info through to designing the best board?
Werner: These guys are professional - they know what they want. It's not like the wave sailors - one day it's the best board, the next day it's the worst board. These guys sails so hard and so much they know exactly what they want - it's an easier life for me.

Do they both want the same things?
Werner: So far, we haven't gone in different directions.

What's your favourite board from the 2009 JP Slalom range?
Antoine: 112 or the 92
Micah: The 112

The Doctors said you had badly bruised your leg in Pozo. You strapped it up and bravely headed to Fuerte to race at the next PWA event - it then broke! In your heart of hearts - did you know how bad it was in Pozo but just didn't want to stop racing?

Micah: In Pozo I thought it was just bruised. I had a pretty good cut from the impact. The Doctor stitched it up but didn't x-ray it. It didn't feel broken but funnily enough I thought I'd broken it the instant of the impact because I had the same feeling I get when you break bones (I've broken a lot). I had 7/8 days off and it was getting better. I iced it, had therapy on it and sailed through the start of the Fuerte event - it felt fine. Then I was out racing on the second to last day, going into the gybe loaded up my back foot and I heard a really loud pop. I tried to go into the gybe again, tried to put pressure on my foot but couldn't. I thought I'd blew a tendon. I just needed one more race to finish in second so I went back out but no way could I put pressure on it.

I'm glad I didn't have it x-rayed in Pozo. At least I went to Fuerte - if I could have had a day and a half more that would have not ruined my season

So you basically raced on a broken leg - actually you were lying in second place with a broken leg?!
Micah: I'd imagine so!

How long until you were back on the water?
Micah: Just before Sylt (Sept'08) I sailed on it again in Maui. But I knew as I started sailing it wasn't ready so I took it easy. Being the end of the season I then had a whole winter to rest.

So how about YOU (Micah) and the World Title?
Micah: I think I've had a good, long block of training in Maui on and off the water. I'm feeling pretty good, the boards are a big improvement, the sails a huge improvement. I'm ready!

Micah/Antoine - how do you deal with other competitors at race events?
Micah: For me, the race doesn't start until the green flag goes up. I am happy to help all my team members, be friendly to everyone.

Do you get sailors coming up to you asking questions about the wind, your kit set up etc, trying to gleam as much info out of you as possible?
Micah: Constantly!!

Do you get that as well Antoine?
Antoine: I am quite happy to help them out, particular my French teammates. In France we have a good team, we are really close, and we try to help each other.

Who are the biggest contenders for the '09 PWA Slalom Crown
Bjorn?
Micah: Bjorn will be right there - he won't be slow, just not as competitive as he was at the end of last season.

Cyril?
Antoine: He likes to go fast. On the Fanatic he had the fastest board downwind, now he's on Starboard they are not super fast, just very competitive on the race course.

Ross?
Antoine: Ross for sure.

Micah: Kevin will be up there as well.

Antoine: There will be a lot on Starboard this year - Bjorn, Kevin, the three Moussilmani brothers, Jimmy...

When you train up together are you neck and neck for speed?
Micah: We have similar speed although Antoine is generally faster. Although, I find I'm not as fast in training as I am in racing!

Antoine: Me too!!

For more on JP go to: www.boardseekermag.com and www.jp-australia.com

To see whether Antoine can still lead the races on his JP and Micah can make a decent start to his 09 World title campaign, follow the PWA Slalom Tour: www.pwaworldtour.com