Dark morning sky and indifferent wind forecast quickly resolved to a warm, steady 20 kt wind at Arlington Beacon as competitors gathered for the first day of the 2019 Green Island Nats. As participants arrived at Green Island the early morning clouds were well on their way to breaking up , and with a traditional GI Slalom course already set early morning, racing was soon underway on the iconic Reef Flats arena is a light but super steady 15-17 kts wind range. A best ever Women’s fleet of 6 of the countries top slalom and speed racers has assembled in an enthusiastic group to enjoy great racing in Australia’s winter windsurf wonderland over the current 5 day championship.
After a short lunchbreak, competitors enjoyed a small increase in windspeed to actively contest a solid 1 hour GPS Freerace session in shallow half tide waters over the front beach and MilkPond areas on the North side of Green Island. In what was an exciting and full session, results at the top of the GPS rankings are very tight with Julien Ventalon edging out Tasmania’s Kaleb Smith. Cairns local and top GPS racer Kelly Morgan is in third with Brisbane powerhouse Brad Anderson in 4th. Tasmanian Dave Morehead raced strongly and finished ahead of the new slim version Murray Towndrow. More GPS results to follow asap once the extensive track downloads are complete.
Day 2 promises further increase in both wind and action, backed up by a further increasing forecast as the Championships progress.
Stay tuned as it is sure to get lively and super competitive in each of the Divisions.
