Windsurfing: Dunedin's northeasters blow for competitors

Wind has been in abundant supply in Dunedin this summer and competitors in this week's national windsurfing slalom championships will be hoping it stays around for a while yet.

The championships, being held in Dunedin for the third consecutive year, start on Thursday, and will see competitors sailing around Otago Harbour, just off Portsmouth Dr.

Dunedin Windsurfing Association co-organiser Jodi Taylor said Dunedin was ideal for the event, as the northeasterly winds which traditionally blew this time of the year made for great racing.

Slalom windsurfing was different from the windsurfing at the Olympics, where boards and sails were much heavier.

Taylor said the boards used this week were much smaller and, when combined with a smaller sail, could go much quicker and easily get off the water, which made for some spectacular sights.

That made for exciting racing as competitors weaved around five buoys during short races.

The competitors will be racing most of the day, with up to 10 rounds of heats every day, and finals in the weekend.

Best conditions were when the wind blew about 20 knots, though they could race in up to 30 knots.

There are 36 competitors in the championships, with James Dinnis, from Taranaki, returning to defend his title, though he will face stiff competition from Dunedin's Gareth Wood, who was the 2008 champion.

Queenstown's Sue Bradley is back to defend her women's title.