Mentre eravamo a “pascolare” alla Cudù, poco distante (circa 100 km) a Marignane è andato in ondail primo “banco di prova” per gli slalomisti d’oltralpe, la prima tappa dell’AFF, Campionato Francese Slalom e Pascal Toselli ha ricominciato la stagione alla grande…

Marignane, south France and lots of wind, this has been the Eater weekend for all the French pro riders. First event of the AFF, French Slalom Championship.
Pascal Toselli, starts of the season by winning, and we are all aware on how high the level of the French competitors is, as often in the PWA, 5 of them are actually in the first 5 places!!
Exaclty this weekend it would have been also Alberto’s 30th birthday, and Pascal won. A great birthday present Alberto was able to receive from  Black Team!  Let’s find out more from the winner!
Was it the first time you won one French Championship event?
Yes this is the first that I win a AFF event and I am very happy to have finally made it happen, we had nice quite difficult conditions, and we could use 6.3 to 8.6m.
How was the feeling? Better than being on the podium at the PWA? Or a different feeling?
The two are not comparable, the PWA podiums last year are really something unique.. Although I am very happy to have won this first AFF event.
Marignane is your home spot? Was this an advantage or is it a home spot for many top riders in France?
The AFF event actually was on my home spot, which I know very well, and I’m very glad that I got the win at home. It’s always an advantage to be at home even though most of the other riders know this place from many years and they often come training.  We had a lot of events in this place, so it was nothing new for most of us.
In PWA there are many French riders having top 5 results. Why is this? Has Antoine Albeau motivated the young French windsurfers to be strong like him, or is it that you are all training together, or just great conditions in your country?
We are very fortunate in France in terms of conditions and spots, which vary a lot and the frequency of wind is amazing, this is of great help. We are also a large number of riders, we practice together and this pushes the level up. A dynamic that is created and helps us to improve. But 2014 was not just the French season which was exceptional, but there were and are many other well-represented nation.
Was all your gear tuned perfect? Which sizes did you use for sail and board?
I started to get used to my gear now. It is the beginning of the season and settings will evolve further in the next months. I used 6.3 / 7.2 / 7.9 / 8.6m AC1 and 95/115 / 135L WCSL 99 this weekend, but spent most of the time on the  7.9m and 115L
Now that you have used the AC-1zero15 in racing, where would you say that the development on the new sails brings you an advantage?
The first event of the year is always highly interesting  because is a first confrontation which shows whether the winter training and development on the material was effective. This is the first event,  but it’s a good to start to get the confidence  that all the material seems to work very well! I feel terribly well with the AC-1zero15 who still evolving in the right direction! It’s and easy to sail,  and the changes compared to 2014 are real. The weight loss was another real advantage.
Well done Pascal, next event: 23-25 May at Saint Malo.