Matteo Iachino is the European Slalom Champion 2012 - An Interview

Two days ago the young Italian Slalom sailor Matteo Iachino won the IFCA Slalom European title at Roses in Spain. Matteo Iachino (ITA-140) is 22 years old and had his PWA Slalom debut three years ago, 2009 in Austria. This victory is already his second one, after winning the Swiss Championships in Almanarre. Within the very short period of only three years, Matteo managed to become a Slalom sailor, who can even keep up with the elite of the Slalom world. This year, he finished the first event of the season at Reggio Calabria in 17th position and the second event in South Korea in 19th position and he even made it into a losers final once. At the moment he is ranked as the 19th best PWA slalom sailor.

His victory at the IFCA Championships is probably Matteo´s biggest international success so far and a small sensation. He defeated big names and proved that he is a young sailor, to watch out for in the future. Read the interview with the new European Champion below.

Matteo at a jibemark in South Korea (Pic: PWA/Carter).

C7: Congratulations to your IFCA European Slalom title. Did you expect to win a title?

Matteo Iachino: Ahah, actually I didn’t know what I could do before the race, my personal goal was a top 5 result.

C7: How does it feel winning a big title for the very first time?

Matteo Iachino: I’m feeling very good and it let´s me see training hard is really the best way to improve and to get results.

C7: How was your night, after getting announced as the European Champion?

Matteo Iachino: I was already drunken during the prize giving and I spent the night with my friends celebrating the title.

C7: Did you realize the victory already?

Matteo Iachino: Still not entirely.

Matteo with full speed at Reggio, Italy (Pic: Carter/PWAworldtour 2012).

C7: What did you change from last to this season to make such a huge step forward? Changes in training etc.?

Matteo Iachino: I changed my training for sure. More gym, more running, but primarily more time on the water, testing equipment, training jibes, starting and everything in any condition. I have, what I think, the best available stuff on the market: F2 boards, Challengersails and AL360 booms and I believe in it.

C7: What gear were you using most at Roses?

Matteo Iachino: I was using the 7.8 Challenger Aero+ with the F2 SX Racing 69, when the wind was stronger and the 8.7 Aero+ with the SX Racing 82, when it was lighter. Only once I used the 9.5 m.

C7: What´s your next goal?

Matteo Iachino: I still have to learn a lot and to improve my windsurfing. So, I will keep on training to get better on the PWA Worldtour and in all other races in this season and in the next.