One of the top three French senior windsurfing champions,
Antoine Questel (www.antoinequestel.com) returned to
his native Saint Barth in preparation for the 2006
season, as it is too cold in France
to continue training at the Fun Board center of the National
Sailing School
in Quiberon, where the Caribbean
champion has spent the past two years. Questel is
enjoying this break in his intensive training schedule by spending as much time
as possible in his favorite spot, the lagoon at Grand Cul
de Sac, where the winds have been extremely favorable for windsurfing this
winter.
One goal
the champion has set for himself this winter is to gain four kilos (8.8
pounds): “The boards are such today that at my current weight of 82 kilos
(approximately 180 pounds), I’m just not heavy enough. To obtain optimum
results, I should weigh 86 kilos (approximately 188.8 pounds),” he says.
To gain the desired pounds, Antoine has started a high-octane weight-lifting
program that should allow him to add the eight pounds of muscle he feels he
needs. During his stay in Saint-Barth, Antoine will
also seek sponsors to balance his budget for the 2006 season; a budget of just
over 41,000 euros.
Questel participated in The Formula Windsurfing World
Championships which took place from December 12 -17, 2005 in
Melbourne, Australia.
Competing with the French national team, he finished among the top three French
seniors. Seven races were disputed on slightly rough waters, with winds between
seven and 35 knots. Two races were held on the first day of the competition, at
the end of which Antoine finished in 34th place. As the competition concluded,
he finished in 29th place out of a total of 90 competitors. He finished in
fifth place among the overall French contingent. Antoine Albeau,
another member of the French National team, won the 2005 World Championships. Julien Quentel, from
Saint Martin, also had a great season on the national and
international level, finishing in 7th place. As for Antoine Questel:
“I am very happy with my results in 2005 because I met my personal goals.
And my classification in the championships allows me to maintain my status for
the next two years,” he says.
On
December 27, 2005, two days after he returned from the World Championships in
Melbourne, Antoine got some good news: the sports clothing company,
Sooruz, with whom negotiations had begun during the
nautical salon in Paris in early December, had decided to ‘sponsor’
Antoine, who will compete wearing Sooruz clothes and
put their logo on his sails. Known throughout the world of sailing and
windsurfing, Sooruz has asked Antoine to be its
ambassador in the West Indies.
If 2005
was a busy season for the young champion; Antoine Questel
will once again follow a robust schedule in 2006. He will compete in all
French, European, and World championship and tournament events for Slalom 42. His goal for the season?
To finish among the top 20 worldwide, and as one of the top three
in the French national championships.
