"I made it, even though the competition was super strong this year with the British world cup winner Jenna Gibson and Melek Toraman from Germany," said a delighted Heidi after the award ceremony. She reported on the competition: "We had three intense days of racing with winds of 65-85 km/h and I was able to win the first three heats. On the third day, things didn't go quite as planned and I had to settle for two second places." Jenna Gibson won these two heats and also clocked the highest speed over 500 metres at 39.59 knots. Unfortunately, the wind didn't play ball for the rest of the event.
Overall, Heidi Ulrich was satisfied with the five heats and her performance: "The battles between the women were really exciting," she summarised. "We always started together with the 40 men. So you had to really pull out your elbows to make sure you didn't get lost among all the men. But it was also great fun!"
An important factor in her success was her boyfriend Christian (Arnold), who decided not to take part himself in order to support Heidi as a caddy and carer. "This was super important because the wind was extremely gusty and shifted in all directions. It was therefore a bit of a lottery to catch the right gust and ride the right material." Defending her title at the Speed World Championships was another motivational boost for the Swiss rider: "The very close races have now spurred me on to work even harder on my windsurfing technique to get even better," she announces.
