top class sailing eventualy

No wind, speed sailing conditions, internet and being lazy has put the stoppers on the blog for a while.

I went to the bay of roses for a few days and am planning on going back there. The beach is wonderful and there is a nice parking area about 50 metres from the beach. The downside is Spain is not geared towards wild camping so the options are limited. The upside is food is a lot cheap than the south of France and if it's sunny you're guaranteed at least a force 4 to have a play in. Conditions are more geared towards bump and jump. But is still fun on a slalom board. I had one day on the C4 6.8 the Manta 59 with the C3 32 and had a total blast with this set-up. For info I cant see a better fin for the 59 other than the C3 Venom 32. Upwind or downwind it just did its job in the very choppy conditions. Out of the Manta 67 and 59, the 59 is a sweet board for choppy conditions. I have to say they are fragile though. Be gentle or witness marks will be obvious.

With my gas running out and Spanish petrol stations having no lpg filling facilities unless I went to Barcelona, I decided to go to Hyeres as there was wind forcasted there and I could sample the delights of the Almanarre speed strip. A couple of problems on the way. I had a flat tyre for some reason and I had the wrong adaptor for filling lpg in France. The numpty who fitted my gas gave me the wrong adaptor. So after a phone call to said numpty he posted the adaptor to the post office in Hyeres. Postage cost was £35. I nearly had kittens at the price. Oh and my sat nav went tits up as well. So I had to buy a new one of those as well.

Hyeres is lovely. It a little peninsula that works in any wind direction. The water is warmer than Leaucate, so swimming was good to go for a woos like me. With no wind turning up it was a lot of biking. Around 20 miles a day so i'm feeling a lot fitter than when I arrived in France. When the wind did turn up Almanare had onshore winds blowing around 20 knots the first day it arrived. I rigged the 7.5 C4 with the manta 67 and a C3 Venom 36. I had great fun racing the slalom dudes on their slalom kit across the bay. Length of the reaches were around 1 ½ miles. Excellent for the concentration on board and sail trim. I had no issues with the fin. No spin out or directional when fully powered. However with hindsight I would go for a 40cm Venom with this board. It just needs a little more little to get it going initially. The next day was blowing a lot harder onshore and the tide was low. So small waves were breaking. I rigged the 6.8 Demon C4 with the Venom 32 and the Manta 59. As I started towards the waters edge I noticed someone on a 4.2. So I was suspicious that I had over rigged slightly! After an hour of excitement I changed to the 6.0 and was a little more comfy to say the least.

Hyeres is quite expensive so I decided to make my way back to Leaucate and sample the hills on my mountain bike. One thing I love with France is the way bikes are catered for. Cycle routes are an integral part of the road system here. If the cycle route is not on the road there is a seperate pathway for bikes. It is cycling heaven. I went on one ride where I rode for 12 miles without once being on a road and it was all flat. Soap box time!!! Why the hell cant we do that in this country?? I used to ride 15 miles to work and had to run the gauntlet of riding on a bypass that had cars blasting past me at 80 mph. Why could they integrate a cycle path into the bypass??? Anyone from Cornwall can see this as a no brainer.... Have a cycle path from Penzance to Truro at the very least. Oh I forgot that would be too obvious.

During my stay at Leaucate I literaly stumbled upon a place that reminds us the horrible things humans do to each other. The camp de Rivesaltes used to be an interment camp for Jewish people in WW2. It was used because it was close to the main railway line that took these poor people to Belsen and Auschwitz concentration camps. The hundreds of buildings lay empty a silent reminder of atrocities that happened during that time. A very sad place.

After few days mountain biking in the hills. The Tramontana was forecast to hit Leaucate in the next couple of days. So I decided to try the teliski lagoon and see if I could tuck under the bank that looked so good on google earth. This was to be made harder as there was weed in the water that wrapped around the fin. So that put a stop to that. I did find out that I could hang on to the 6.8 Demon in shed loads of wind though. I noticed that most people were on 4 to 4.5s. I did have one wipeout when the board flew into the air and caught a rail and I stopped myself with a shin into the opposite rail. Ouch...

With Leaucate getting lower in my speed sailing estimation I emailed Martin van Meurs from gps-speedsurfing.com and asking him wether the Trench at Saint Marie De la Mare would be sailable. He said it may be silted up so would be un-sailable. I decided to throw caution to the wind and make the 100 mile trip. While driving there were so many lakes and banks that looked promising for a speed strip. Without a doubt there is a bank that would be as good a the Ray or Sandy point. As I drove through the town it seemed like I was driving through Spain instead of France. Images of bulls and horses were everywhere. I started up a sandy lane. And then a barrier, €8 to stay the night by the beach. Mildred my sat nav voice said I had a mile to go to the lat and long coords that I entered into it. My mouth was getting dry. Not from the heat but from getting near speed sailing central. Not carved by nature like the Ray or Sandy point. Carved by man with one goal in mind. To break the world speed sailing record. The lane got narrower. Usually I start to worry that I will get stuck in a dune or there is a huge ditch that I will fall in. Then I will have to hire a crane to lift the van out etcetera etcetera.... Not this time. I'm on a mission and no sand dune or ditch will dare get in the way.

“You have reached your destination”. Mildred said. I got out of the van and started my way towards where I though the holy place would be. There was a muddy salt encrusted expanse in front of me. Hoof and footprint were dotted here and there. As I made my way across I disturbed the flys that were sunning themselves in the burning relentless sunlight. As I got to the other side small puddles of salt water were quietly melting away in the heat. Careful not to get my flipflops wet I skirted deftly around them and promptly slipped on my arse. Clean shorts on today and muddy hands and legs. I carried on hoping no one saw my un-graceful fall. Then I saw it.

1000 metres of sand dredged out of the ground to form the perfect speed sailing course. Dug at an angle so it would be perfect for the huge Tramontana and Mistral winds that blow through here. Standing there in awe at the place. I thought of the videos of Finian, Antoine, Whitey and Oshea. All achieving records at this wonderful place. Martin van Meurs was right. The trench was half full. I surveyed the full length and the north end was fuller than the south end. I may have a chance to sail on the grail. Tomorrow will be the day.

Back to the van and check out the area. I could see that there were people rigging up in the distance so headed for there. The wind was blowing around 15 knots so rigged the C4 7.5 and the Manta 67 with the Venom 36. Little did I know that I was in slalom heaven. The wind was blowing offshore at about 100 degrees. The beach however is 6 kilometres long with hardly any lulls in the wind. So its up to you how far you want to go. I cant emphasise how good this place is. It is the best sailing experience I have ever had. Fully powered reaching that doesn't reach an end. All you have to concentrate on is board and sail trim. This place is not just a record breaking venue it's an epic venue for anyone who wants the bread and butter windsurfing that puts a huge grin on your face.

I met some top blokes as well. Among others Evan from seaclone.boards.free.fr and his friend Framck. They gave me their excellent local knowledge and tales on the trench. They all are well into their speed sailing. Both had speed slaom boards and were sailing the full length of the beach like yoyos. Neither had gps units but Evan borrowed one of mine and I will mail him his track and hopefully he will post his session. I'm hoping they will spread the word on the gps front as this place has huge potential in a Tramontana. The angle will be perfect in a NW wind.

The session where i had my fastest 10 second was my most painful. beating back up the course i hit the sand and went through my sail. to go through a Demon sail you have to hit it pretty hard. i have the bruises to coming up now.

The next day I tried the trench but the water was just too low. The bank broke the wind up too much so I had to go back to what is a windsurfing mecca. If the mistral blows there again I will certainly be back. One word of warning though. When the wind drops. Millions of tiny flys come out to harvest on your bodily fluids. That was when I made a hasty exit.