Windsurfing – day 5 & end

Mistral wind again. This time coming straight from the north, i.e. the land. We constantly drift towards the other bay. But it is such a pleasure to feel the wind in the sail.

The waves are much rougher and the trickiest part is to get started. Once you have the dead point, turn into the wind and get to handle the sail, the speed is amazing! It starts to feel natural to have the ankles balancing the board to the moves of the sea, while the knees are flexible; the abdominals tense and the shoulders drawn back. Maximum stability in the upper body while the legs do the balance part and the arms hold the sail.

Almost every time the teacher comes over to give instructions or correct something – “on entre les fesses” – I fall or have to stop. It seems that my entire being is busy with controlling every part of my body to handle the surfboard…

Another 20 minutes track back to the beach all along the beautiful scenery put an end to an amazing 5 day experience.

Summary

After trying and failing at surfing, I was surprised how relatively easy the windsurfing went. The sail gives a perfect counterweight to the body.

Of course, there were still some  muscles hurt, I didn’t suspect the existence of and I was totally exhausted the first two days. The best were my legs, especially the calves full of bruises and scratches from the rough surface of the board…

It would have been perfect to have another week but even as it was – short, intensive and making speedy progress – it was absolutely great!

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Windsurfing – day 4

Mistral wind; coming from North-East. We’re dragged by the boat to the very eastern limit of the bay and finish on the opposite side. The wind is perfect to learn how to balance the board when being half dragged of by its force.

For the first time, the exciting feeling of getting the board to some speed but very happy at the fact that I have only a small sail – 2.5 m². On the way back home – tracked by the boat, the beautiful sight of Cap Canaille:

Windsurfing – day 2 & day 3

Day 2
I have no clear memory of this day but it must have been good because than came…

Day 3
I finally start to understand what the point mort – dead point – is for. Standing on the board, holding the sail only by the rope – like a flag – the board turns all by itself into the wind, i.e. the best starting position.

We’re out on the sea just in time to catch the upcoming thermic wind – from the sea to the land. At our stage – beginners and advanced beginners – we always go in the direction of the wind.

After one hour, I find myself at the proximity to the beach and get the assignment of sailing back to the landing area instead of being dragged back by the boat. Managing 5 halfturns and departures without falling, I sail ‘home’ and feel very proud of myself.

Riding with the wind

There aren’t many sports I want to learn but one that has been tempting me for a while is: Windsurfing. Once I was sure of having two weeks of summer holiday, the decision was taking to spend one of them on a board.

Staying with a friend in Marseille, I found a course in Cassis which is 20 minutes by car or 1 hour by bus, train, metro and bus again. Anyway…

Hoping for the best, I didn’t have any particular expectations. In the end, it turned out to be a week of sea, sunshine and good surprises. The first one was that the teacher was a woman, the second that my sense of balance is quite good. But one thing after the other:

Day 1
Arriving at the club just in time, we sorted out board and sail sizes, wetsuits and insurances. All boards were then attached to another and dragged by boat out of the beach are. My first exercise: Make the board turn once left and then right while lifting the sail over it. Though I spent clearly more time in the water, I managed one turn in the end and even got the sail into starting position: wishbone in the hands. The big advantage of this first day: hardly any wind.