Last session in France

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You can see 100 windsurfers starting a race...

It is a melancholy feeling realizing that my year of windsurfing-en-provence is over. In the 10 months that we were in Aix, I managed to get 31 sessions on the water. 3 sessions were failures. 4 sessions were in Egypt. 6 sessions were on rental gear here in France. The entire year was a blast.

I did manage to get in one more session after the one where I miraculously sailed away from a Vulcan. This last session was at Le Jai on June 11, where they were hosting a mini Defi wind. I didn't have time or the equipment to sign up for the racing, but it sure looked like fun. There were 120 windsurfers on the water with a ton of gear on shore. There were only 50 kiters out down at the kite beach.

I failed on the 3 vulcans I tried, but got 3 nice upwind 360s in the straps.


Upwind 360 from Canadian Guy on Vimeo.

The busy French beach scene

I've packed up the board and sails to take back to Canada. Luckily Lufthansa allows windsurfers as baggage and the Fanatic Skate 108 board is doing fine after my 20 sessions on it. I'm also taking home the Turfdog land sailing board.

We are also making one last side trip in Europe before we go, this time to Club Vass in Greece. I'm thinking I'll get a few good days there and look forward to adding a few blog posts on that.

I'd recommend France as a windsurfing destination. The beach culture, the stores, the local clubs all make you feel welcome. The wind is pretty good too, certainly better than Ontario, Canada. I'm lucky to be able to travel and find great windsurfing locations!