Learning to Windsurf Foil has been something I’ve wanted to do for quite some time. I first discovered Windfoiling back in 2000 when I saw Rush Randle and Kevin Ozee foiling at Lower Kanaha in Maui. The rudimentary foils they were using then were often to be seen sitting in the then Neil Pryde Maui (now Adventure Sports Maui) store. But, at that time the foils were heavy and unrefined constructions far from the equipment that is available to any of us these days and not available for the general public to try at all.

Fast forward 20 years, and foiling has become available to the masses. There are a number of brands offering windsurf-specific or crossover foils, and there is more equipment coming on the market on almost a daily basis.

I first tried foiling myself in 2017 on one of the original Bic Foils. My first session was what I considered to be reasonably successful, as I managed to fly for about 200m with relative ease. A couple of months later, I tried again on an RRD Foil, which was a complete disaster with a lot of crashes and no sustained flight. Third time is the charm they say and on holidays in Cabarete, I rented a foil and got some tips from ex-PWA pro Andy Pusch which saw me getting some sustained flights by the end of the session.

Lately, with the delivery of my Smik Mongrel and Slingshot Hoverglide windsurf foil, I’ve been getting out on the water as much as possible and spending a lot of time learning to windsurf foil.

Setup

In general, you want the centre of lift of the front wing between your feet. If you are overpowered, then you can set the foil backwards (or your foot straps or mast foot forward). This reduces the lift on the foil and helps you set down if you need to. In lighter winds, setting the foil forwards (or the foot straps/mast base backwards) will help give you more lift. As a basic rule, I have found it easier to sustain height with the centre of lift of the front wing situated between my feet.

Most of the equipment on the market today has a deep Tuttle finbox, which does not allow much movement of the foil position unless your foil offers different fuselage positions (like the Slingshot). With these boards, any tuning will be down to moving the mast foot or footstraps. Some crossover boards, like the Smik Mongrel (which I am using) have tracks for a plate-mounted foil pedestal, which allows more fine-tuning possibilities.

For learning, using a shorter mast may make it less scary as you will not rise too high, and if you overfoil (go so high that the foil comes out of the water), the resulting drop when the foil loses lift is less harsh and easier to recover. Once you are comfortable, then you can move to a longer mast, which allows more room to correct if the foil starts rising too much.

A higher boom than when normal windsurfing will help you stand up a little straighter over the foil and offer more control.

Getting Going

At this point, very small movements in your body position affect the foil. Moving very slightly back will cause you to rise (and potentially overfoil), and moving forward will cause you to touch down.

Staying Up

Once on the foil initially, I found it easier to sail closer to the wind. This makes it easier to depower the sail and control speed. As the foil accelerates, it increases lift and thus turning downwind makes it feel like you will more easily overfoil and potentially get pulled over the front. Initially, practising closer to the wind than a beam reach seems to allow more control.

Once up, it’s possible to practice controlling the ride height by pushing forward gently and allowing a light touchdown, then shifting the weight back slightly to rise again. Repeat this again and again until you start to find the balance point where the foil will stay flying steadily at a reasonably constant height with only small corrections in body position.

Initially, I sailed with no back straps, which allowed me to move my back foot if necessary to help get the balance right. After successfully getting a few sustained flights under my belt, I put the back straps on and looked at tuning the foil to sit between the straps.

Downwind

I found that once I could get steady flights upwind, it was easier to unhook and keep the sail forward on extended hands as I turned downwind. Then I could push my knees and head forward if I needed to reduce lift.

With time and a bit more comfort, you can stay sheeted in, bear away and shift your hips a little further forward to help maintain ride height without over foiling.

Mistakes

One of my own most common faults I encountered was reverting to an overpowered windsurfing technique in the gusts. When I windsurf (on a wave board) as a gust hits, I tend to drop my hips, bend my knees and make myself compact to allow the board to float over the chop, accelerate and make it more difficult for the gust to pull me off my feet. With the foil doing this takes the weight off the wing, allowing it to lift and get out of control. When foiling, as the gust hits, you need to stay upright over the board and shift the weight forward to counteract the increased lift as the board accelerates in the gust. Almost like a slalom technique, but with even more pressure into the board through quite straight legs.

Foiling has given me a newfound love of windsurfing here in Switzerland. Instead of buying an 8m sail and 130l freeride board to make use of the light wind conditions we tend to get here, I replaced my wave SUP with a windSUP/Foilboard, and now I can sail in the same light winds with my existing wave sail quiver. The learning curve of foiling is becoming addictive, and I can’t wait to get back on the water again at the end of every session.

What’s next?

Now with stable flight ticked off, I’ve been working on foiling gybes and from there who knows… That’s the beauty of foiling. For someone who’s been windsurfing for more than 30 years, learning to windsurf foil is allowing me to experience my windsurfing firsts all over again. First time planning, first gybe, first jump… It’s like I’ve turned the clock back 30 years and am experiencing my youth all over again, and I can’t wait for what the future brings.

The post Learning to Windsurf Foil – First Steps appeared first on All Winds Adventures.

The STX 11’6″ Touring SUP is a 3.5m long SUP with 270 litres of volume, manufactured with a double-layer construction. The board weighs a little more than some other boards of its size, but the double-layer construction makes it a reliable, durable and stiff iSUP for its 799CHF price tag.

Unpacking

All STX SUPs come with a backpack, pump and aluminium paddle (except the Freeride 280 Windsurf Board). While the quality of the backpack and paddle is not amazing, they are perfectly functional.

The backpack is made of a relatively lightweight material with very simple padded shoulder straps. There is ample room in the backpack to easily pack the SUP back in after usage. While perfectly functional (and has proven reasonably durable) it does look a little cheaper than the backpacks I’ve seen from other brands. Ironically, while looking cheaper than the backpack I received with another brand of SUP (which costs more than twice the price of the STX) the STX backpack has survived a season’s use much better.

The paddle is a very basic aluminium paddle, which, while functional, is possibly the one thing I would personally like to upgrade in this package. It is at least comparable to the paddle which you would receive in any other bundled package.

The pump is where STX starts to prove its value for money. It’s a good quality pump that can be set to either inflate or deflate, which is great when you want to pack the board up as small as possible. I’ve ended up using the STX pump as a matter of preference when inflating other SUPs of other brands.

Rolling the board out, you get a sense of the materials being more sturdy than quite a few of the other boards I have tried. In terms of build quality, the board is comparable to boards from many more expensive brands. The double-layer construction inflates to provide a very solid, stiff board.

On the Water

The quality of the deck pad is good, and the board is very comfortable to stand on. Once on the water, the board is stable and paddles efficiently without any noticeable feeling of bending under my 80kg. We have efficiently paddled the board two up with the 270 litres of volume, providing enough flotation for two adults on flat water.

The narrow nose of the board rides efficiently through chop if the water state gets rougher. However, like all iSUPs, this board is quite a handful when the wind picks up. It is certainly not any worse than any other board I have tested in this respect.

Once finished paddling, the board rolls very easily and fits without any difficulty in the supplied backpack. If you want to have things fit a little bit better together, you can use the deflate function of the pump to reduce the space the board needs when rolled up in the bag. This allows ample room in the backpack for anything else you would like to take with you on your way to the lake.

The bungee cord on the front of the board provides ample storage space for a dry bag with a picnic and possibly some warmer clothing in it. The handle is comfortably padded and does not cause any difficulties when carrying the board over a longer distance. The supplied fin uses a slide-in clip system rather than a plate and screw. This is much easier to set up and definitely saves a minute or two when setting the board up to get on the water. It does mean that if you were to lose a fin you would need to find a suitable replacement, whereas the standard US box fins would be easier to come by if necessary.

Perhaps the only thing that is missing from this package for me is a leash. Despite having a number of SUPs to test over the summer of 2019 from Oxbow, Bic, Quatro, STX and Fanatic, this board became my board of choice. Coming in at close to half the price of the Fanatic, Oxbow and Quatro, the board offers performance in comparison with the best of the more expensive boards.

Summary

The STX 11’6″ inflatable SUP is a great value for money double-layer board, which will provide many hours of fun on the water. The performance is comparable with much more expensive boards, and in my opinion, STX is probably the most underrated brand of SUPs that I am aware of on the market at the moment.

Update 2020/21

STX hasn’t rested on their Laurels with their iSUPs. For the 2020 season, they updated the construction to make the boards lighter without losing any of their stiffness. The new fusion technology fuses the two layers of the SUP instead of sticking them together with glue, which means a considerable saving in weight without any sacrifice to performance. The STX SUPs are one of the stiffest boards out there and stiffer than almost all of the brands, which sometimes cost double their price.

Availability

The board is available in Switzerland through Swiss Alpine Adventure/All Winds Adventures. Use the contact link above.

The post STX 11’6″ Touring Inflatable SUP – Review appeared first on All Winds Adventures.

Everyone likes to get great holiday snaps, but sometimes it’s nice to get something a bit different. Technology advancements now mean that the kind of photographs previously only possible by professional photographers are now achievable by the average person.

The GoPole Dome is a simple product that can provide stunning photos if you are willing to take a little time and effort to figure it out. I recently purchased one before going on holiday in the hope of taking some memorable holiday snaps. The dome is a Plexiglas half sphere which mounts a GoPro camera at a distance from the Plexiglas screen. This allows you to capture over/under photographs while taking part in watersports.

Before using the dome, I did online research to try and figure out how best to utilise it. In the end, I discovered a lot of the techniques I tried based on online advice did not provide the desired results. However, with a bit of trial and error, I did get some shots I was happy with, but ultimately, there is still a lot of luck involved.

Mounting the camera, the camera clamps securely into a Frame at the back of the dome. The clamping force pushes the camera into the dome, providing a seal to ensure that no water gets into the device. I also used a GoPole Bobber floating mount to attach to the dome and make it easy to point and shoot when out in the water.

When everything is assembled, the system feels quite firm. First impressions in the water were positive, except that with lots of sunlight, it is not easy to see the screen. This is not a huge problem, as the screen is obscured by water when taking over/under pictures anyway.

A few of the tips I read online suggested trying to shoot at an angle, either up or down, to do 70/30 style images, but when we tried doing this it was almost impossible to frame the pictures in the desired way. We found it easier to do 50/50 images for a few reasons. Firstly, it’s easier to frame something either over or underwater (while still having scenery above the surface in the frame. Secondly, due to water usually not being glassy flat it was easier to salvage something out of pictures when a piece of chop washed across the dome.

Drops on the globe can be quite unwanted when shooting in rougher water or once the dome has been fully submerged at any point. We found that briefly spitting on the globe and rubbing it in and then dunking the dome in the water immediately before taking a photo created the best pictures.

Once you take pictures, you need to be quite careful not to let water into the dome, as usually there will be some dripping once the seal between the camera and the dome is broken.

We also noticed that the dome itself is quite easy to scratch. I inadvertently touched the dome with a SUP paddle so gently that I didn’t even notice doing it, and there was a quite noticeable scratch on the lens right in the frame. It’s quite important to protect the Dome. It might not be a bad idea to maybe make a water case for the dome out of an old wetsuit.

One other issue we noticed when experimenting with the dome is that when shooting side on to the sun the image can be backlit, causing a reflection of the back of the dome in the picture you take. It’s best to position yourself to shoot down the sun if at all possible when using the dome.

Summary

A great piece of equipment which compliments a GoPro, allowing you to take pictures that only a few years ago would have required some very expensive equipment to shoot. Somewhat delicate but well worth the money.

Feel free to contact us or leave a comment for further information.

The post GoPole Dome – Review appeared first on All Winds Adventures.

With a window for a holiday coming up, I tend to spend a lot of time looking at Windguru or Windy to try and figure out where the best place to go will be. In this situation, the North West of Spain (Galicia) was looking quite promising.

With that decided, it was time to get some flights and looking online, we managed to book a couple of tickets from Zurich to Santiago de Compostela at a reasonable price, flying with Vueling. It took some further phone calls to arrange our excess baggage through Vueling customer service.

Booking last-minute to follow the wind does not usually leave much time to pack. This means getting Windsurfing, Kitesurfing and SUP gear all ready to fly last minute is a bit of a challenge. How much goes in what bag, are the bags underweight? What problems will we have at check-in? All these issues lead to some stress until that moment you drop everything off at the oversized baggage counter, and the holiday can finally begin. Luckily on this trip, everything went smoothly, and before we knew it, we were picking up our rental car in Santiago de Compostela and finding our way to our first overnight stay in A Coruna.

It felt really great to walk on the beach in A Coruna and breathe in the salty air. The first evening in A Coruna was spent checking weather forecasts and deciding where to go the next day.

Galicia

To cut a long story short, we were not lucky with the conditions in Galicia. We discovered an amazing coastline with beautiful villages and a huge potential for windsurfing, but unfortunately for us, the forecasted wind never materialised. We will definitely go back again, but on this trip, we made a tactical decision after a couple of days to head south to Portugal. The Portuguese coastline benefits from the Nortada effect, which thermally accelerates any northerly airflow in the region.

Having been there once before, I knew that Viana do Castelo was not far away and benefited from the Nortada. Recently, a PWA Slalom and Freestyle event had absolutely ballistic conditions here, so it felt like a safe bet to cut our losses and head there.

Viana do Castelo

Arriving in Viana to find many kites in the sky, we immediately felt we had made the right choice. We rented a kitesurf and windsurf locker on the beach from the Viana Beach Centre and then went to get something to eat and get a good nights sleep for a promising forecast the next day.

The Town

Viana is a bustling harbour town on the north of Portugal. There are plenty of cafes and restaurants in the town, and finding something to eat for pretty much every taste is easily possible. The town is on the north side of the Limia estuary, and the beach Windsurfing/Kitesurfing area is on the southern side of the Estuary. There is one bridge to get across, but you will need a car to get around unless you leave your gear (or rent) at one of the beach centres. There is also a water taxi from the town across the estuary to the beach areas.

Conditions

As already mentioned, Viana benefits from the Nortada. If the weather is sunny, any northerly airflow will be strengthened, providing perfect cross to cross off-shore wind at the northern end of the Praia de Cabedelo. The further south on the beach you go, the more side-shore the wind gets. The wind can be a little gusty on the first day of a Nortada, but as the days go on it tends to get stronger and more consistent. In the time we were there, I was sailing 4.7 and 5.3 on my 85-litre wave board, and my Partner used everything from a 6m to a 10m kite.

As the wind gets stronger (or there is a swell running), the waves get larger the further down the beach you go. Right up by the Harbour wall, the waves are usually (depending on swell direction) somewhat smaller, and they increase in size as you travel south along the beach. This provides a great possibility for people to start out sailing wave,s and as they feel more confident, they can move further down the beach.

The shelter of the harbour wall provides really flat water (but somewhat gusty winds if you are a windsurfer) if you stay right at the north end of the beach. As you venture out past the shelter of the wall you start to get more of a rolling swell which is good for practising small jumps.

The Viana Beach Centre provides tuition in Windsurfing, Kitesurfing and Surfing, and we were pretty impressed with the set-up that they had there. There is also another water sports centre attached to the Feel Viana Hotel, a little further south on the beach. At the time of writing, we have not yet gotten to stay there (although we do plan to go back)

The Viana Beach Centre has equipment from Duotone (Kites and Windsurf Sails) and Fanatic (Windsurf Boards and SUPS). The Feel Viana centre has mainly JP and Neil Pryde equipment with Cabrinha Kites. Both locations also have surf shops where you can pick up anything you may have forgotten or broken.

Summary

Viana is great, it offers windsurfers and kitesurfers who travel together the opportunity to share time on the water. (not always easy) We really enjoyed the atmosphere (and the food) around the Beach Centre in Viana. The storage facilities were great and saved the long walk over the boardwalks with our equipment each day. It is definitely a place we plan on going back to.

Nearest Airport: Porto, Portugal, although Santiago de Compostela is also possible.

Accommodation: If you can get a room there, it’s hard to beat the location of the Feel Viana hotel. (but will be staying there in 2020) We were too last-minute to stay there and stayed instead in the Absolute Design Hotel and Hotel do Parque. (booking over booking.com last minute) Both hotels were of acceptable quality, but the Hotel do Parque was starting to look a little tired. Absolute Design Hotel is in the middle of the Town and Parking may sometimes be a problem.

Kitesurf or Windsurf: Both.

Wind/Kite Surf Schools: Viana Beach Centre or Feel Viana

Car Rental: We rented from the airport in Santiago de Compostela, and although it was further away than Porto, car rental at the time of visiting and writing did seem to be cheaper from the Spanish Airport.

Wind: Prevailing wind in Summer is the Nortada can blow 20 to 40 knots side shore from the right. With more days of strong wind or with any swell from a westerly direction, it can get quite decent waves.

The post Galicia and Portugal appeared first on All Winds Adventures.

The STX Inflatable Windsurf 280 is the board that initially introduced me to the STX brand. I first discovered the board on display in a shop and it’s simplicity, versatility and price point immediately appealed to me. I had sailed a few WindSUPs, but this board seemed like it had more to offer. On paper it seemed to be a “Jack of all trades” which could be used by beginner and intermediate windsurfers, but with straps and a release edge so that planning was also possible. I was immediately interested in the concept and contacted STX to try and get my hands on a test board.

The Board

The Board is 280cm long and has 280 litres of volume. The shape is very simple with a rounded nose and square tail and a glued on “rail” starting from approximately where you would expect the planning area to start. This rail is to help with water release assisting the board in getting onto the plane. Most inflatable boards have rounded edges which sucks into the water and prevents the board from releasing.

The STX features two fin boxes in the rear of the board and one centre fin in the middle. The centre fin is removable for planning conditions in the hands of more advanced riders. All three fin boxes protrude from the base of the board which does increase drag and there is a little flex in the rear fins when loaded laterally at higher speeds. The rear fin boxes are US slot boxes with a screw fin system and the centre box uses a slide in fin with a clip similar to what is found on the other STX Stand Up Paddle Boards.

The mast base is a single threaded hole in the board and STX recommend that you use a “cardan” (hinged) mastfoot with this board to reduce loads which could potentially pull the mast base out of the board. The mast foot thread is covered with a sticker saying “recreational use only” when you first unpack the board.

Unpacking

The STX 280 Windsurf comes in the same bag as all STX inflatable SUPs. In the bag there is the same high quality pump supplied with all STX boards (The deflate function comes in handy with this model), three fins and the repair kit. The 280 Windsurf does not come with a paddle.

When first unrolling the board it is worthwhile remembering how it was folded up and packed in the bag as with the extra fin box it is not necessarily obvious how to best fold the board to pack it away at the end of the session.

With the supplied pump the STX Windsurf board pumps in under 10 minutes. The board feels quite hard and stiff for an inflatable board when on the water with 15 psi of pressure. The valve on the board states that it can take up to 20 psi, but I am not aware of how this might affect your warranty.

On the Water

Advanced Sailor

For a more advanced sailor the board definitely feels different to a hard board. But it would be unfair to compare a 899CHF inflatable windsurf board to a 2000CHF+ Carbon board. At 80kg I could feel a very slight give in the deck which felt similar to how a slightly delaminated hard board might feel.

The volume is immediately evident and if you are used to sailing smaller boards it does take a moment to get used to this. But, bearing away in about 18 knots of wind the board started to rise onto the plane as you would expect with just a little extra drag compared to a hard board. Once planing you do feel a little drag from the external fin boxes but the board does release to give a proper sensation of windsurfing. I managed to get almost 20 knots out of the board which was not much slower than the speed I was going on my wave board in the same conditions.

The volume makes the board very stable off the plane and normal low speed maneuvers like tacking and gybing are very easy on this board. Due to the good quality deckpad which provides considerable grip the board is ideal for practicing any manouvers you might want to learn in lighter winds. Once planing foot steering works, but the board is quite challenging to plane through a gybe preferring a flarve technique of foot steering in and flaring the board out.

Beginners

The high volume of the STX along with the soft edges and good deck pad lend it to being an ideal beginner/intermediate board. I’ve thought beginners up to 100kg on the STX over the summer of 2019 and it has proven to be a very dependable board for those taking their first steps.

The relatively short length and centre fin make the board very maneuverable and with flat water conditions most beginners can learn and progress quickly. The stable platform allows total beginners to concentrate on learning how to handle the sail and progressing sailors can use this stability to think about their technique rather than just trying to stay on the board.

I would go as far as to say that this is possibly one of the boards that I have had most success with in teaching beginner and intermediate windsurfers.

SUP

While developed primarily as a Windsurf board, the 280 Windsurf also works quite well as a Stand Up Paddle board. At 9’2″ the board is shorter than most other inflatables, but offers great stability and maneuverability at the cost of a very slight reduction in gliding ability. When paddling with someone else on a 10’6″ inflatable I did not really feel disadvantaged, but the board did feel like it needed just a tiny bit more energy over a standard SUP. The only thing missing (in my opinion) for using the 280 Windsurf as a SUP board would be some bungee cord on the nose to allow carrying a drybag along when going for a paddle.

Some taller or heavier people I’ve had out to try out a range of SUPs actually choose the STX Windsurf board as their SUP of choice, due to it’s stability. So, the STX 280 Windsurf can definitely also be used as a SUP board if you are so inclined (paddle sold separately)

Packing Up

Packing was probably the most challenging element of using the STX 280 Windsurf, but with a little practice this can also be mastered. Due to the box for the centre fin the board can not be simply rolled up like other iSUPs. The board first needs to be folded from the nose to about half way along it’s length, then the tail needs to be folded over the back of the fin boxes and the board folded from the tail to meet the section which has been folded from the nose. Using this method ensures that the board can fit easily in the bag despite the extra fin box. Using the deflate function on the supplied pump to remove all the air from the board definitely makes folding the board easier.

Summary

The STX 280 Windsurf is a great value for money board for a family who would like one board to do it all for Stand Up Paddle or Windsurfing. The ability to store the board in it’s backpack greatly helps with storage and transport. For those who already windsurf at a higher level the board is a great toy for lighter winds in the summer or to teach your family and friends to the sport. If like me you are generally sailing in higher winds on small wave boards the STX can be a great compliment and allow you to get out and play in the summer on days when you would otherwise sit on the beach.

Availability

The board is available in Switzerland through Swiss Alpine Adventure/Wannabe Watersports. Use the contact link to contact us.

The post STX Inflatable Windsurf 280 – Review appeared first on All Winds Adventures.

On moving to Switzerland, I would have been happy to go sailing at all, never mind sail in a regatta. I found it difficult to find somewhere that I could even occasionally get my hands on a boat and go sailing. This wasn’t helped by the lack of information available about what options I had to get on the water. Having my own windsurfing equipment made it easy to explore Switzerland with a board and sail. But, due to the difficulty in renting sailing boats, I essentially gave up sailing when I moved to Switzerland.

Move forward 17 years, and out of the blue, I got the opportunity to sail in a Swiss Dart 18 Regatta. Without knowing exactly what to expect, I nervously accepted the offer, checked with my third-party liability insurance that it would cover regatta sailing and got my gear together to sail for the first time in 17 years.

Initially, I assumed I would be crewing for the Vice-President of the Dart Association of Switzerland (IDAS), but on getting to the Regatta site, I discovered I was supposed to be helming! At this point, the nerves truly kicked in. I had not sailed a Catamaran in 17 years and had never actually sailed a Dart before. While I was somewhat familiar with the boats (friends sailed them back home in Ireland) and I spent some time teaching people to sail in Hobie Cats in Hawaii, up to this point, I had never actually sailed a Dart myself. Furthermore, all my regatta experience was entirely in monohulls, and this all felt like a lifetime ago. I guess there is nothing like getting thrown in at the deep end!

Preparation

The first order of the day was to put the boat together, which was reasonably straightforward. With the help and support of the IDAS regulars, we quickly got everything ship-shape and ready to go. At registration, it was possible to get a Swiss Sailing day licence for the regatta, which made participation quite easy. At midday, we had the skippers’ meeting and then it was time to change and get the boats out on the water.

The Racing

Launching from the Sailing Club in Brunnen with no wind, we paddled across the lake to the wind line. Once the northerly thermal started to kick in, we could sail down to the start line. I was feeling rusty and had to keep my wits about me to ensure I reacted correctly and did not dump us unceremoniously into the water. By the time we got to the start area, we had only practised a couple of reaches before the first start sequence.

Due to the fact that almost everyone else competing are regulars at world championship level (my crew included!), I decided to sit at the back and try not to get in the way. Tactics were simple, wait for everyone to start and then just sail the course trying to learn the boat a little.

3, 2, 1… This was it, the horn sounded, the other boats went, and from the back of the field, I pulled the main sheet in and steered us over the line. The boat lurched forward, and my crew was straight out on the wire, constantly calling gusts, shifts, other boats and giving me tactical options. It was clear she was used to sailing with people far better than me! To my great surprise, we were no longer the last boat at the windward mark and on the first downwind, we were covering other boats and starting to get into the mix of things.

Between races one and two, we took a few moments to go for a quick blast reaching across the lake. I put the boat up on one hull, trying to build up feeling and confidence before getting in the starting sequence for race two. Each race built more confidence, we got more involved in the starts, and by the last race, we were starting to play in the front half of the field.

The Social

On return to land, we packed up the boats and enjoyed a sociable evening. All participants ate together and relived the days’ happenings on the water in a jovial and welcoming way.

Unfortunately, due to other engagements, I could only participate in the Regatta for one day, but it felt really great to get back to sailing again. I realised how specific sailing muscles really are, though and I could barely walk the next day.

The aftermath

In general, the experience was positive, and the Dart class was really open and welcoming. I was truly grateful to get this opportunity to sail again after so long. It definitely opened doors for me to get on the water more often. Subsequently, I got access to a Dart 18, which I now regularly sail on Lake Zug and have even taken part in another Dart Regatta.

In Switzerland, regattas have slightly different rules compared with just sailing normally. For one, you don’t need to have your boat registered to sail in a Regatta. Also, the requirements for equipment are those overseen by the regatta organisers rather than the local authority. You are required to have third-party liability insurance and a racing licence. The latter can usually be taken out on a per-event basis at the event.

If you would like to get involved in Regatta sailing in Switzerland, then get in touch with the Swiss Class Association for the type of boat you would like to compete in. Since taking that first step, there have been other opportunities to get sailing or crewing on other boats opening up to me.

For more information, read our post on Sailing in Switzerland and get yourself out on the water as soon as possible.

The post Sailing in a Swiss Regatta appeared first on All Winds Adventures.

Living in Switzerland, I have long been looking for a “go-to” spot for windsurfing. I’d been to Corsica and had a few sessions there, but for some reason, it just didn’t quite gel with me (yet). Then, a few years ago I saw a photograph on social media of ex wave world champion – Kauli Seadi boosting an aerial over a huge section of a perfect starboard tack down the line reef break. Thinking this must be somewhere like the Mentawais I was surprised to find out that it was in fact Sardinia!

After a little research, I discovered the spot smack bang in the middle of Sardinia’s west coast. With a bit more time online I discovered that getting to Sardinia from Switzerland was surprisingly easy… I decided it was time to pack my car and take a road trip to find out what Sardinia is all about. I’ve now been back many times. Sardinia offers a wide variety of conditions in beautiful surroundings, with a reasonable infrastructure in a location that is surprisingly easy to get to from Central Europe

Getting There

I generally opt to drive to Sardinia for a number of reasons. It’s only a 5-hour drive (from Zurich) to Genoa, where there is an overnight ferry directly to Sardinia. If you take the ferry at 8 pm you arrive well rested in Sardinia at 8 am the next morning. After boarding the ferry, there is time to eat something, get a good night’s sleep and wake up the next morning ready to go. For me, that counts as only 5 hours of effective travel time to get there. There is no time lost picking up a rental car, no airport security and no long check-in lines. In general a much more relaxed travel experience. I can get off the ferry, having had a good night’s sleep and go straight to my spot of choice.

The ferries have also (so far) proved to be very uncomplicated to book. I usually book my ferry last minute to the port which is closest to where I want to sail on the first day. Porto Torres for anywhere North, West or South or Olbia for the North East.

The Island

Sardinia is an island of about 210km long and 110km wide with a coastline of 1849km and many beautiful beaches. The climate is Mediterranean, so even in winter it is reasonably mild and sitting in the middle of the Med it tends to experience most of the usual winds of the region from Mistral to Scirocco to Tramontana.

Many people think immediately of Porto Pollo when they think about wind or kitesurfing in Sardinia. While this location does benefit from strong winds funnelling through the Straits of Bonifacio, I find Porto Pollo to be overcrowded and quite clichéd. Add that to parking difficulties, attitude, crowds and the last time I was there, theft from parked cars, it is definitely a spot I tend to avoid when visiting Sardinia.

Windsurf/Kitesurf Spots

Below, I will attempt to list just a few of the potential wind and kitesurfing spots on the island. This list barely touches the surface of the spots which can be sailed on Sardinia. There are many more spots in between these locations, which, in certain conditions, would deserve a mention. The Kite and Windsurfing Guide of Europe can be a great starting point for discovering the island. But, we’ve also sailed a number of places not listed in the book and had some fun sessions.

Porto Liscia: This spot is windsurfing only but offers similar conditions to Porto Pollo, although sometimes can be less crowded. Works in Easterly and Westerly winds and in my experience, had pretty flat water.

La Maddalena: This is an island (along with Caprera) which can be reached by ferry from Palau. There are a few places on the island that can provide the possibility to launch, depending on wind direction. During high season be aware that many beaches have buoyed off swimming areas which should be respected. Having said that if you look around you may get a chance to get on the water without any crowds.

Rena Majore: Rena Majore works best in a Northerly wind after a few days of Mistral have sent waves into the bay. I’ve tried to sail here in Northwesterly winds, hoping to get enough angle to get out, but found it too onshore. It’s a beautiful beach with stunning surroundings, but difficult to get good wave conditions. In my experience, a more bump and jump location than a wave spot.

La Ciacca: This spot works best in a Westerly wind, which brings port tack side shore conditions. There are reefs on both sides of the beach which can pick up quite small waves even with just windswell. If there are any waves running, there is quite a strong current here so you should be quite sure in your launching and coming back to the same spot. Launching a kite here is difficult but not impossible. On a good day, expect to see a large number of windsurfers on the water.

Platamona: Platamona is a long beach to the east of Porto Torres. It should work quite well in easterly or westerly winds, but as soon as there is any swell running, the currents are quite strong and the wave period is very small. Getting out requires a reasonable amount of power and some good timing.

Stintino: La Pelosa beach sticks far out to the north and gets strong easterlies that do may not make it the whole way into Platamona. The wind is almost directly onshore at the launch. But, once you get into the lee of Isola Piana the water is a little flatter. If you get upwind from the beach at La Pelosa (or from the windsurf centre) you will find nice bump and jump conditions. Further out, just to the south-west of the Island, there is a small breaking wave, but the wind is directly onshore with respect to the wave.

Alghero: In a southerly wind, Alghero can become a great wave spot. The lighthouse directly out from the main beach has a reef extending off the north end. With a decent swell and a strong southerly wind, this can offer some really nice down-the-line wave riding. It works best if there is some time for the swell to become organised; otherwise, the sections are scrappy and do not link together well. But, with the right conditions, it can be a perfect down the line port tack reef break. With northwesterly winds, Alghero can also be quite a good freeride spot.

Funtana Meiga: With northerly winds, Funtana Meiga can provide really nice starboard tack side-shore conditions with some great wave riding. There is a current running which can make it difficult to get going on the way out unless you rig big. The launch is relatively small, and the coast to either side is rocky with many sea urchins so getting back to the same spot is a skill that is quite important. The wave is not super hardcore, though, so definitely a fun place to go for a wave session.

Porto Botte: Porto Botte is a nice freeride spot in Northerly or North Westerly winds. The water here is relatively sheltered from the island at St. Atioco, which keeps the waves from breaking here. When it is lighter, it is possible to go out to the northern end of the bay, where it is a little less sheltered. But, be careful if the wind is fickle! We’ve had a long swim from here when the wind suddenly dropped and veered more offshore.

Chia: Chia can be an amazing wave spot in Northerly or Southerly/Southwesterly winds. Its exposed location can make it quite dodgy though (especially in northerly winds). When it’s side offshore with a swell running it can provide super clean waves for down the line wave riding.

This is by no means meant to be an exhaustive list, but it is hopefully enough to whet your appetite and make you think about exploring the island if you do decide to head to Sardinia. In all the trips we’ve had there, we’ve truly started to fall in love with the Island. The scenery is stunning, the climate is mild, there are reasonably consistent winds and loads of beaches to work in any wind direction. Furthermore, it is possible to travel there easily on the weather forecast from Central Europe. My advice is to get your kit together and go explore.

Other Sports

The scenic bays in Sardinia are perfect to explore with a SUP board, and sometimes you will even find good waves for surfing. We’ve also experienced some nice mountain biking on the island so definitely a place to bring more than just your wind/kitesurfing gear if you plan on making the trip.

When to Go

The best time to go to Sardinia, in my opinion, is out of the main season. During the summer months, the beaches tend to be incredibly crowded, and traffic on the island can be quite heavy. The volume of people and traffic will make getting to spots with your gear quite difficult. In Spring and Autumn, there are a lot fewer people, and it’s possible to find really nice spots all for yourself.

Summary

Sardinia is a beautiful island exposed to most of the winds that are prevalent in the Mediterranean. Off-season hotels can be quite cheap, and the island is largely uncrowded, which makes it a really nice place for an off-season wind or kitesurf trip. All Winds Adventures visits Sardinia regularly, feel free to contact us for more information

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I still remember it like it was yesterday, despite it being more than 30 years ago…

The first day I stepped on a windsurfing board was quite literally the day that changed my life. I was that little kid who never quite fit in, the last to be picked for teams during playground games and the easy one to pick on in the playground. I never really got on with “conventional” sports in Ireland that didn’t leave many options… But windsurfing changed all that for me, it gave me the opportunity to develop at my own pace, learn skills in a different way and gave me the opportunity to discover who I really am.

My first day was a complete disaster, but I was hooked anyway. I’d been dreaming about learning to windsurf for a few years, but had always been told I was too small… then finally, at 12 years old I was on my way to my first windsurfing course. Still the smallest kid there, I struggled with the 3.2m2 training rig mounted on a Bic 250 board. The board was so heavy that I could not have carried it to the water’s edge by myself. I don’t think I travelled more than 20m at any point on that day without falling in, and the effort of dragging the heavy sail out of the water left me completely exhausted and freezing cold by the end of the day. But, this was where my stubbornness kicked in… I was going to learn this sport no matter what.

After a shower and warming up, I walked into the clubhouse in the windsurfing school to find a group of people huddled around a little TV watching a video of two windsurfers drag racing across turquoise water towards a white sandy beach. Already in awe, I innocently asked where that was… “That’s Maui” came the reply.

That was it, the seeds were sown and a dream was born. I wanted to do that, I wanted to go there. I was determined to be a windsurfer. I was definitely a “Wannabe Windsurfer”

That first one-week course left me barely able to go out and back in light winds. In the late 1980’s lightweight beginner’s equipment hadn’t yet been invented, and the “apprenticeship” of learning to windsurf was a hard one. I pestered my father all the time to take me to the beach so that I could rent a board and practice. I read everything I could find about windsurfing and became totally obsessed, but despite all that, my time on the water was still limited, my progress painfully slow, and I wasn’t getting any closer to being one of those guys blasting into that white sandy beach.

Then came the day when I was asked if I would like to be an instructor’s assistant at the windsurfing school. I jumped at the opportunity. Now I would be on the water every day of my summer holidays and would have the use of the school’s equipment in my free time. So, at 14 years old (and barely past being a beginner myself), I was now helping the instructors teach new students.

I quickly discovered that being on the water every day and helping beginners led to a much steeper learning curve. I got the basics perfect and didn’t have to think about them anymore, which made progressing much easier. My self-confidence improved as I learned how to teach others, and as my own skills also improved for the first time in my life I believed in my own ability to do something… anything.

The dream was alive and I was getting closer to it.

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