When you see the weather forecast telling you that there will be no wind on Karpathos, do not believe it. Because, instead of silence, you will probably get something like this:
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Monday, July 20, 2015
Luderitz - My personal challenge
by: Alberto Possati
Since I've been able to windsurf (I've started back in 1978) I've always been fascinated by speedsurfing. To go fast is fun, I kept saying to myself. Back then, my windsurfing activity was restricted to 2-3 weeks every summer, in which when possible I looked for the windiest spots I could find, to maximize my time into the water.
As years passed by, my love for windsurfing was always pretty alive and when, a few years ago, a good friend of mine asked me to attend to a Speed World Cup event with him, the first thing I thought was that I couldn't match up the situation. "It's too late", I said to myself, I thought I should have started earlier. But, somehow, in a few months I found myself on a Fuerteventura beach waiting for some wind. That was the 2006 Speed Word Cup which was held in Sotavento together with the Fuerteventura PWA slalom event. I was not alone: there were all the top slalom sailors in the world, wanting to test their speed as well, as well as a few 'down to earth' guys like me. I never saw these top guns if not in windsurf magazines, and to be in the water with them was bit intimidating. But I was there, I spent money to be there and...yes, I had to go down the course, and I did it. And I was hooked. Hooked! That event really changed the last ten years of my life. I realized I could do it, there was a lot to learn but I could do it. Great!
Every year I started to attend to all the speed events that I could, together with a bunch of very good friends that I met during the events. UK, Ireland, Greece, Namibia, France, we crossed the sky many times to follow our passion. Results were nor very good neither really important to me, I felt more like the competition was in between myself and the speeds I recorded, instead of winning over somebody else. In other words, even now I like to see my speeds improving, but usually I'm happy if a friend is faster than me. In the end, he's been better than me, and I feel it more like a push to improve myself than a defeat. But it was interesting to see how slower I was compared to the experienced riders, so to have an idea of my performance.
Back in 2008, I started to think that a record attempt could have been closer to my expectations, so I registered for the Masters Of Speed event in the Canal of Saintes Maries De La Mer, the fastest sailing spot in the world, at least back then. But the event didn't go through, and my last competition was in Karpathos, Greece in 2009. Then, somehow, speedsurfing stood still for a few years: no more races, no more calls. A pity, I thought.
In 2012, I heard about a new speed canal in Luderitz, Namibia. They were organizing a speed
event in this newly dug channel that I heard to be
extremely fast. I tried to place my registration and...I was in!! First thought was obviously "will I be able to fly down the strip without killing myself?", second thought was "I'm too old for that" and so on. Lots of excuses, lots of little fears crossing my mind. Final thought, luckily, was "let's go there and see".
Luderitz is hard to reach, especially with 3 quiver bags. I flew 14 hours, drove alone for 2 days for 1.200 km through 2 unknown southern Africa countries and when I got there I said to myself that the record attempt was going to be "bread and butter", compared to what I faced during the trip. Actually it was not really like that, but the excitement I started feeling the day I reached Luderitz was really a great, great feeling.
From then on it all was very quick: jumped in the water, made my waterstart, started planning. Footstraps in, you gain speed with wind on the side then, when the canal bears left, you slingshot yourself down the strip, with the wind pushing you with a 130 degrees angle. No harness, no breathing. Shhhhhhhhhhh, the water boiling under my 49 iSonic. Some 20 seconds after I stopped (actually I crashed, with no consequences) and my GPS was showing 39,5 knots average over 20s. With no harness!?! No you kidding….WOW!
So I finally wore my speed seat and threw myself down the course again and...42.xx knots showed up. And again and again. Then in 2013, 2014. And I'm ready for 2015. My best result, in 2013, was 45.87kt/500m, officially registered by WSSRC. If in 2010 you were telling me that I'd be going that fast I would have laughed and said "forget it". But it is true, and sometimes it still sounds a little weird to me.
Buried into the (too many?) words that I've written in this post,
there's a couple of messages I would like every speedsurfing fanatic to listen to, and the first one is: “YOU CAN DO IT". If I did it, my friend, you can do it. Because I'm an average amateur windsurfer, that has got some better recently thanks to the experiences I've just written about, with the help of many friends. I’m old enough to try to use my head better than when I was 25 but too old to get the best out of my big body. Provided you have the money and time, your windsurfing skills are reasonable and you like going fast, you can do it, and I’d swear that if you’ll be there you’ll have some veterans trying to help you to get the best out of your experience. If I’ll be there, I’ll be one of them for sure.
The second message I’d like to send you is that, at the end of your stay in Luderitz, you’ll probably find that GOING DOWN THE COURSE AT 40+ KNOTS IS ONLY PART OF THE OVERALL EXPERIENCE. The incredible place, the different culture. the riders from different countries, the spirit that keeps them together, all these things make this venue much more valuable than the speed attempt itself. Moreover, the Luderitz Speed Challenge is not a race, it is a record attempt. So there’s no official ranking, and basically you
race against yourself, or your GPS if you prefer. And this is what I like so much.
If you go to Luderitz, I’d swear you will never forget it.
PS: my first year in Luderitz I used my Starboard iSonic Speed 49 with Severne Reflex III 5.6. Now I know that to go faster you need a 40-44 board, 5,6+6.2 slalom sails and a few 18/19/20/21 asymmetrical fins. Sizes depend on your weight, too. Helmet, Weight+flotation jacket and spine protection are a good advice. And your GoPro, obviously.
Since I've been able to windsurf (I've started back in 1978) I've always been fascinated by speedsurfing. To go fast is fun, I kept saying to myself. Back then, my windsurfing activity was restricted to 2-3 weeks every summer, in which when possible I looked for the windiest spots I could find, to maximize my time into the water.
As years passed by, my love for windsurfing was always pretty alive and when, a few years ago, a good friend of mine asked me to attend to a Speed World Cup event with him, the first thing I thought was that I couldn't match up the situation. "It's too late", I said to myself, I thought I should have started earlier. But, somehow, in a few months I found myself on a Fuerteventura beach waiting for some wind. That was the 2006 Speed Word Cup which was held in Sotavento together with the Fuerteventura PWA slalom event. I was not alone: there were all the top slalom sailors in the world, wanting to test their speed as well, as well as a few 'down to earth' guys like me. I never saw these top guns if not in windsurf magazines, and to be in the water with them was bit intimidating. But I was there, I spent money to be there and...yes, I had to go down the course, and I did it. And I was hooked. Hooked! That event really changed the last ten years of my life. I realized I could do it, there was a lot to learn but I could do it. Great!
Every year I started to attend to all the speed events that I could, together with a bunch of very good friends that I met during the events. UK, Ireland, Greece, Namibia, France, we crossed the sky many times to follow our passion. Results were nor very good neither really important to me, I felt more like the competition was in between myself and the speeds I recorded, instead of winning over somebody else. In other words, even now I like to see my speeds improving, but usually I'm happy if a friend is faster than me. In the end, he's been better than me, and I feel it more like a push to improve myself than a defeat. But it was interesting to see how slower I was compared to the experienced riders, so to have an idea of my performance.
In 2012, I heard about a new speed canal in Luderitz, Namibia. They were organizing a speed
Luderitz is hard to reach, especially with 3 quiver bags. I flew 14 hours, drove alone for 2 days for 1.200 km through 2 unknown southern Africa countries and when I got there I said to myself that the record attempt was going to be "bread and butter", compared to what I faced during the trip. Actually it was not really like that, but the excitement I started feeling the day I reached Luderitz was really a great, great feeling.
The next morning I was at the canal at 10, with many other speedsailors. The atmosphere was nice, with many friends welcoming, and that was really helpful. That fist day was really windy, something like 35kts gusts, and I ordered myself "now you have to go". Not an easy task, when you see the the canal in some spots is probably no more than 6m wide and you are told it can have shallow spots here and there. But if they were going, why not me?? I only made one decisions: no harness on the first run: in case I fall, I thought, at least I'm free to fly (hopefully, in the water).
So I finally wore my speed seat and threw myself down the course again and...42.xx knots showed up. And again and again. Then in 2013, 2014. And I'm ready for 2015. My best result, in 2013, was 45.87kt/500m, officially registered by WSSRC. If in 2010 you were telling me that I'd be going that fast I would have laughed and said "forget it". But it is true, and sometimes it still sounds a little weird to me.
Buried into the (too many?) words that I've written in this post,
The second message I’d like to send you is that, at the end of your stay in Luderitz, you’ll probably find that GOING DOWN THE COURSE AT 40+ KNOTS IS ONLY PART OF THE OVERALL EXPERIENCE. The incredible place, the different culture. the riders from different countries, the spirit that keeps them together, all these things make this venue much more valuable than the speed attempt itself. Moreover, the Luderitz Speed Challenge is not a race, it is a record attempt. So there’s no official ranking, and basically you
race against yourself, or your GPS if you prefer. And this is what I like so much.
If you go to Luderitz, I’d swear you will never forget it.
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Vasiliki, Lefkada, Greece
Vasiliki was hanging on my "places to visit" list since I started windsurfing. It was about time to check it out and see if it stands up with its reputation as one of the best windsurfing spots in the world. After a week spend there with my son Borna, I can confirm: yes, it does!
Lefkada is officially an island, but you cross over with one short undersea tunnel and a 20 meters long pontoon bridge. After that, you enter the islands capital city, with the same name - Lefkada. We didn't spend much time there. It looks like very crowded topical Greek city, with lots of car, and no place to walk undisturbed, so we just give it a glance and drove through it.
Our navigational system directed us on the main road to Vasiliki, following the eastern shore of the island. However, following our own gut feeling, we decided to visit some famous beaches on the western side, like Milos beach, and (that one we did latter), Eregmni beach. The western side road is going over the hills, up and down, with lot of turns. But, if you are patient, you are rewarded with some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. And those beaches... My, o my! No, we didn't windsurf there, but that blueness which dazzle your eyes when you look at it from above, and makes you wish you lost your self in it, when you jump in to swim or dive... that is something special, indeed. The western beaches of Lefkada are abundantly decorated with white foam created by moderate swells breaking over their sandy shores.Windsurfing
Deliberately or not, the bay of Vasiliki was created for windsurfing. It is protected by the hills, the beach is mostly sandy and the see is shallow some 100 meters from the shore, making it ideal for learning all kind of windsurfing skills, from beginners to advanced. The wind there is created each afternoon by local thermal differences. It blows down the hill on the western side, and it is quite regular. You can count on it each day, even if the rest of the island doesn't get any pressure wind at all.
Choppy it is, always. And gusty it is, always. But, it is not really an issue - it never gets annoying or tiresome. During my stay I never have seen anyone left on the see without a wind. You can always find your way back, especially if you mind the timing and respect the after 19:00 silencing down.
Those searching for flat waters and speed runs... well, you can find them in Vasiliki, but not everyday. You have to wait for a right direction (I would say, northwest is the best one). In that case, you have some 200 meters upwind, and more than a mile pure downwind! If you are lucky, and gusts are merciful, you can catch a great speed, no doubt. But, after that, prepare for a bumpy upwind sailing, directly through a lot of chop. (I was not lucky regarding gusts, and only two days out of seven, we got the right strength and direction - but +36 knots of speed was done with ease on 98 liters board and 7,0 sail).
For a regular windsurfer, though, Vasiliki is a real heaven. Mostly, you can see sails from 4,0 to 5,0. That means - a lot of wind everyday. And that is all we need, isn't it? The be honest, the only thing I didn't like, goes with a place being so friendly and so uplifting as Vasiliki is: a lot of people. Sometimes, you have difficulty finding your way to clear space through a lot of windsurfing beginners near the shore. And there is simply no spot without a windsurfing sail, so you have to be always on guard for possible close encounters.
Along the shore there are many windsurfing centers; the most famous and with best choices of new boards and sails is, of course, Club Vass. Any freerider or freestyler will find there whatever s/he desires equipment wise. You can bring your own equipment and pay the storage, or, if you don't mind to rig it every day, you can easily park the car some 20 meters from the shore and spear some money. However, if you plan to windsurf every day, it could be somewhat tiresome activity, so better take the comfortable and more secure approach and join some of the Centers there. (Since it is never a good idea to teach windsurfing to your own kin, I left my son Borna in a good hands of the instructors of Quicksilver Windsurfing School.)
The food and the rest
Now, the food is usually excellent. There are taverns all around, and you can hardly make a mistake picking the one randomly, in Vasiliki or somewhere along the road. However, if you are a gourmand, as we are for sure, I have two recommendation for you. Both are placed in Nidri. The first tavern is called "The Barrel". Usually, I would not mention the prices, because, usually, it is understood that quality is expensive. But in this case, the prices are even lower than in the taverns around. But the taste of the food is much more refined.
The second recommendation is probably one of the best taverns, if not the best, on my Greek cuisine list. It is called "Ta Kalamia". Placed on the entrance of the main pedestrian area in Nidri, this tavern has a special "no menu" philosophy. That means, you can chose between four kind of dishes (vegetarian, see food, meat and mixed) and the cook - a genuine food artist by the name of Vanghel - will bring you his version of a perfect meal, made for you. Now, call it a rhapsody, call it a symphony, or a music made in heaven, but that is how his food taste like! If you ever come to Lefkada, Ta Kalamia, and Vanghel, the artist cook, is a must, at least for one night. But, I suppose, you will come for more, as we did. Love and food - that is written on the entrance to Ta Kalamia, and I have no doubt that you will find them both.
Conclusion
I have been there, and I will come again. :-)
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