MG Windsurfing

I spent two great days with Oli and Luis at Lake Garda. We had one perfect morning session in Al Pra. The spot was really crowded, the chop was huge but the sun was shining and the wind blowing. The lake can get packed in summer and afternoon winds are often crap. But I really like it in the off season. Adding to the lake's attractiveness is the Italian lifestyle with its haute cuisine and laid back flair. Here are some action shots: The following video is the first part of a series of short clips showing some short trips to popular windsurf locations. Lake Garda in Northern Italy is still one of Europe's most popular windsurf destinations. This video shows a two-hour session I had one Saturday morning. Thanks to Luis Depping and Oli Brecht Nägele for filming. Travel Diaries - Part 1: Lago di Garda from Mathias Genkel on Vimeo .

After a long break due to injury and slowly getting back into the sport, I finally attended my first competition since last year's EFPT event in Southern France. It was a national freestyle event near Kiel in Northern Germany. I intended to attend the event in order to see what the level was now like. I just wanted to have fun on the water without paying too much attention to where I would finish. However, I quickly got back into competition mode and could sail some solid heats in some pretty challenging conditions. The wind was going up and down, so I had my 4.8 and 4.4 rigged and ready to go on the beach. I sometimes had to change sails only seconds before my heat as the wind would drop down or go up real fast. In my heats I could do some normal power moves like regular konos, culos and burners but also some skopus - on both tacks. That was probably the key to winning the event. Kono shaka The event was very well organized, we had quite a few spectators on the beach