Getting used to it

Spending time abroad is always a very special experience. I am currently working as a language assistant in Istres, a small town west of Marseille in Southern France. This allows me to combine my passion for windsurfing with earning some money, which is very handy when you think of how expensive a sport windsurfing is. I live 10 kilometres from the next beach, Fos-sur-Mer, a spot that is quite popular with speedsurfers and usually has some strong and gusty offshore winds. It's quite a demanding spot for freestyle but when it all comes together it's alright for moves like this:

Funnell in Fos-sur-Mer from Mathias Genkel on Vimeo.

It's a different story with southeasterlies though. They bring rain and onshore wave conditions to most beaches nearby. Carro, a famous Mediterranean wave spot, is about half an hour from where I live. This spot does not work well too often I think. Yet, I sailed there yesterday. The waves were really quite big for the Mediterranean. It's all low-period wind swell but the waves do not lack power. The level on the water was really high as well. I would even say that I saw Anders Bringdal out there. Anyway, this was my first proper wave session in more than half a year so I took it easy and stuck to the smaller ones:


Comments

Tobes said…
Nice moves, like the sails are you using the Twintip 90?? Hope France is treating you well...
22 October 2009 at 19:51
Mathias Genkel said…
Yes, it's the TwinTip 90. Are you sailing this board as well?
25 October 2009 at 16:17
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