MG Windsurfing

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...

Arrived well in Istres. Plenty of spots just around the corner. Had a good week so far with two freestyle sessions and a wave session in Carro last Friday. Small waves but it was nice to be out on the new RRD Thruster for the first time. I'm looking forward to autumn and winter mistral winds.

Not a lot of wind on Fehmarn! Thanks to Johannes for filming and editing. More pictures on rock'n'rohwurst Light Wind Fehmarn - A Short Clip from Johannes N on Vimeo .

The wind's been light enough on Fehmarn when these photos were taken. Thanks to my friend Johannes for editing them. Got my new camera today, so there will hopefully be more photos and videos soon. There's some more photos on our website:

I'm stuck in Bavaria waiting for my new sails to arrive. Meanwhile, I managed to get in two days of windsurfing in low and gusty thermal winds on a lake called Walchensee. My girlfriend's dad, who also lent me his sails, told me that it would be windy up there. The lake is surrounded by mountains and a north-easterly wind is accelerated by their shape. On the way there - not a single trace of wind. But once I made it over the mountain pass I could figure out windsurfers who were actually planing. Rigged a 5.3 and my new RRd twintip 90. Seemed a bit small for a freshwater lake with 3-4 beauforts but it worked surprisingly well. Didn't manage to nail a clean Switch Kono but I think I can claim my first Culo. Don't know if it's something in between Bob and Culo. I have to see it on video but it felt good anyway. Still haven't figured out what my good tack for switch stance is. It's just crazy. Puneta and Funnell work better on starboard tack, with the left foot...

You normally wouldn't expect to find good conditions for waveriding in the Baltic Sea. Well, yesterday it all came together and we got some quality conditions in. Quite packed with surfers and some windsurfers though but still fun. Conditions reminded me a bit of Hanstholm in Denmark with smaller waves. They were mostly pretty round too but occasionally they built up nicely allowing for several turns given that you were able to keep the speed. We had a savage party in the evening and some freestyle in the morning at 7 before I went back to go to uni at 11. Five hours of sleep, sore muscles and these photos is all that's left: