Windsurfing A Way Of Life

Humdulala the wind blew today and its looking good for the next couple of days. So I guess another few late nights infront of the electronic girlfriend ahead to allow so time on the water tomorrow and the day after.

I started on what has become my almost daily pilgrimage to the Club Mistral Windsurfing center in Dahab, to see what was occurring around 11 today. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was quite windy especially out in the second area, however it was not that easy to choose a sail size as people seemed to be sailing on anything from 5.0 to 8.0, go figure. Anyway and this will make a couple of my friends laugh (Onur & Fred) i decided to take 5.7 surprise surprise and a Mistral Syncro 92, its becoming an old friend now this board, and for me here in Dahab its great, small enough to be very maneuverable and also big enough to wobble back through the lagoon when the wind is dropping at the end of a session. Most people seem to choose boards around 92-130 here in Dahab, the Joker is very popular especially the new 102 for 07, we even have an instructor from one of the other centers who comes to borrow one because he loves it so much.

Right, back to business the equipment choice was spot on although for a short time out the back in the swells a 5.3 could have been enough but still you have to keep in mind here the journey back to the beach which is not the easiest on small kit regardless of which center you sail from, still on the positive side my tacking has got superb. I have to say though sailing in warm water and sunny skies in December takes away any thoughts that getting back in offshore conditions is a pain in the bum.

Take care all and update you tomorrow Inshallah.

Well today was almost a repeat of yesturday except due to rather a long evening infront of the computer and being sucked into watching some B movie about going to the center of the earth my late night meant I did not awake until a little later than ususal. So I jumped up thinking I could hear wind outside looked out of the window and relaised it wasn’t quite there yet, stuck the kettle on whipped up a quick bit of breaky, spoke to some work colleagues on messenger sorted out the schedule for the day which of course allowed for a little bit of sailing if the wind picked, luckily it did so I headed off to the center.

The wind came a little later than yesturday and was not as obviously the same strength but being a stubborn old goat and disregarding advice to take a larger board and sail I rigged an Ice 5.7 and took a Mistral Syncro 92 (love this board).

The wobble accross the lagoon was a long one today definatly lighter wind than yesturday but once again turned into the speedy and was away. I set off on my normal route up to the Napolian reef and was pleasantly surprised to find that once in the open sea the wind was quite good and I had in fact taken the correct kit. The swells were still very small but I did find something to ride and jump off.

For some reason today I got a bit paranoid about sharks the light is quite low at the moment and all sorts of strange shadows are visible below the swells and even though in 6 years of sailing out in the Red Sea on and off holidays allowing, I have never seen a shark but the shadows started to play tricks on my mind. The only time I have seen a shark was in the summer when i sailed over the top of a beautiful cruising whale shark which if course is a basking shark and not particularly any kind of threat to me or anyone else come to that, but anyway, I am sure in a gulf 1000 meters deep in places there must be some unfriendly fish down there somewhere.

There were not so many people out today in the swells just 3 or 4 people downwind of me which made it very pleasant sailing pretty much alone a very nice way to clear the mind, relax and enjoy the wind and water. As nice as it is to sail with friends and push each other there are times when a private session alone can be just the ticket.

I don’t think there is anyone who goes windsurfing that doesn’t benefit from the sports ability whatever your level to take your total concentration and let all those day to day stresses move to the back somewhere to be dealt with later. Of course it is also a very sociable sport and I am very glad that I have been privilaged to meet many very nice people around the world because of it.

If you don’t windsurf you should definatly try it!

Hi to anyone out there who has stumbled accross this site.

I was having breakfast this morning and pondering this question, with so much kit on the market all claiming to be the best at what it does how does everyone filter out the kit they really enjoy using on those precious days when the planets align and there is no work , family events and the wind is blowing etc etc.

It would be very interesting to see how much people rely on the magazine tests or if they use holidays at centers etc borrow friends kit to try or if its all just word of mouth and good old fashioned advice from the local shop.

Finaly the Dahab winter has produced a bit of half decent wind. After a few weeks of variable condtions 2-3bft with th odd hour of 4bft and a lot of time spent infront of the computer it was finaly time to head off to the beach to sail with some sensible sized kit. Woke up this morning to see no wind but had a good breakfast in anticipation of the forecast being correct and huzzah.

I went down to the center around 10 this morning and the wind had just kicked in. Took one of the new Mistral Syncro 92's 2007 and a new North ICE 5.7 which we have rigged on 100% carbon skinny masts stuck my wetsuit on and headed off out.

Took a bit of a wobble accross the lagoon but once in the speedy it was planing all the way. Headed out through the keyhole in the Napolian reef and out into the Gulf of Aquaba. I always have to smile when i get out in the open sea its a marvelous experience. Even this time of year the flying fish are in abundance. You have to take a little bit of care with the flying fish as they don't seem to have any kind of flight control if you sail through a large group of them they fly out of the water and just seem to go everywhere gliding on the wind, its quite an experience. We are not lucky enough to get dolphins here which is a great shame I guess its just too busy on the water for them to feel comfortable.

Anyway 5.7 was a good size with the 92 the swells were very small but I had some very self satisfying rides on the the small ones that were there. There has not been so much wind here the last few weeks so the sea is quite flat. Tomorrow the forecast looks quite good, the best site for the wind here in Dahab I have found is wetteronline.de In the summer you can add about 1bft to what it says to allow for the thermal effect, anyway as long as the wind is coming from the North everything is good. If the wind swings to the South generaly it cancels out the prevailing North air flow coming down the Gulf and you end up with Lake Dahab good for frisbee, snorkling trips and general messing about on the water but appart from that its a wash out.

Anyway after a 4 hour session headed back to the center packed everything up and set off to the beach bar in the Hilton. So I grab the menu and asked for fresh orange juice, not a problem I hear you cry but hey ho they didn't have any pre squeezed juice the normal kind of 5 litre plastic conatiner so they took 20 minutes pressing fresh oranges. I have to say it was definatly worth the wait my glass of fresh orange juice was definatly as fresh as it could have been. Ordered a chicken and veg pizza washed it all down with a double cherry soda and headed back home to sit and jot down a few notes in here.

Nothing fantastic to note on my session I had a lot of fun, still struggling with shove its on flat water I have no idea how bubble, Simon and Colin pull out such high ones on flat water its all a mysteryanyway keep practicing is probably one way so I guess if its windy tomorrow I will give it all another go and try not to break my balls in the process.

Happy sailing to all

By the way if anyone is interested here is the weather for tomorrow

Region Dahab

Mo, 11.12.

Morning NO 1-2

After Mid Day NO 4 ? (Böen 60 km/h)

Evening N 3

So no posts for a few days sorry about that been a bit short of time in the evenings. Here in Dahab we have had a few great days of wind you can see the stats here . Its pretty busy right now but with strong wind all day at the moment I have been getting the chance to go out and have some fun.

Yesturday and the day before managed to get out into the swells with my Beast 84 and a 5.0 Voodoo which was great fun and today I have been playing with the new Mistral Syncro 92 2007. This board is amazing I want one of my own but in the lite weight edition they now make which weighs in nearly 1kg less than the standard model. Having said that the standard model is not heavy either.

This board is great, sails really well. I have been using it with the straps set on the outside. The board is fast, feels exciting and is a carving machine. The new channels in the deck really work and make this board feel smaller than it is when carving. Today I took it out into the swells with a 5.3 North Voodoo for a couple of hours (day off today). The swells were small but I had a lot of fun riding them on this 92 Syncro. It turns hard when you want it to and is very controlable. I gave it a full thrashing upwind to see how it behaved and then a full thrashing downwind on both points of sail it was fun and fast especially the downwind run dropping off down the swells. The nose of the board did not bury and although it was gving me an adrenaline rush it was not difficult to keep everything under control.

Now anyone who has sailed here in Dahab will know the swells are very confused and bumpy so total comfort is not easy to acheive but I have become a total fan of this board.

Stats for the Mistral Syncro 92 2007

• 92 litres
• length 245
• width 59cm
• construction carbon sandwich
• rec sail size 4.5 - 6.2
• wave fin / Powerbox 27cm

Key Features

Double concave hull deck channels for increased strength, performance and comfortswallow tail for smoother more aggresive turnsnose chine on the bottom for water redirection and control in radicla manouversKai Hopf G10 FinAnyone who is looking for a board like this must try one it is a really goof fun exciting bit of kit that feels a lot more alive than the 2006 Syncro 90 and previous models.The 102 is also amazing and really good fun but i'll write you a little about that shortly. plus update you on Manolis testing of the Joker 102The only sad thing is that the swells are so far away from the beach that its difficult to get any action shots without the use of a boat. Anyway when it quietens down a bit will try to get the guys out there with the boat and my camera to get a few pics for you all to see. So for now you will all just have to live with some close up shots of the kit.Tonight its blowing like hell outside so we hope tomorrow will be windy again Inshallah.Happy sailing, have fun and maybe see you out here in the desert sometime.PS Sorry bout my poor photoshop skills at cutting the board pics out of the complete pictures they were in the fins doesn;t really have a rough back edge etc :-)