Blogs

Impressions from a windy day at the kite beach. By Phoebe (7) and Zack (5) Domini.

July was very windy for Sudwindsports, with winds over 45mph!

The prevailing wind, the Tramontane has been coming in regularly over the past month, with 25 to 40 kts of wind on different days. This has been perfect for all our kitesurfing and windsurfing lessons! The Staff have also been out a lot and perfecting their new moves. 

We have recently acquired a waterproof video camera and have been filming clients in windsurfing and kitesurfing lessons. This gives us a chance to give the clients some video analysis on their technique. It also gives clients a souvenir, to show friends and family of their time at Sudwindsports. 

The staff have also developed a new competition on the Stand up Paddle (SUP) boards, paddling around the fourth buoy on the kite zone and timing the lap. Times between 3 & 4 minutes are very respectable, so come down and see if you can beat us!

Until next time,

Josh

The Windmagic bar now has a free WiFi hotspot! You can bring your laptop or other wireless device and go online while enjoying a cup of coffee or a refreshing drink!

 Over the past few weeks Sudwindsports has gained a few new members of staff and a few new fun items.

We recently received a package from Flysurfer, a kite manufacturer who specialises in producing kites which work in low wind conditions. Fortunately for us, the following 5 days had constant 12knts of onshore conditions, so we had plenty of time to test this equipment.

The 15m² Flysurfer speed 3 is perfect for super light wind conditions. In the sky it looks like an foil kite, but it has a closed cell system to enable it to water relaunch.

We also received two boards from FlyBoards, the sister company. These boards are perfect for low wind conditions, giving only a small compromise to the usual high wind twintip.

Recently we have also got out on the windsurfers, with 40kts of wind perfect for a 4.1 and low litre board, with Steve nailing the jibes & body drag.

The staff members are keen to get out this season on the wakeskate, believing it to be a future for kiteboarding. We have been practicing on a strapless surfboard in the low wind conditions, to give us a similar sensation.

At the end of the week we had the prevailing wind, “Tramontagne”, with about 20 knts of offshore wind. All the clients and staff members had a fantastic day on the water and all were tired at the end of the day.

Keep up with us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4635397426&ref=ts) and on Twitter (http://twitter.com/sudwind)

Until next time…

Josh

Stand-up Paddle boarding (SUP) is coming to Saint Pierre-la-Mer. Yesterday saw the delivery of 2 stand-up paddle boards made by Starboard for us to try out. The board will be based on the beach for all guests to try out for a small fee.
Stand-up Paddle, or in the Hawaiian language Hoe he'e nalu, is an emerging global sport with a Hawaiian heritage. The sport is an ancient form of surfing, and began as a way for surfing instructors to manage their large groups of learner surfers, as standing on the board gave them a higher viewpoint, increasing visibility of what was going on around them.

Tomorrow (19 April) we are kicking off the 2010 watersports season. The first week is booked up with future kitesurfing instrutors, doing a week of intensive training and hopefully passing their exams to become IKO Kiteboarding Instructors.
The temperatures have been good this week, with a lot of sunshine. Afternoon temperatures have been around 25 degrees so this should have heated up the water a little bit, after a long and cold winter.
If you are thinking of coming out to Saint Pierre for some action on the water, please contact us in advance to check availability, as we will be running events and groups over the next period.

Work has started to prepare the watersports centre for the coming season. The heavy machinery came on Friday to flatten the path and move the rocks. Next week the paint brushes will come out and the flags will be hoisted up so that we can check the wind anytime. We cannot wait to get back on the water again, can you?

In 2010 we will be using Best kites again. Over the last 4 years we have been using Best kites and they have proven to be very suitable to our local wind conditions. The new 2010 Kahoona V2 flies easily in light winds but also holds his shape in stronger winds. Together with the new double depower bar, also made by Best, it looks like this year's equipment is going to make learning to kitesurf easier than ever before!

From 13th until 16th of May 2010 the Saint Pierre Kitezone and Sudwindsports will organize the 6th edition of the European Junior Kitesurfing Cup, with a freestyle competition and also a Cata-Kite competition. 50 young kitesurfers on 7 different nationalities and in the age group from 10 - 19 year will show off their best tricks to a internatinal team of judges. Like in former years the event spots young talents and future champions; we have had the honour to see hotshots like Gisela Poulido and Youri Zoon when they had only just started kitesurfing and were still wet behind the ears. 

The cata-kite competition is the first kite-drawn catamaran regatta in the Languedoc Roussillon. This is an entirely new sport accesible for all; a cata-kite team consist of a pilot flying the kite, and a helms (wo)man, steering the boat. No need for super powers because the kite is attached directly to the boat! During the EJKC event in May 2010 twenty teams can sign up to participate in the competition; no worries if you don't have a catamaran - we will make sure equipment is available, just bring your team! Read more.

Do you want to take part in the competition? Contact us

Want to sponsor this event? Contact Christophe Hamon at infohamon@ aol.com. 

Happy New Year everybody!

We hope that 2010 will bring you lots of health and happiness, and also a lot of windy days! Saint Pierre has had a good start of the year: today the Tramontane started with howling wind speeds and gusts up to 110 km/hr! Enough wind to get rid of your wooden head....?