Stephen Squirrell (34966km):
4764 days ago 1 categories 
Friday 3rd May – windsurfing **** - La Franqui – sunny – 38.39kts
Fanatic Falcon Speed and 80 with 5.8 Tushingham X-15
Good night in the van overlooking Sigean Etang – missed the sunrise :( but yesterday evenings rain had disappeared and we woke to a breezy and sunny day :) after exercises and breakfast we headed to La Franqui, there was a lot of water on the beach and the bridge is now in poor condition :( but we parked next to a nice German couple we met last year and a nice man from the Netherlands named Paul I think. They had already rigged 5.7 and as they were lightweights I nearly rigged 6.4 but after unrolling it had a job holding it on the beach so went for 5.8 – good decision! I took both my Falcon Speed and 80 to the water’s edge but spent most of the day on the speed. Although it was very windy as the day progressed the wind was too square for really fast times and there was 2/3 big shallow sandbanks which made the course very difficult :( I tried a mile run a few times and even managed to sail back :) I then tied my weight jacket which didn’t help as it was hard to get going and next to impossible to sail back upwind :( Then on one run I had my second big wipe-out of the day when I pulled the foot strap out of the board!!! A long walk back – time to see Mag and have some lunch. I nearly rigged the 5.2 as the wind was gusting over 35 kts but stuck with the 5.8 but the course down toward La Franqui was very hard to sail and all the locals were sailing above the pier towards Port la Nouville so I decided to give it a try – not much fun on the speedboard as getting upwind meant sailing out to sea in big chop :( I then had a few runs on the 80 which was a lot better and was getting 35 kt runs which were not bad for me considering it’s only the second time on a shortboard this year. As to whether I get any results to publish is a mystery at the moment as my gps took a few bad knocks and is playing up – got water in the bag too :( Still a top day out with some nice sailors in the sunshine :) I then just chucked all the kit in the camper and headed to our spot by the Etang just through Sigean to sort out and then walk for a nice walk in the pine woods and vines as Mag needed some exercise as she had spent the day reading her book. Fingers crossed we don’t get into trouble parking by the etang as we just noticed a no overnight parking sign!!!!
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