What
After a two days stay in sunny and hot Costa Brava for some promotional activities for Tabou and Vandal Sails I took a plane back to Tenerife, hoping that the trade winds had kicked in after ten days of no sailing on the island. That night I checked the forecast thinking: what’s going on?! A north westerly wind was coming for Tuesday 16 June, together with some swell and sun. I knew I had the chance to sail, but the wind was going to be starboard tack! I love to sail on both tacks but starboard is probably my favourite after my long stay on the Hawaiian islands when I was a teenager. Also it’s kinda fun to sail on starboard tack when I am supposed to be sailing port tack before Pozo!
Where
The spot of our choice was La Fitena in Playa Las Americas. It is only fifteen minutes from my house, maybe five to ten when I get my VR6 and the cops don’t stop me haha. La Fitena is very accessible for medium to high level sailors, on this session the swell came a bit south and the wind was strong enough so the spot wasn’t dangerous. Generally La Fintena is a pretty safe spot, the only problem is the wall downwind from it. When the north swell kicks in you can have a real chance of going there, this winter before going to Cabo Verde I ended up on the rocks, breaking one of my favourite boards, breaking my boom in four and my mast in five little pieces, completely ripping my sail, plus almost losing my life! If you would have seen my girlfriend’s face watching the show…
When
All long time windsurfers know that if you want to enjoy, first you need to suffer. After a quick check with a friend in the south I decided to go in the afternoon. I waited at the beach for almost two hours before the wind and waves kicked in. My friend and local hero from the island Dany Bruch called me, he was 45 minutes away checking a different spot, well known for being a massive and crazy wave but the sets were too small, which makes the wave too heavy, breaking literally on dry rocks. Around this time La Fitenia was starting to work, some head high sets where coming through and the gusts were picking up 15 to 20 knots. Around 4.30 pm we were sailing: sunny, warm crystal clear water, what else can you ask for?
Aerial Dany Bruch
Session
My final decision was to go out on my new 4,8 Vandal Sails Riot and 67 litre Da Curve, I was having lots of fun as the sets came through more often than what I saw from the beach. The waves were about head high with wind around 22 knots, and water temperature around 20 degrees or something like that, really hot, but I always need to sail with a wetsuit, if not I freeze! During the session the wind kept picking up and gave me a chance to jump, nothing special but all just a bonus as 30 minutes before I thought I was going to go back home without getting wet! On the waves it was easy to make takas and some nice turns, it was much harder to make goiters and wave 360s, but I still managed to do some. In the end some other local riders came to join us but basically it was just Dany, me and three locals, just perfect! After the session I was laughing inside, thinking: I am on Tenerife and I just had a decent starboard tack session!
All pics (c) CMD 2009
