Leucate was the destination for the annual
Mondial du Vent extravaganza, writes Amy
Carter, which attracted some of the best
windsurfers and kite surfers from around
the world. This year the slalom racers were
out in full force for the first big international
event of the season, the opening event of
the Euro Cup Tour. The wind refused to
play ball for the first four days however, and
it wasn’t long before rumours of the
legendary ‘Tramontona’ wind started to
circulate, winds of anything from 30 to 50
knots were said to be on the way. I think
this was a bit of a worry for the guys that
had only registered around 6.5m as their
smallest sails, even I was getting slightly
scared at the prospect of having to go out
on my 5m, especially when someone like
Finian Maynard started saying he wished
he had registered 5.4!
Wednesday morning and the wind was finally
here, and in a pretty big way though for the
first part of the day it was up and down,
gusting and switching between around 20 to
35 knots. It was Antoine Albeau who quickly
showed his form with bullets in the first 3
rounds. Throughout the day the wind steadily
increased and settled a little, with gusts of up
to 42knots on the beach - racing was starting
to get pretty interesting. Finian was also
relishing the strong winds, and took the first
win away from Antoine in round 4, the last of
the day. Karin Jaggi stamped her authority
on the women’s competition, winning all but
one heat, although Valerie Ghibaudo was hot
on her heels.
Thursday brought even more wind, and
Antoine was again the man to beat, looking
effortless in victory after victory (although I
can tell you even he wasn’t finding it too
easy, maybe because he was on a 6.7 -
the crazy Frenchman!). Finian was getting
closer round by round, but it was only after
Antoine had secured the win that he took
another bullet. Cyril Moussilmani also put in
consistent performances to
take the final podium position with F2
shaper Patrick Diethelm fourth. After some
troubles on the first day Naish boys Dan
Ellis and Ben van der Steen both
came back with some top 3 positions to
boost the finishing positions. In the ladies
fleet it was of course Karin that took top
honours, followed closely by Valerie with
Joly Ophelie in 3rd. After an injury on the
Wednesday, I almost started to sail well on
the Thursday, posting a 3rd and a 4th,
although this wasn’t enough to get me
higher than 7th in the rankings. A position
which I am reasonably pleased with, all
things considered, but that I am determined
to better at the next event.
I had a nightmare getting back with Dan
Ellis; two days of maxed out racing and
Ellis and I were totally spent, so we headed
home straight after the prize giving, thinking
that we would be able to catch an earlier
ferry home. Unfortunately the Ellis mobile
was not playing ball and after already
breaking down once on the trip it decided
to do it again, twice on the way home! As
Dan dropped me off on Saturday morning
he drove off to Hove, already late for the
event with smoke and diesel billowing out.
Report by Amy Carter GBR85 - sponsored
by Gaastra, Tabou, Board Angels,
DaKine, Sola Wetsuits. www.euro-cup.org
www.mondial-du-vent.com
