Our friend Pepi, in September, was in Karpathos (Greece), and found lots of wind to make him work hard..... Meltemi, in fact, has blown powerful for most of his holiday week (as it often did this summer), so much that he was also forced to use a 3.4, despite his not light weight. Enjoy his passionate story.

Windsurfing, session report: Karpathos (Greece), Meltemi at 40 knots

Premise: Pietro (nickname Pepi), has been doing windsurfing only from a few years ....

The airplane is preparing for the landing phase, and from the small porthole I can already make out the silhouettes of the surfers darting in the lagoon behind the airport. The hands begin to sweat, and the desire to get into the water is taking over me.

The Meltemi welcomes us on the plane staircase, making me understand that here, you don't joke, and that I will sweat my gliding rides. I had already booked at Chris Shill (www.chris-schill.com), the island's most famous center which has two locations right behind the airport. Here is also a third center, run by ION, located in a spot where you go out more offshore than at the Devil bay, where the center of Chris is positioned.

Taken the room and the usual Quad, which has become the preferred vehicle for my holidays in Greece, we head immediately to the spot for a checking tour. I decide not to enter the water immediately, because I got very tired for the trip, started at 2,00 am, and I book for the next 5 days a Fanatic FSW 96. Cost of the rental cheaper than at Fuerteventura - Rene Egli (5 days here cost as 4 in Fuerte). The guys in the center, all very young and very nice, explain to me the rules of the spot on the fly, and so the long wait for the next day begins.

 

 

But here the time passes quickly, and I am ready to enter into the water with about 20/25 knots and a 4.7 sail, which will soon become a 5.2 for almost 3 and a half hours. The equipment is beautiful: Gaastra and North Sails/Duotone sails, while the boards range among Fanatic, Tabou and RRD. The wind is off shore, and the water is flat in the bay, about one kilometer long; to take some chops, you must go further off with the related 3/4 boline to return. First day, 5 hours in the water to try and try again what I started learning on our lake (Como, editor's note). Second day, 3 hours full power with the 4.8, and with a Meltemi who has, by this time, targeted me.

Third day, a drop in the wind, forces me to use a 7.2 is a RRD 110 Firemove, but all comes back to my advantage, 'cause I spend more than 3 hours to make only very short rides and a thousand of maneuvers.

It is the quiet time before the storm ...., because on day 4, the Meltemi decides to baptize me. I have never used a sail smaller than 4.0 before, but this is the right day. Strong wind gusts, and the sails chosen by those ones already in the water, make me understand that the moment is right. Within the first half hour, I use a 4.0, but I have to reduce immediately to a 3.7, for about an hour and a half, to finish the last half hour with the 3.4!!! Whizzing among the gusts at 35/40 knots, with a FSW 86 and 3.4 makes me feel really alive, with the adrenaline flowing in the few traces of blood left in the circle.

It was a surreal experience for me. And I cannot not resist the temptation to make me an hour even in the afternoon always with the 3.4 .... The last day, arrived on the spot, the guys tell me that the wind has dropped a bit compared to the previous day, passing from 40 to 35 knots....: so, another 3 hours in the morning, and one in the afternoon, with 3.7 full power.

I came here with the desire to try the forward, but my karma decided that I had to try the 40 knots, making me realize how far I still have to go. I understand, however, that even things that seem impossible may come true with the right training and listening to the right advice. Planing at full speed with a 3.4, has opened a new world made of extreme sensitivity and reaction times, which must be very short, under these circumstances. Those few jibes that I managed to close, with gusts at 40 knots, were a huge achievement for me, and certainly a step forward towards the next challenges.