A weekend with winds from the East, that started, for us, in Cannes, on Saturday, at Palm Beach, with about 30-35 knots wind, and good waves; the spot, though, was too crowded. In the evening, we ended with a fine dinner in good company, in Antibes.

 

 

Windsurfing, session report: Cannes, Palm Beach (France)

On Saturday morning, we moved early from Liguria (where we had slept), after having scoured the spots of Diano Marina and Imperia - La Rabina. In these spots, unfortunately the wind remained too far off shore, even if friends told us that, then, the wind entered well over those spots, too, at midday.

Avoiding the strike of the yellow jackets (thanks to the French friends for warning us), we went first to the spot of La Salis in Antibes and then, not being convinced by the conditions there, we head directly to Cannes Palmes Beach. Personally, I was also intrigued by the idea of ​​going to explore the spots of Saint Maxime-Beauvallon, Cavalaire sur Mer, and Le Lavandou, where the wind was sure, and potentially side to the waves. But not knowing them, we feared to waste too much time finding the right spot, in addition to the fact that wind forecasts gave a really powerful wind, there (we heard that friends came out there with 3.4 sails, and others talking about tsunami ...).

Personally, I remain with the strong curiosity to understand how Cavalaire sur Mer works, because my friend Max of Genoa tells that he had a beautiful session a few years ago with wind from the East, side, and with clean waves (if someone has some tips, maybe he can write them below in the comments).

 

When we arrived in Cannes at 11.30, we found a beautiful and powerful wind, around at 30 knots from the north-east, quite constant, fairly orderly waves, at 100 meters from the shore, a beautiful sun, and our friend Lorenzo, that welcomed us with the comment "It's tough". So, we stopped, to enjoy the beautiful conditions.

After a few checks, I rigged the Ezzy Elite 2018 4.2, and the Fanatic Quad TE 2013, set as twinzer, given the side-on conditions. At about 12.00, I entered in the water. I must say that I really enjoyed the first hour of session, thanks also, as usual, to the fact of not being tired. I immediately went easily offshore, thanks to the direction of the wind, which was sufficiently side.

The twinzer set-up proved to be very good, as it made the board very fast, without compromising its maneuverability, and made it easy to overcome both the first foams near the shore, and the steeper waves offshore. I jumped a lot and decently going out, even if port tack is not my best side. But I have to get used for South Africa ....

Once offshore, both in front of the beach from where we started, and at different points in the channel between Palm Beach and L'Iles des Lerins, there were beautiful long and quite smooth waves, almost good to be surfed, with the only defect of closing out all the crest through. Most of the sets did not exceed 2 meters, while in the channel some reached even 3 meters. My friend Michele came out first with freestyle (Starboard Flare 91), and Severne Freek 4.0, then he switched to the more proper Starboard Kode 77 and Goya Guru 3.7.

 

After an hour I came out of the water with the doubt of changing for the 3.7, to be less overpowered, and therefore to maneuver more easily. But when the wind is side-on, I prefer to remain powerful.

The second and third sessions, in the early afternoon, however, were not as good. First of all, the wind slightly rotated from the east, and  became more on-shore. This, in my opinion, also made it more gusty in front of the sandy beach where we went out. In these conditions, probably, it bounces a bit on the palaces of Boulevard Gazagnaire. As a result, the sea also became more disordered (foams everywhere). But above all, kiters crowding, in the stretch of sea in front of the exit beach, was the most annoying point. I bickered with a couple of them. As I was returning to the beach on starboard tack, and a two-meters wave was about to break near me, I found myself between two kiters, one upwind and the other downwind of me. Had I stayed with the baord parallel to the wave, while it was breaking, I would surely have fallen between its foams. So, I waited a while, but then I beared on the wave, also to enjoy it and surf it. The downwind kiter did the same, the upwind changed direction suddenly without looking, and I found myself almost on him. To avoid him, I fell ....

 

 

 

Shortly after, I found another one, while I was jibing a few meters from the pier near the exit point (near Avenue Reine Astrid), because he decided to ride close to the pier, too, without leaving me any space for maneuvering (maybe he thought that I wanted to land at the beach).

Okay, next time in Cannes, I think that I will go directly into the channel between Palm Beach and the islands, where there are good waves, and much less crowding (and perhaps even better and more stable wind). At 15:00, I finally went out of the water, while my friend Michele had enjoyed the spot for another hour.

In the evening we were guests of our friend Fabrizio (Fabrythesurfer) in Antibes, which is always very beautiful, and we enjoyed a memorable Chateubriand in a local restaurant (at an exceptional price...), matched by a good bottle of Bandol. The next day, the weekend was completed by an excellent exit in Bordighera. But I'll tell you about this, in another report.

Hang loose. Fabio

Click here, to enjoy the slidegallery of the day.

 

 

The video of the day