A foehn wind, incredibly warm for the season, has blown up to over 30 knots on Como Lake, on Sunday 16^th of March 2014. I went out in the spot of Dervio (near pier) , in the northern part of the Lake.

 

Windsurf session: Dervio (Como Lake)

The forecasts already announced foehn wind from North by the evening of Saturday, and in the night between Saturday and Sunday. So when Sunday morning all webcams and anemometers showed a flat lake, even with a light wind from the South, many windsurfers have begun to fear a terrible Sunday of dead calm.

At 12, the situation has begun to show some signs of change, with the South that has finally stopped, and the North, become a North East later, began to grow in intensity, at least, in the Northern part of Lake Como.

I decided not to stop at Abbadia Lariana, a spot farther south in the Lecco branch of the lake, as when I passed there, around 12:30 pm, there was still no wind. I would have preferred that spot because, with its long beach that gets the wind at the beam, it is safer and easier spot with strong winds from the north. I continued, therefore, to Dervio, towards North.

I arrived at 13 , and entered into the water around at 14.30 with my Tabou Rocket 125 liters and the Point 7 Sado 4.7, after taking the photos and videos that appear in this article, and that show tricks from guys, who always make me die of envy .....

The wind was very unstable, at least until 16 o'clock, with gusts over 30 knots, and lows down to 10 knots....  I don't love these conditions, because while you are planing with the right stance, suddenly everything stops ... It takes experience and fast movements in these conditions ....

In addition, I went out with the foot mast in a too backwards position, with the result that, especially in the lows, the board went upwind by itself.

Around me a great show, with considerable maneuvers by most experts that you can appreciate in the published video.

The water is still quite cold during this period, but not impossible. Anyway, the special circumstance of the day was the fact that the foehn wind brought the air temperature up to 26 ° C, very pleasant for the season, and that partly compensated for the water low temperature.

For me the day was, however, of satisfaction. A few years ago it would have been unthinkable to go out with the North in March. I managed to get some nice planing, and some waterstarts too (including one on left side, which is my weak point ... ); until, probably for not having managed wind direction in the best way, I have landed to a beach 150 meters south from my exit point. So I took a nice walk back to return to my starting point ....

 

A few more photos and video, and then back home, with more water passed under my board, and a little more experience set aside.

Aloha

Fabio Muriano

 

 

Click here and watch the video of the day

 

 

To enjoy the slideshow in high resolution, or to download the pictures, click here.