Carro (France) let us have fun, this weekend. Easy and good to learn conditions, still full summer heat, and really a lot of people in the water.

Windsurfing, report: Carro, Martigues, France, 16-17 september 2023

It was difficult to decide on this trip. The call of the sea and the waves is always very strong, but time and costs also require you to make choices. Plus, this time, the predictions got in the way.... In the Waterwind forum, I repeatedly expressed my torments.... The low resolution models were discordant, and the high resolution one (Arome), until at the end, changed the expected scenario several times. I finally left, and it went well.

Of course, the trip was in no way comparable to the last waveriding trip to Sardinia, at the beginning of August, but the Carro gave us two beautiful days with winds around 20 knots, waves of 1-2 metres, sun and temperatures around 28 -30 degrees.

On Saturday, the wind was slow to come in, but between 3.30pm and 5.30pm it blew well spreaded over the spot, coming from the East (side off). After having floated and struggled in vain with the Ezzy Wave 4.7 and the Tabou Da Curve 88 in the late morning, in the afternoon I decided to switch to the Tabou 3S plus 96 (set as thruster with its default fins) and the Ezzy Elite 5.3. A completely different story: I caught waves continuously, being able to move around the spot at will. The 3s plus is an incredible board that goes well from Lake Silvaplana (Switzerland, flat waters) to Carro, even with 1-2 meter waves (apart from the problems I have in doing the cut back on small waves). Crazy. Yet, on the spot I heard yet another windsurfer's bullshit....: "above 90 liters is not waveriding". Oh well, the usual testosterone attitude of people who talk, but then, often, in the water don't do much... also because they don't have suitable equipment.

I had fun with this equipment. I was only a little overpowered in the final part of the session, when the wind increased. Click here for the rich slidegallery of the two days.

On Sunday, I didn't have much hope for the Carro, given the forecasts of the various models, so much so that we also considered alternative spots from Bordighera to Hyeres, passing through Cannes and Saint Maxime. Marco, Massimo and Mirko, returning from a dinner, saturday evening, like real athletes.... well watered by french wine, and from an après dîner that cannot be described here...., invited me to be patient. And they were right.

At 12.30 the first gusts appeared, and at 1pm the wind came in, more from the SE (side on) than on Saturday, but with some waves in the windward area of the spot, even up to two metres, and quite steep. On some, the libido appeared: seeing the smooth, steep and transparent wall of the wave triggers hunger. It's just a shame that often on Sunday there was everything/everybody downwind (wing foils, SUPs, kites, other windsurfers...). Sometimes I left the wave for safety, other times I fell, not being able to set the correct route. I enjoyed some of them to the fullest, sometimes too much...., and I ended up in 40 cm of water on the rocky plateau near the shore. 

It was especially nice to steal the waves from Marco.... who knows how to choose them, and therefore you always have to follow him.... Chapeau to Mirco who, even in these conditions, with side on wind and small waves, has proven to ride very well. In the water, also some riders who have demonstrated that they can validly use freestyle equipment (Goya Bounce/Cypher and Goya Air),  in these conditions. 

Even on Sunday, I still entered the water with the 5.3 and the 96, and I had fun. I only set the 3S as a thruster, but with two K4 Stubby 11 as side fins, instead of the standard MFC fins in G10, which made the board softer and more manageable underfoot.

Overpowered on Sunday at the end of the session, too. But having to return home to Italy, there was no more time to change sails. And then, after 4pm, when I left, the wind started to drop.

In short, a Carro that was enough to keep the monkey at bay....

Until next time. Fabio

Click here for the rich slidegallery of the two days.

I also made some videos, which I will publish as soon as possible.