In summer time, Lake Garda offers wonderful days: sun, warm, unique views, and, above all, wind. 11 June 2017 was a typical windsurfing day at the Pier, with a beautiful Ora wind at about 25 knots.

 

Windsurf session: Pier (Garda Lake)

Once arrived at 11.00 at the spot, I park in some way (first terrace above the hotel). In this month, many foreign tourists crowd the Hotel Pier, so you have to be patient, and endure some discomfort. But, then, the intensity of the wind in the water, makes you forget most of the difficulties.

 

So many friends are here, whom to share the session with. And also, some "boss" of the spot, as Simone Grezzi, and Fabio Calò, the windsurfing school director, who, just the night before, was at Guns and Roses's concert. Michael Rossmeier, author of the mhytical Trictionary, was also there.

Realizing that the wind was rising up well, at 11.30, I immediately decided to rig my Ezzy Elite 4.7 (I weigh 70 kgs). I decided to match it with a Tabou 3s 106 LTD, with an MFC 25 freewave fin.

 

At 12.45, games begin for me. At the beginning of the session (and also at the end), the area near the "pigs" rock, and the one upwind of the spot (towards Capo Reamol) are the ones that work better, with more intense wind, and, above all wind , with wind even better spreaded. As usual, I follow the desire to get planing as soon as possible, and, I go downwind to the pigs rock instead of trying to ride upwind....

 

 

The wind in the first part of the session is not perfect: it is a bit on-off, and there are some lulls too, especially towards the lake center. In addition, there are several direction changes. Perhaps in this first part of the session, a 5.5 would be better. At pigs rock, crowding is reasonable and maneuvering is possible without much problem. When I do not fall in the water for a long time, the 3/2 mm long wetsuit makes me feel a bit hot. Somebody is even with neaked chest, but I think it's not yet the case.

 

 

Suddenly, Fabio Calò appears in the water. Fabio has style, no doubt about it: it's enough to watch him planing, to arouse your admiration: his board rides flat on the water, and in full control, even on the heaviest gusts (which are at 30 knots). I take a few photos of him, while I am sitting on the board in the middle of the lake.

In the water, I also meet Simone Grezzi, which rides in front of the Hotel. He repeats many speed loops (see movie at the end of the article), and I wonder, reviewing the movie, how incredible is his ability to jump on a chop of not even half a meter, and to turn in the air in a moment, just after that. Analyzing Simone's movie, you can clearly see that he pushes well with his stern leg on the board, and then huddles in the air in an instant to make the rotation. Chapeau!

 

 

In the water, now (at 15.30), there are fewer people, but the wind is still very good, and I enjoy the spot. In addition, the sun sets later behind the mountains in this period, and it is a pleasure to surf until late afternoon. So, I go on until 16.00, when I stop, because, after three hours in the water, I'm a bit tired.

 

 

 

After getting out of the water, I take it easy. I let the other riders to go away, I enjoy the beauty of the spot, I talk to some friends, and, "sadly", I go home, around at 18.15. West Gardesana national road, fortunately, is kind enough with me, and at about 20:15 I back to Monza, near Milan, where I live.

Now I want to ride at Prà and Malcesine. I hope that in the upcoming weeks, the Peler (strong thermic wind in the morning) season will start right well!

Aloha. Fabio

Click here, to enjoy the compact camera slidegallery.

Click here, to enjoy the Reflex slidegallery.

The videos of the day