Rain, cold and then sun... - Kitesurf Sessions 111 and 112

Last Saturday and Sunday meant the opening of the water season for me... I'd seen the forecast was gray and rainy for the first day, but I hadn't seen the sudden fall in temperatures announced, so on Saturday I found myself huddled together with friends inside a van to gather courage to go on the (still very cold) water in Beaduc, in the South of France.

Finally, when I managed to raise my body temperature and after the rain stopped, I got a sudden boost of motivation and got outside to try my friend Julos' 9m Slingshot RPM. Very nice kite, with a great kitelooping ability, but that takes some getting used too, I guess due to it's particular shape. The session was small, but great and I didn't even feel the cold until it was over. I had the brilliant idea to use only my shorty, so as to not get my 5.4 wetsuit wet for next morning's session, so I ended up braving the 9°C temperature with 25/30 knots wind (for an estimate of 4/5°C with the windchill) in "minimal coating", Viking style!

With the night, the sky grew clearer and we managed to find a nice spot protected from the strong winds to have our first barbecue of the season.

On Sunday the weather was much nicer! Sunny all day long and with a strong wind in the morning, that allowed for some a great flat water jump session, while others played in the small waves. If Saturday was still an hostile winter environment, Sunday was definitely our well deserved welcome to the news season! Hopefully, we have many more of these to come...

 

A very special thank you to Olive and Elroliv for the photos in this post, since my lazy ass didn't even got the camera out of the bag this time!