travel report from Anton of World Extreme

...since the days I started windsurfing in the 70's I read many windsurfing magazines to satisfy my hunger for windsurf information.  Unforgettable are the pix of Robby shredding Hawaiian waves,  Mike Eskimo with his colourful "Donald duck "sail,  Stefan vdBerg winning Olympic gold... these images etched in my mind. Also photo stories about super windsurfing spots fascinated me... Hookipa, Fuerte, Sylt… and Lake Garda.
I have travelled from Prudhoe Bay in Northern Alaska to Sydney Australia, and from Tenri Japan to Tampico in Mexico... yet I never visited one of the spots I read about so much in all the magazines, until recently!

My wife Janine said to me "the last few weeks were very busy, I'm exhausted, so I booked for us a weeks vacation... we go to Lake Garda!"  I said "Lake Garda, Lake Garda, Lake Garda!!!!
…then she wondered if she made a mistake, she knows that the combination of wind & water is deadly for our quality holiday time together!

Coming off the highway after 12 hours of driving, one quickly feels that the Lake is near, and after a few kilometres you get the nicest view over the lake from up on the mountain.

Our first visit was the shop of well-known windsurfing board builder Danilo Feltrinelli of Windaction (www.windaction.net ) in Riva del Garda.  Talking with Danilo you feel the passion he has for his work... all his passion he works into his shapes; his super fast slalom boards are all over Europe, and demand is growing!

Next stop: Wind's Bar (www.windsbar.com) in Torbole. The owner of Wind's bar- Marco Cattoi- is not only an excellent host; he is also a dedicated windsurfer.  Two weeks earlier he organised the Wind's Bar Slalom competition with 75 participants, including some big names like Finain Maynard, Patrick Diethelm and Karin Jaggi.  The event was such a great success that next year over 100 participants are expected.
Over one of the best cappuccinos I ever had, Marco invited me to join him the next day for a Garda slalom session.  We met at the Torbole surf hot spot- the Conca d'Oro, with his cousin and training mate Billy Santoni.

Marco was a long time teamrider for an Italian sailbrand, and usually faster than Billy.  When Billy changed to Blades from his Pryde race sails last April, he was immediately faster than Marco!  So Marco also changed to Blades!
With the southern "Ora" wind kicking in, we had a perfect afternoon.  Marco and Billy were challenging each other like they always do, making them very competitive, skilful windsurfers.  Both sailed Blade 7.5s, no one could match their rig speed and ease that allows their sessions to last forever... it was unforgettable!

The last morning there was no wind, so I packed up.  At lunch I overheard "this afternoon northern wind will come"...  my wife looked at me, she knew she lost.  I had a perfect afternoon with my Loft O2 7.4 on my custom freeride board.

Lake Garda has something very magical... windsurfing over cool blue water, surrounded by tall mountains with sheer vertical rock faces is for me- coming from the flattest country in the world- something I will never forget!... the stories about Lake Garda are true!
I'll be back !!!!

Check Winds Bar webcam http://www.torbolewind.com