John Carter and Timo Mullen make a raid on the Normandy coastline, home ground of up-and-coming French stars – the infamous Denel brothers.
Story John Carter & Timo Mullen Photos JC
WED 21st NOV
6 pm JC: There’s an epic forecast for whole south coast of England and France for Thursday and pretty much every single break either side of the English Channel is going to be firing. Instead of staying local we’re debating whether to head to Wissant, just the other side of the Euro Tunnel, close to Calais, in search of adventure and down-the-line wave riding.
It’s a big risk to leave wind and surf, but the thought of doing something totally different is appealing – if you never take a punt to seek and explore it is easy to get bored sailing at your home break, so a little spice can fire you up again. Our hosts will be the two French hot-shot brothers Jules and Justin Denel, Wissant locals who have promised a really sick day at their home break. I check the Euro Tunnel website to price up the journey and its only £22 each way by car for a short trip or £43 each way for a van under 6m. Not too bad, time to call Timo for the final decision!
NO FRENCH RESISTANCE
6.30 pm Timo: France has been on the Motley Crew radar for a very long time now. Every year it’s on the ‘to do’ list but for one reason or another, a plan of attack has never really materialized. The main problem is that any low pressure that will light up the Brittany or Channel spots in France also flicks on all the well-known spots in the UK and, as everyone knows, the golden rule in windsurfing is – never leave wind and waves!
After one of the windiest November and Decembers on record the Motley Crew had logged more water time than usual so it was agreed at Motley HQ that, when the next low pressure hit the South Coast, we would be donning our berets for a covert attack on the wave sailing delights of the Normandy coast. Getting there from the UK could not be easier, the UK and French governments had overheard that the main reason the Motley Crew were avoiding a trip to France was their track record with missing ferries, so they very kindly spent £11 billion and dug a 50km long tunnel 70m underneath the English Channel just to make sure the Motleys could get there on time!