MEMORIES FOR EVER
Our first days’s sailing in Le Morne will be one I remember for as long as I live with probably some of the most radical conditions I’ve sailed in, at a beach that only can be described as windsurfing paradise. Le Morne is a unique headland, with the southerly pressure systems hammering this south-western point of the island with strong winds and swell that accelerate as they hit land and swell around the sheer cliffs of the volcanic mountains jutting out from behind the beach. 400 m. out to sea, an ankle-dry reef protects the bay, which, on a big day, can have upwards of mast to double-mast high perfect left and rights breaking on to the reef. On the inside, flat-water conditions, with the occasional wave rolling through the bay, make for incredible slalom and freestyle conditions. It was here we started the competition – and the madness. 4 rounds of ‘Le Morne style’ beach starts across coral-saturated beaches, cut feet and bruised bones before hitting the water for 25-30 knot downwind slalom races, with the outer gybe buoy sitting only 25 m. inside the reefs where mast-high surf was being torn to shreds, right in front of the first gybe mark. When Le Morne was over it was back to our resort at Point D’sny, to begin two days of downwind slalom and marathon-style slalom, with courses set around the small islands sheltering the resort and perfect, flat-water speed strips protected by the razor reefs of the southern parts of the island. We enjoyed Mauritian-style BBQs on the beach in the afternoon as the sun set over the mountains behind us, sun-kissed waters of incredible emerald green and baby blue and watching old wooden yachts and sailboats anchor wherever they can find shelter from the wind inside the bay – what an incredible place to sail!