WORN AND TORN
After only 5 days on the island we’d almost sailed ourselves to death. Our hands were calloused and worn, our shoulders and legs ached, our skin raw from the sunburn and sand. The wind was relentless, blowing day and night, propelling plates off tables at the breakfast buffet, yet it was perfect kite flying weather for the scores of children playing on the pristine beaches of the Preskil resort. One more event to go. The famous ‘Pheonix Crossing’, starting with a rabbit boat start in front of the Preskil resort before a 40-km. crossing of the south eastern most point of Mauritius, downwind slalom on the first leg and an upwind beat with numerous tacks to make it back to the finish line in front of the resort. The best of windsurfing and kitesurfing competing. Indian Ocean islands versus Africa and Europe. A gruelling on-and-a-half-hour race – for the leaders – with wind from 15-25 knots forcing the best of us on to our biggest equipment to make sure we could get through the lulls. Our arms screamed as we tried to hang on in the gusts. Back at the beach, as the final competitors crossed the line and cracked open a Pheonix beer in front of the resort pool before the prize giving, you could see the smiles on everyone’s faces, despite the sheer torture of sailing over 30 minutes on one tack!