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SARAH JACKSON: FOIL GARDA

Top UK racer Sarah Jackson muses on how she has come to embrace wind foiling and why it has changed her opinion of Lake Garda for the better.

WORDS – Sarah Jackson // PHOTOS – Emanuela Cauli

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Nestled in the mountainous north of the land of pizza, pasta, gelato and proper coffee is the absolutely stunning Lago di Garda, a.k.a. Lake Garda. The Italian hotspot is well known amongst windsurfers, but perhaps one of its best features remains hidden in the early season – namely the incredible opportunities available for those on foils!

My prior experience of Lake Garda was limited to a 10 day trip in July 2018 for the IFCA Youth Slalom World Championships in search of a world title (I finished 4^th after an altercation with a ferry), so I wasn’t in a position to really take in the beauty and magic of this location. I was on a mission, the mission failed and I was left with a bad feeling about the place as it just didn’t deliver the conditions we needed for slalom racing. These were the days before foils, when light, gusty and shifty conditions meant we finished the week with only 3 rounds completed. Why am I dwelling on this? Because it could have been so much better if only I had a foil!

Breath-taking

Fast forward 4 years, and it was finally time to return to Garda. It’s one of Europe’s most popular windsurfing destinations and it was time to go and see what this place was really all about! Not only that, after spending three months training with the hardcore TWS Pro Slalom Training in Tenerife, it was quite appealing to go somewhere flat and easy and get some good testing under my belt before the season really kicks off.

So first impressions – is it all it’s hyped up to be? Well I have to say it’s pretty breath-taking with the mountains on both sides descending straight into the lake. Arriving to Nago-Torbole in the north of the lake (where most of the windsurfing takes place), from the east side of the mountain, you suddenly get a full view of the lake in all its glory. Winding down the steep streets into Torbole, you’re greeted with one of the biggest windsurfing shops in Italy – Surf Planet, as well as Rip Curl and Quiksilver shops. It feels slightly strange to be so landlocked, yet seeing some of the most famous surfing brands in the middle of the town. It really is a windsurf addict’s paradise. Whilst being a lake in the middle of Europe, there is a part of it that does feel slightly like the sea as when you’re stood on the water’s edge, often you can’t see the other end of the lake, it really is that big!

Forecast

The wind forecast is something you can truly throw in the bin in Garda as the mountains make even Windguru’s best efforts worthless! There are two main wind systems in Torbole – the Peler and the Ora. The Peler is the morning wind, blowing from the north (offshore in Torbole) and is best between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. It’s typically stronger (20-35 knots) than the afternoon wind, so it’s popular with the freestylers and high wind slalom sailors and the truly dedicated amongst us! The Ora is a south wind and the afternoon wind, although it can kick in as early as 11 a.m. and stay as late as sunset in the summer! It’s normally around 15-25 knots, perfect for big freeride gear. So if you’re lucky, you can get wind almost all day long – a big tick for me for getting lots of training in, but also amazing for a holiday in that you can practically windsurf all day. Predicting the Ora and Peler is best done by looking at the pressure between the mountains. The wind is katabatic, meaning that as one mountain heats up or cools down, it creates a pressure difference and the movement of air created by the pressure difference creates the wind. I’ve found one weather forecast website – www.wwwind.com/en/wind-weather-information-lake-garda-malcesine – which although it only works a day in advance, seems to be fairly accurate for predicting the morning and afternoon wind, but you also need to take into account cloud cover – if it’s clear it’s windy, if it’s cloudy, then there’s less chance it’s windy, or at least it’s lighter and gusty.

Out of season

Visiting Garda in late April/early May I was warned it wasn’t going to be the best time for wind and also still pretty chilly (there was snow on the mountain tops when I arrived!), but equally it’s also super quiet on the water and the price of accommodation can be a lot cheaper than in peak season. For me I didn’t mind if it wasn’t as windy, as my focus for the trip was foiling and in the first two weeks I sailed almost every day with my 5.9 to 7.9 WARP_FOIL sails, catching both the morning and afternoon winds. Without a foil however I think it would be a different story as we had quite a few cloudy days, making the winds gusty and shifty. Speaking to people on freeride gear, they were constantly frustrated that one minute they were overpowered, but the next minute standing still. That really is the beauty of the foil and foil specific sails, they make it so much easier as they have such a wide range allowing you to glide through the lulls with ease, but also coping with the gusts extremely well. Whilst on a fin I would have been constantly swapping sails and boards trying to find the best combination; with the foil I only need to rig one sail and invariably it’s fine for the entire day.

Freedom

One of my favourite aspects of foiling is the freedom it gives, allowing you to be able to explore. Whilst with a fin, you can slowly make upwind progress, with a foil you can point so much further into the wind that suddenly the ability to discover other parts of the lake is so much easier. If the wind is too strong in the afternoon, sail for just 5 minutes upwind and you will find it a couple of knots lighter. Equally if you want to get out of the hustle and bustle of the centres by the beach, you aren’t constantly fighting to stay upwind, it’s just a case of two or three tacks and you practically have the lake to yourself!

Whilst I spend the majority of my time on race foiling gear, getting it dialled in ready for the upcoming racing season, the Duotone Pro Centre at Conca d’Oro (just a 5 minute walk from the centre of Torbole) also have a full stock of the latest Duotone and Fanatic free-foiling gear. Jumping on this for a session is just so much fun. I last foiled on freeride gear when foiling was just being released. Taking out the latest F_PACE sail and Stingray board is worlds away from where we were 4 years ago! Of course my foiling has improved since then, but the ease with which this gear flies and the stability through the corners is a completely different experience. Having spent almost all of my time foiling on racing equipment, it’s also a lovely feeling to feel fully in control of the foil and not that I might be thrown off at any minute! Jibing is simple and cruising around, exploring the lake and taking in the scenery is just so much fun!

Advocate

I’ve honestly not been much of an advocate for wind foiling over the last few years – a couple of injuries from trying to learn on the early, unstable gear and going too fast on too advanced gear before my skill level was ready to control it put me off a lot. This trip however really has changed my attitude to foiling. Who knew it can actually be fun? I’m not saying that it will replace the fin in recreational windsurfing, but it was pretty mind-blowing how far the free-foil gear has come in such a short space of time and for me it certainly made for a lot more hours on the water having fun than I would have had on a fin. I was blasting around on my 5.9 WARP_FOIL for instance in the same conditions that guys were out on their 7.8 WARP_FIN sails with medium slalom boards and although we might have been neck and neck in the gusts, as soon as the lulls hit, I just kept going and they stopped.

Whilst Garda is considered one of the windsurfing meccas of Europe, and I’m sure the foil will never replace the fin, the gusty conditions of the early season (and what I also experienced in the middle of summer), meant with the foil, the number of hours spent on the water having fun was increased, and isn’t that why we all windsurf after all?

Additionally, I was truly blown away by how much the equipment has improved in the last few years; it turns out, it isn’t all marketing rubbish and it really is a lot better than the stuff I first tried! Foiling definitely has a time and a place and it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I would really encourage everyone that tried it 4 years ago and hated it as much as I did, give it another go with some of the new foiling gear and see how much fun you can have, instead of getting angry at the conditions!

Tips

In general, my tips for learning to wind foil would be to definitely start slow! Even if you want to get into race foiling, starting with a big, slow front wing makes everything feel a lot easier. You wouldn’t put someone learning to plane for the first time straight onto a slalom board with a big sail and hope that it goes well! They will probably get planing, but they will hate the sensation, crash a lot and never return to windsurfing and I think it’s the same with foiling. It’s possible to learn on race gear, but if you have the opportunity to rent some gear from a centre and have a lesson or two in the beginning, it will probably make your whole experience a lot more enjoyable. Additionally, you can then try lots of different setups and brands and find the package that suits you best!

My absolute golden advice for learning to foil though, is don’t let go of the boom!! This way you can’t be hit by the foil at all and it keeps you nice and safe. Apart from the new gear, I think one of the biggest things that’s helped me progress in my foiling has been getting longer harness lines (ok it’s gear again, but also technique). I am now using the Clamcleat® racing ones like they used for RS:X, where you can make small adjustments really easily. This means as the gust hits you can make them really long (around 40 inches!!) but then when you hit a lull you shorten them and you’re at 24 inches. The really long lines help you get away from the gear and then it’s much more comfortable. Most of my catapults these days come from when my lines are too short and I can’t react quickly enough to get away from my gear. For free foiling I don’t think you quite need 40” lines as you’re more over the board, but it’s the same as with freeride, the longer lines let you get away from your gear and give you more time to react to gusts.