Places as geographically diverse as Tenerife, Germany and Vietnam are among the destinations the Professional Windsurfers Association (PWA) visit every year in their world tour.
The PWA are sailors who represent the sport at the highest level of competition, and their worldwide events are always a superb spectacle.
To learn more about the PWA event in Mui Ne, Vietnam, we got in touch with organiser, Pascal Lefebvre. He has been putting windsurfing, sailing, surfing, kite, beach-volley and triathlon competitions together with his Jibe’s Beach Club for more than a decade.
Not many locations of the PWA world tour offer the possibility of more than one discipline, but in Mui Ne windsurfers compete in three: slalom, freestyle and, with luck, waves. “Slalom is the most popular due to its higher prize money,” Pascal says. “Freestyle is also very popular as it’s very spectacular, if we had enough budget we could have a waves event on Suoi Nuoc Beach.”
What makes Mui Ne an ideal windsurf destination is, in Pascal’s words, “its very consistent wind, temperature of water and air, cost of living and, of course the Vietnamese hospitality. The scenery around is also fabulous with a huge variety of landscapes.”
Mui Ne is also perfect for windsurfing, Pascal says, because for this sport, “any condition is good, you just adapt the gear to the condition. Light wind is for beginners and slalom or cruising, whereas medium wind is good for all the categories: slalom, freestyle, free-ride…”
Apart from Mui Ne, there are other places in Vietnam that offer great conditions for windsurfing. Examples include: Phu Quy Island, Ca Na, Pha Rang, Ho Tram and Suoi Nuoc Beach.
The windsurfing season in Vietnam lasts from November to April, which is a great excuse for leaving the British winter behind and going on holiday to Mui Ne. After all, as Pascal says, “Windsurfing here is a great experience, form beginner to advance, and there is still a lot to do when there is no wind.” Off we go?
2012 PWA Tour Mui Ne, Vietnam Nov 30 – Dec 10
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