Newsgroups: rec.windsurfing

> / hpcupt1:rec.windsurfing / robg@Cadence.COM (Rob Garneau) /  6:27 pm  Nov 11, 1992 /
> Anyone have any information on windsurfing in Martenique? I'll be heading
> to the Bucaneers Creek Club Med from 11/19 - 12/2. How are the winds?

I was at the Club Med in Martinique in mid July and was able to get a
couple of days windsurfing in.  The sailing area is in a 1/2 mile wide
protected bay with flat water.  The launching area has a nice sandy
beach and the wind normally blows sideshore relative to the beach.
The air and water temp are warm enough that you can sail in shorts.

The wind there is supposedly caused by trade winds.  Although there is
probably some sailing all year round, I believe the most consistent wind
occurs between December and June with the highest winds occuring between
January and March.  Summer is hurricane season so the wind is the least
consistent during these months.  The hurricanes supposedly disrupt the
normal trade winds.

I can't really say what the normal wind conditions would be since I was
only there in July (hurricane season).  During my stay, there were only 2
days of ~6.0 short board sailing.  Judging from the size of the sails
that the instructors (GO's) owned, it looks like the wind is usually
5.5 - 6.0+.

As for equipment, the short boards they had consisted of Tiga and Bic
boards.  I think they had the Tiga 257 Wave, 265 and 275 Slaloms, the
Bic Electric Rock (8'8") and the ???  Rock (9'6").  They also had some
transition boards (Calypsos I think) and some large beginner boards.
The sails that are available to guests (GMs) are Aerotech RAFs.
Relative to modern slalom or race sails, these sails are terrible.  I
found that the draft was way too far forward to comfortably be able to
use the back footstrap on any of the short boards.  The booms, masts
fins and harness lines they have are pretty low tech too.

If you can make friends with one of the windsurfing GO's, they might be
willing to lend you one of their sails.  After I demonstrated some
sailing proficiency and complained about the sails, one of the
GO's offered to let me use their Bic 5.5 single cam slalom sail - a
huge improvement over the Aerotech RAFs.

If I were to do it again, I would probably bring a few large sails, the
rest of my rig components (mast, boom, base, etc) and a couple of large
pointer or blade fins.  I think the boards they have are good enough to
have fun on.  Bring your harness and some booties.  The Bic boards
had almost all of the non-skid worn off them and getting traction on the
deck is near impossible without booties.

If you do decide to bring any of your own gear, you may want to check
with the airlines to see what the baggage charge would be for just a
sail quiver.  You might also want to check with Club Med to see if there
would be any problem in transporting your gear from the airport to Club
Med and back on their transport buses.

As for general Club Med info, there are lots of other things to do at
Club Med.  You can go sailing (Lasers and Hobies), snorkeling, diving,
water skiing, play volleyball, softball, basketball, do aerobics or take
an excursion off the Club Med site.  The night life is great too.  There
are shows put on by the GOs every night and there is a dance floor which
is open almost all night.  The food was good but not great - kind of
French Carribean food (whatever that is).  Drinks are fairly expensive.
A bottle of good beer runs about $3.50 - $4.00 but since you pay with
bar beads you don't realize how much you are really spending until you
pay your bar tab when you leave.  The average age when I was there was
about 30+ and the people there were approximately 60% American and 40%
European with the largest majority of Europeans being French (it is,
after all, a French Colony).  Overall, I thought it was a great vacation
and I would go again.  This Club Med is ideal for active people.

Have fun,
-matt
Newsgroups: rec.windsurfing