La Tramontane..average 28 mph winds..incredible..!!

[Pike]

What if…

There was a place with winds so constant it rendered Egypt obsolete

There was a place which was sunnier than brazil

There was a place where 5 kiters are considered a crowd

This place was only an hour and a half away

There was a place where you only need your 9m and 7m kites

as cheap as chips....

 

It exists..

 

I have just returned from an amazing week being blown away by the local wind here, in the South of France, called La Tramontane, sister to La Mistral. It blows from the North or North West and oh how it blows….in 3 day cycles with one day off, sometimes 6 days sometimes 9 days. Even on a day off it blows from the south a little lighter (SE – ‘la greek’ wind or SW) and then you just head to the beach or to the south end of the lake (see later)….locals say it’s ALWAYS windy here..and you can tell…all the bar and resturant terraces face south with wind covers. This wind blows all year ..something to do with the high in the azores. The only reason local kiters don’t kite in winter (from Dec – March)is because.. "it’s plus 10 degr but the wind is cold and makes it like zero degr…"!!. Ya what?? I spent a year in Redcar kiting AT zero with minus10 degr windchill!! The big bonus is that La Tramontane brings with it blue sky sunshine..guaranteed.

Take a look at windguru…it’s still blowing! BTW when it’s blowing from the north add 10mph to the forcast; http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=242

South of France, Lanquedoc-Roussillon, Saint Pierre la Mer with Kitezone Sudwindsports. Run by a brit Steve and his amazing team. Visithttp://www.sudwindsports.com. If you want to learn the sport do it here. This is where the Junior European Kitesurf Championship was held this year - an indication of the quality.

Camping is right on the beach 2 mins walk away.

 

However, this report is about another place just around the corner..Le Lac Nautique…the wind is stronger, more constant and with safety a lake provides, max depth 2m. t least 2 square miles, you could have 100 kiters on here and not have to move your kite out of the way all day. The windsurfers keep to the north of the lake. Look at it here on google earth, I’ve placemarked it:

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r174/pike10/LacNautique.jpg

There is a campsite (Les Mimosa’s www.lesmimosas.com) about 200 metres away, with 3 swim pools you can cabin it ot take a pitch. Has bar and restaurant.Those of you on a tight budget could easily pitch up lakeside.

Getting there:

Getting here is soo easy therer are a jumber of airports;

Perpignan (current ryanair flights from around £70 return)

Gerona (apparently the cheapest flights)

Carcassonne

Toulouse

Actual road place, it’s just 10 minutes off the motorway: http://www.multimap.com/maps/#t=l&map=43.13306,3.00401|14|4&loc=FR:43.10716:3.08641:14|gruissan|Gruissan, Aude

The Kite launch is at the end of the road just above where it says Grand Mandirac. Take the turning for the Horse Stables.

Gruissan would be your nearest town and it a beautiful town surrounded by water, green with a port with bars/restaurants around the harbour.

This is a plcae for quick week end, a weeks holiday and even bringing the G/F B/F...just awesome

I know I’ll be back:D

David

 

[The Masochist]

Wow and my g/f has just moved to Toulouse so i now know that i'll be taking kites with me!

[The Masochist]

the multimap link doesnt work for me, and i cant find it using livemaps either. Im trying to find out the distance form toulouse to this windy place?

[Pike]

I flew into toulouse - it takes 1 hr 45 mins.

 

on multimap go to gruissan then head north west - the town of lac nautique is at the north end of the lake.

 

same for google earth.

 

I think the link is fixed now.

[sukie]

its awesome hey

we spent a month there this winter (march-april) amazing spot, flamingos. windy as ****

shops stock 5 and 3m kites as standard. all friendly locals, standard is pretty high.

 

check out a lac on the south side of sete, before the pass between see and lake, there is an ne way shop there, or may be magic surf on a roundabout and they will tell you, found the wind way better than leucate lac, and the further up the lake you go wind is cleaner.

 

anyone wants to know anything about kiting in france (we did a 3 month trip round it this winter) let me know and i will let you in on some FREAKIN AWESOME spots!

[nath]

Hi,

 

Need more info!

 

Looks a better, less crowded spot and closer than Tarifa.

 

Whats the closest airport? Looks like Carcasonne?

 

Does any one know wht the temp would be like in say October?

 

Nath

[Pike]

it'll be good

keep an eye on windguru and look for those northerly winds - temps now are still in the high twenties, october will be a little cooler but still warm.

 

oh and the closest airport is perpignan (45mins) but the cheapest is gerona (1hr 45)

[Lukewhity]

hi,

 

looks really nice!

 

thinkin of goin somwere this january an febuary for a couple of months which is cheap, windy an not too cold. i would probably drive so i could stay in the van. du know what it would be like around this time?

 

thanks,

 

Luke

[Tweak]

Yeah its good, but the wind is not that consistant. When it blows, it blows 4 days in a row, but i have been there and it has not blown for two weeks at all! Winds are also much more the 28 mph a lot of the time. Can blow up to 40 mph regularly, and it is gusty as buggery! The NW tram wind is greater the further north you go, and the SE wind is stronger the further south you go. There are many spots on the med coast, and the lakes are also great around that region. AND the french know their right of way, unlike people down here.

[Pike]

hi,

 

looks really nice!

 

thinkin of goin somwere this january an febuary for a couple of months which is cheap, windy an not too cold. i would probably drive so i could stay in the van. du know what it would be like around this time?

 

thanks,

 

Luke

 

yeh like tweak says - also spoke to the locals jan/feb and they said it just gets too cold as the wind is alot colder that time of year. suppose it's all relative cos I kited through winter no probs at Redcar. Locals said that air temp is around 10 degr with windchill at zero which tbh doesn't sound all that cold!!

bit chill in the van though??

[Pike]

Yeah its good, but the wind is not that consistant. When it blows, it blows 4 days in a row, but i have been there and it has not blown for two weeks at all! Winds are also much more the 28 mph a lot of the time. Can blow up to 40 mph regularly, and it is gusty as buggery! The NW tram wind is greater the further north you go, and the SE wind is stronger the further south you go. There are many spots on the med coast, and the lakes are also great around that region. AND the french know their right of way, unlike people down here.

 

yes true but don't let the gustiness put you off. I found it hard on the first day but you soon get dialled in and start to enjoy huge double boosts (when you go up...then up again!!). the lac nautique was definitley less on/off then the coast at saint piere la mer (and stronger!).

[Lukewhity]

hi,

 

looks really nice!

 

thinkin of goin somwere this january an febuary for a couple of months which is cheap, windy an not too cold. i would probably drive so i could stay in the van. du know what it would be like around this time?

 

thanks,

 

Luke

 

yeh like tweak says - also spoke to the locals jan/feb and they said it just gets too cold as the wind is alot colder that time of year. suppose it's all relative cos I kited through winter no probs at Redcar. Locals said that air temp is around 10 degr with windchill at zero which tbh doesn't sound all that cold!!

bit chill in the van though??

 

yer it doesn't sound that cold, i just checked the archives for it an the wind in jan feb an march looks boss. just wanna get away from the cold. Ive done 2 winters now since i started kitesurfing, like around january an feb im havin fun but am just ridin round tryna stay dry. went to tarifa for 5 days last christmas, that was nice, it was like bein here in the summer!

[noelpilot83]

Not sure if anyones mentioned but Breziers which Ryanair fly to seems even closer, 35-40 mins!?

this place looks top

 

it'll be good

keep an eye on windguru and look for those northerly winds - temps now are still in the high twenties, october will be a little cooler but still warm.

 

oh and the closest airport is perpignan (45mins) but the cheapest is gerona (1hr 45)

[flyer]

Been there a few times myself.......

 

I am going out for most of Jan, but I will spend a week or so skiing.

 

Jan can be cold but last year I buggyed in shorts and a tshirt, the previous year it was 2 coats.

 

La Franqui is great for buggys or boards and in the summer kitesurfing, but most go to the lakes in the winter.

[si-fly]

Sailed the lake near Perpignan this last summer and with only a 12 Ion had to wait to late afternoon for the wind to drop a bit ...even then I was maxed out 30+mph. As said above all the kites I saw were between 5-9m and when the wind blew from the SE there were some nice waves (3-4ft) on the Med.

 

It must be cold in the winter though as the wind blows down from the mountains which have snow in the winter!!

Si.

[flyer]

Put La Franqui into u tube and you will find lots of clips.

 

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jXEJcSJkmdU

 

I have been flying with Allan for 8 years, for him this is a small jump.

[Free Lander]

As everyone has said, the Tramontane is a regular constant wind down in the South of France. It comes off the back end of the Massif Central mountain range, and lasts 3, 6 or 9 days. If you live in the region (like I do) and you aren´t kiting, its a real nuisance. Its not unusual to have average speeds over 6 days periods of 30knots. However, if your hobby is kiting, its utopia.

La Franqui is my nearest beach, south of Beziers (RyanAir fly from Bristol from April 2008), Carcassonne (RyanAir), and Girona (RyanAir)

Everything kicks off there properly from the week after the big kite festival in April (Mondial du Vent).

I was there last week and you needed to wrap up. The beach is just fantastic for buggys and boarders - 4 miles long and pan flat hard sand.

Anyone wanting any more info - let me know......

 

Harvey

[flyer]

I leave for La Franqui in 25 mins (flying to Girona), packed my 1.5 and 2.5mtr kites.

[keyrb101]

its not as consistent as some other popular spots but its a cool place, when i was there it was quite often blowing offshore at around 40 knots, quite hardcore!! some good riders there and the landboarding area is great really friendly community down there.