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Top night in the van sheltered from the wind but it did seem to rain a lot in the night. After a relaxing breakfast set to check the wind, drove to Gruissan Plage but doesn’t seem that windy and not a windsurfer in sight??? Parked by the Etang in Gruissan old town, visited the Chateau on the hill – great views all round and free :) then walk around town for bread before setting off to find where they start the Defi Wind Race stopping off at a supermarket first. We find the stone break water where the race starts -walk to the end over the rocks, see a local fisherman catch his super :) Have lunch here as the wind picks up!!! Head back to check windsurf beach, several kites up in the teaching lagoon and lots of windsurfers parked on the beach and blasting up and down :) Now for the dodgy bit the stone chicane and bumpy road toe beach – we managed both okay although it is a long way to the beach. We parked on the hard sand about a 100m from the sea , asked a German who had just arrived what he was rigging and he said 6.5 and I went for 7 as didn’t seem that windy.In the end 6.6 might have been the better choice but held onto the big sail fine !!! Gruissan is a hard place to go fast, you seem to be flying over the flat water in close and going just as fast over the lumpier bit farther out, because of the angle of the wind here you can never sail broad enough for really fast times but had a fantastic four hours covering nearly 70 miles and just breaking 30 kts but seemed much faster !!! I sailed the six miles to Port-la-Nouvelle but spent most of my time sailing from the rocky bank to where the kiters sail at the entrance to the Etang – a kiter did manage to jump over me twice!!! I seemed a bit off the pace compared to some of the other slalom sailors so nothing new there!!!

I think Mag her time on the beach, reading, sleeping and walking along the beach taking pics and collecting shell :) About 50 people on bikes came down for a swim and only one van got stuck in the sand!!!

We left the beach at about 7:30 parked up by the little port and spent a great hour walking in the warm evening sunshine through the old town and back by the town Etang taking pics as the sun set :)The whole town was out seated at lots of tables by the water enjoying a bbq to celebrate a Saints day we think.Then back to where we parked last night for duck out of a tin and delicious it was too, seems a lot windier than last night might try La Franqui tomorrow???

Fanatic Falcon 90 with Tushingham x-15 7m and 35 cm fin