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slalom/blast scene. ASPC had three levels of
equipment depending on the bulge of your wallet. The
pro gear was good stuff with pro model JP boards and
sails rigged on 100% masts. The staff were good,
helpful and not over the top.
What was interesting is you select a board for the
duration of the hire! We have been used to the pick
and mix options of other centres and initially felt a little
restricted by this. I lumped for 113 JP Super Sport and
Louise a 96 FSW with double back straps, again
another telltale sign of the ensuing week of the
megablast. The board is then allocated to you allowing
straps and such all to be tuned to your liking. I even
saw some ‘diligent’ riders bringing their own fins from
home – this was all very new for me. As our time wore
on I began to like this board and even liked the
system. I rode the board with a range of sail sizes and
just got on with it. By the end of my four days hire I
was pretty attached to it and all its straight line
speediness. Don’t let this put you off because if you
want to ride something different the staff were super
helpful and would figure out which board would be
available for you to take out.
Sails were all rigged without booms. ASPC had a great
range of sizes from 3-8.5m (some even smaller for
petite people). The majority of the rigs are quality RAF
with a handful of Cam induced sails. Throughout the
week I had no problems getting the sail I wanted, with
most of the time on one of their ‘cammed’ numbers.
To get a sail just ask the staff and they take it out,
attach boom and send you on your way. Spend five
minutes getting your lines and height set and off you
go. Simple.
On the water
The wind blows left to right for all the main centres.
There is one smaller more local centre at the top of the
bay that is on the other side – called ‘Orsin’. The water
was surprisingly chilly for early August. I may be getting
soft with Middle East acclimatization but I stuck it out
in shorts and rashie, meanwhile Louise was clad in
rubber. It wasn’t enough of a deterrent to not drop
gybes though. The centre has wetsuits free to use if
you need. A lot of the local sailors adorned shorties.
Just a point to note.
All the centres adopt a lazy line system so you can tie
your sail and board up and have a drink/chill/eat and
then head back out an hour later. This was kind of new
to us again but was really quite simple and convenient!
The first 200m of the bay where the centres are is
shallow. This makes it great for all the practicing of
moves and the comfort of standing up. Even with my
midget stature I was good for standing up.
uk
WIND
SURFING