The south-westerly wind has just picked up on the beach at Saint-Sulpice and, as usual, an almost uninterrupted ballet of cars forms in the next few minutes in the parking lot next to the shore. The kitesurfers of the region have all stopped their activities to reach the lake, where the twenty knots promise great spectacle. “We don’t always have good conditions for going out. So when everything comes together, you have to be ready. Go off, ”says freelance graphic designer Greg.
All are permanently connected to the weather applications, so that you can anticipate the slightest wind window. “The stuff is always in the trunk. It saves time, ”smiles Yann, a fan who just dropped the customers of the family cigar store for a recreational afternoon. Sébastien, a 48-year-old doctor, is in the thick of the wave. “I have just finished my nights and I am leaving tomorrow for 26h”. He could not miss such favorable weather. Because here, the sky dictates the rhythm. Nicolas takes a wet suit from his car trunk. “I was already there the day before. She didn’t have time to dry, “he admits without repenting about his addiction.
Like crisps
Kitesurfing has an almost magnetic attraction that non-practitioners have a little trouble grasping. “The big problem in this sport is that you get hooked quickly,” admits Yann. “It’s a bit like crisps: as soon as you start, it’s hard to stop, Sébastien image. I’ve already seen people drop spouses, children and work to go kiting. ” “Because it’s an absolutely magical discipline,” says Greg, who is asked to specify the formula. “It’s pure freedom. I’m windsurfing and it’s very different because we have this mast in the middle of the board. In kiting, we just have a wing that pulls us. We feel very light. Besides, it’s a 3D discipline, because it even allows us to fly. ”
Nicolas describes “a moment of fullness, cool, without competition”. Yann a practice “in harmony with several elements. We have feelings of sliding and height. It’s out of the ordinary. I just received my final tax assessment and I’m happy to go kiting to forget all about it! ” The discipline allows an almost complete reset. On the water, the practitioner becomes unreachable and almost invisible. Like cut off from the world.
The breeze pushes them elsewhere
The gateway to this parallel universe opens on Saint-Sulpice, right between Lausanne and Morges. It is the kite capital in French-speaking Switzerland when the wind blows from the southwest “because it fits well in the sector and the terrain is clear”, decrypts Francis, 68 years old and dean of the place. “By wind, however, it is unavailable because the wind is irregular and pushes offshore.” Under these conditions, the community sets sail for Geneva or Lake Neuchâtel, exit Yvonand.
Practitioners are nothing without the wind. It is he who dictates the way and imposes the material on them. “Depending on the conditions, we change the sail area,” says Francis. “Concretely, the lighter the wind, the more you will choose a large sail,” explains Yann. To the question, “How many do you get out of?”, The kite-surfers answer 5 and a half, 7, 9 etc. or, in square meters, the size of their wing. The choice is never made without taking into account the type of board, some having a foil, others being more surf or wakeboard. The combination of the sail and the board is important because it conditions the practice. And can cause serious mishaps. “What we fear in kiting is the sudden change in weather,” says Yann. If we arrive offshore and the weather gets bad, the wind can go from simple to double, and our equipment becomes unsuitable. This is where this sport can become very dangerous. “
Affordable equipment
Accidents are rare, however. Kitesurfing is a softer discipline than it seems. “You can even do it when you’re old and you have rheumatism everywhere,” says the surfer doctor. As one is held with the harness, one does not need forces. Just a little bit of technique. ” However, kiting can be learned very quickly. “In two, three days we can have fun.” “Those who have snowboarded, surfed or windsurfed are advantaged,” says Romain, 21. It all depends on the profiles: some will need two weeks of lessons while others will be autonomous after a 3 or 4 hour initiation. ”
Once the baptism has been carried out, the followers can fully immerse themselves in the discipline with the appropriate equipment. “It takes 2000 francs for new equipment, about 700 for the occasion,” says Romain. Access to the lake is obviously free. You just need to inquire about the possibility of accessing the beaches in summer, that of Saint-Sulpice being for example reserved for bathers during the hot months. The rest of the year, the cold is not an obstacle for kitesurfers, who benefit from hyper-sophisticated suits, gloves and hoods. “We could stay three hours on the water,” Olivier told us Tuesday morning while we were shivering on the shore, as if frozen. The air was 7 degrees, so was the water.
We had just met the kitesurfers from Saint-Sulpice but it is as if we were already part of the family. “Here it’s like a community. We know each other very quickly. Because everyone is nice, talks to each other and helps each other, “Nicolas had warned us. The codes are borrowed from the Californian culture: general familiarity, specialized vocabulary, assumed coolness, all in a benevolent, intergenerational and … exclusively masculine environment. “Girls come too but less in winter,” says Francis, before helping a colleague put on his jumpsuit. Nicolas loves the spirit of the place. “Here people pay attention to others. I’ve never seen an ounce of aggression on a kite spot, even when there are several of us on the water. Because there are quite precise rules, according to the direction of the wind for example, that everyone respects. It’s very different in surfing, which I practice a lot too. It’s more aggressive because there’s wave-making that generates conflict. ” In kiting, the wind of happiness is for everyone.
Created: 12.02.2020, 6.30 p.m.
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