MAURITIUS – PARADISE ISLAND

Sean O’Brien and Luke Baillie took a trip across the Indian. Ocean to explore the multicultural paradise of Mauritius.If you asked me to leave the height of balmy European summer, take a 12-hour flight to a tiny island, right smack in the middle of the southern hemisphere winter, I’d have thought you were crazy.

Words  Sean O’Brien // Photos  Natasha Smith – all other shots Sean O’Brien

(This feature originally appeared in the  March 2014 issue of Windsurf Magazine. To read more features like this first, Print and Digital subscriptions are available. Prices include delivery globally for 10 x issues a year!)

HEAVEN EXISTS
I guess you could say Luke Baillie and I were just that. After a few frantic emails and google image searches of the ocean east of Africa, our bags were packed and plane tickets bought, gambling on a last-minute trip to the French/African island of Mauritius. We scored.  ‘That moment ‘you arrive in the little airport of Grand Port, hoist the bags on to the trolley, exit the airport and are greeted with the thick air and blistering heat of the Mauritian ‘winter’. A short truck ride later and we were at our abodes for the week, the famous Preskil Resort right on the waterfront at Mahebourg, on the island’s south side. The whole ride the truck would shake along the tiny side streets to the resort as solid 25 knot southerly wind fanned the coast. They didn’t stop blowing for throughout our stay. Day or night. 

MELTING POT
Mauritius’ rich history and diverse cultures make it a unique country to visit. Four dominating ethnicities, French, Indian, Chinese and Africans all inhabit the island and congregate in their own neighbourhoods, surrounded by some of the most legendary surf breaks crashing over picturesque reefs full of radical sea life that even made us Australians jealous! You can drive the length of the island in less than 2 hours, along a vast network of single lane highways surrounded by cane fields and volcanic mountains. It’s a windsurfer’s dream, wavesailing, slalom, formula and freestyle can be sailed at nearly every beach, with the popular launch spots boasting outer reefs for radical surf action and flat water lagoons inside, perfect for slalom and freestyle. Did I mention it’s boardshorts weather 365 days a year? 

BACK-TO-BACK ACTION
No less than 24 hours after touching down and one epic afternoon slalom session off a beach only 20m from our resort room front door later, we were on another truck heading one hour west to the famous wave sailing spot of Le Morne, ready to play our parts in an epic slalom competition – The Mauritius Freeride Paradise Challenge. Perhaps not one of the best-known events in the world, this festival was held over a seven-day period, with competitors racing in teams across four separate venues showcasing the best of Mauritius’ beaches. The week kicks off with some hard-core downwind slalom at Le Morne, usually the windiest spot in Mauritius, before moving further around the coast to Point D’sny for some speed racing across the flat water inside the reef. A day of medium length marathon slalom races, right in front of the Preskil resort, follows before, finally, the epic ‘Pheonix Crossing’ marathon, an all-in slalom race crossing over 40 km. of Mauritian coastline. This Pro-Am contest attracted the best the Indian Ocean has to offer, with a strong local contingent, some South African slalom hotshots as well as an Aussie team and a host of PWA World Tour sailors from France. 

MEMORIES FOR EVER
Our first days’s sailing in Le Morne will be one I remember for as long as I live with probably some of the most radical conditions I’ve sailed in, at a beach that only can be described as windsurfing paradise. Le Morne is a unique headland, with the southerly pressure systems hammering this south-western point of the island with strong winds and swell that accelerate as they hit land and swell around the sheer cliffs of the volcanic mountains jutting out from behind the beach. 400 m. out to sea, an ankle-dry reef protects the bay, which, on a big day, can have upwards of mast to double-mast high perfect left and rights breaking on to the reef. On the inside, flat-water conditions, with the occasional wave rolling through the bay, make for incredible slalom and freestyle conditions. It was here we started the competition – and the madness. 4 rounds of ‘Le Morne style’ beach starts across coral-saturated beaches, cut feet and bruised bones before hitting the water for 25-30 knot downwind slalom races, with the outer gybe buoy sitting only 25 m. inside the reefs where mast-high surf was being torn to shreds, right in front of the first gybe mark. When Le Morne was over it was back to our resort at Point D’sny, to begin two days of downwind slalom and marathon-style slalom, with courses set around the small islands sheltering the resort and perfect, flat-water speed strips protected by the razor reefs of the southern parts of the island. We enjoyed Mauritian-style BBQs on the beach in the afternoon as the sun set over the mountains behind us, sun-kissed waters of incredible emerald green and baby blue and watching old wooden yachts and sailboats anchor wherever they can find shelter from the wind inside the bay – what an incredible place to sail!

WORN AND TORN
After only 5 days on the island we’d almost sailed ourselves to death. Our hands were calloused and worn, our shoulders and legs ached, our skin raw from the sunburn and sand. The wind was relentless, blowing day and night, propelling plates off tables at the breakfast buffet, yet it was perfect kite flying weather for the scores of children playing on the pristine beaches of the Preskil resort. One more event to go. The famous ‘Pheonix Crossing’, starting with a rabbit boat start in front of the Preskil resort before a 40-km. crossing of the south eastern most point of Mauritius, downwind slalom on the first leg and an upwind beat with numerous tacks to make it back to the finish line in front of the resort. The best of windsurfing and kitesurfing competing. Indian Ocean islands versus Africa and Europe. A gruelling on-and-a-half-hour race – for the leaders – with wind from 15-25 knots forcing the best of us on to our biggest equipment to make sure we could get through the lulls. Our arms screamed as we tried to hang on in the gusts. Back at the beach, as the final competitors crossed the line and cracked open a Pheonix beer in front of the resort pool  before the prize giving, you could see the smiles on everyone’s faces, despite the sheer torture of sailing over 30 minutes on one tack! 

PRO-AM’S A SLAM!
If I had my time again I would’ve brought surfboards and more sunscreen. A winter paradise that boasts water and air temperatures that summertime Europe would be proud of. Relentless wind and swell makes Mauritius a perfect training and vacation location, regardless of your choice of  windsurfing discipline. Friendly people, welcoming waters and unique geography make this one of my favourite islands on the globe to visit – and I live on a tropical island! After leaving, only one thing crossed my mind. Pro-Am slalom is back! And you’ll find it in Mauritius, still one of the greatest places you can go to see the beaches you won’t see anywhere. SO

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