1. Home
  2. Leisure Activities
  3. Windsurfing

Windsurfing on French lakes

Windsurfing is a surface water sport using a windsurf board generally between two and four metres long, and powered by the effect of the wind on a sail.

There has been a debate between what to call windsurfing as it used to be commonly named sailboarding or board sailing, becoming windsurfing in the 90s. However, despite the term of Windsurfing being used nowadays, participants are still called sailors and not surfers.

Windsurfing is more or less a mixture of the laid-back culture of surf sports and the rules-based environment of sailing.

Windsurfer can perform jumps, inverted loops, spinning manoeuvres and other freestyle moves that can not be matched by any other sailboat. However, these kinds of moves can only be performed on the sea or ocean, or at least a surface where you have reasonable waves and wind conditions. That is not the case on French lakes, but you can still enjoy windsurfing in a more relaxed way, which is what most of the beginners and regulars are looking for when thinking about windsurfing.

Windsurfing Competitions

There are the following disciplines in windsurfing competitions:

  • Olympic Windsurfing Class
  • Formula Windurfing Class
  • Windsufring Slalom
  • Super X
  • Windsurfing Speed Racing
  • Windsurfing Freestyle
  • Wavesailing

Freestyle and Wave are judged competitions, the sailor with the best technique and diversity wins. Olympic Boardsailing, Formula windsurfing, Slalom and Super X are races where many sailors compete on a course, and Speed Racing is a race where sailors compete on a straight 500 m course in turns.

French Lake Windsurfing

Obviously, the experts will not enjoy lake windsurfing as much as windsurfing on the sea, but for others, this will be such a great opportunity to learn and to enjoy your experience.

Due to the reduced size of a lake, you will need to turn more often and are therefore more likely to fall. It is very possible to have an enjoyable windsurfing session on many French lakes. Actually, there are around 250 spots where you can surf in France.