Mallorca

THE PARADISE THAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW AS YOU THOUGHT

Julia Castro Sailing Energy

550 km of coastline and 180 bays, the water in summer does not drop below 25 degrees and you can arrive from Madrid in just 1 hour and 20 minutes by plane, although you can also arrive by boat from Barcelona or Dénia. I’m talking about Mallorca, that island next to the famous “party island” (Ibiza) that we’ve all heard of but about which, I have the feeling, we know little, since the focus is always on its sister party girl.

This year I was lucky enough to be able to visit it a couple of times at different times of the year and I fell completely in love, it seems to me that the island has the perfect amounts of good temperatures, dreamy beaches, mountains, it’s green, there’s city life, but also from the town, the people are very cool and, if you like the “big city”, but also life in the seaport or luxury yachts, you have everything in a few minutes by car.

WHY DO I TELL YOU THAT IT IS THE GREAT UNKNOWN?

And if she hadn’t told you, I’ll tell you now. I think Mallorca is the great unknown of water sports. Yes, it is known worldwide as one of the coolest ports to visit with your luxury yacht, but probably few of those who are reading these lines have one. It is also known for its balconing and Magaluf parties but, I promise you, Mallorca is cool to go for a SUP or wing foil session.

And Julia (when you read Julia, say Yulia), why is this? It turns out that Mallorca has, as we said at the beginning, a lot of super protected coves, which result in flat and generally shallow water, which makes Mallorca a paradise to learn your favourite water sport. Generally, you will need kites or large wings, indeed, the wind is not usually strong, but this does not exactly have to be a handicap to learn to sail. On the other hand, in many of the spots in Majorca, you will have the feeling of being “over the top” in the Caribbean, the water is extremely crystal clear! And, although I am from Fuerteventura and the water is clean and super crystal clear, it is quite deep, so it is usually not easy to see the bottom as clearly as in Mallorca.

Let’s see, I think that being a Canarian makes me quite sensitive to the issue of locals. In the Canary Islands, the companies are usually quite radical... Whether we like their reasons or not, for the moment it is like that and, I remember one day that I sailed in a dream spot in Mallorca, postcard white sand, and blue water in the purest Caribbean style, it It was hot and there was a little wave that allowed us to enjoy a bit of the flow of the sea. The wind was onshore, which usually helps to find more collisions on the water; so what do you want me to tell you, I expected some local, at some point in the session, to yell at me for catching their wave, or doing anything. After an hour or so in the water, the wind dropped sharply, luckily I was quite close to where we had parked and I didn’t have to take the mega hike... But where I wanted to go, no one had scolded me. Coconut water! (as we would say in the Canary Islands).

The locals in Mallorca, at least in my experience, and as long as you respect and have your minimum knowledge of aquatic road safety, are super nice and friendly. You can tell they enjoy the water and the wind

Now I am going to transport you to Lanzarote, in March 2021 (as you may know, apart from being a professional athlete, sometimes I usually work as a Community Manager and content creator at sporting events). I have been hired to work in a sailing championship where the last three places for the Tokyo Olympics would be given (these are distributed in different championships and in this one, the last places were given).

In our first communication team meeting, the person who hired us introduced us all and tells us, “one of the best sailing photographers in the world is coming to work with us, he has worked in several Olympic Games, America’s Cup, Volvo Ocean Race”… The conversation continues, but I remember that the whole team was like “boys, let’s see what we do now to give the callous” since none of us had an experience of that calibre, it was as if we were going to work with us a minister of the world of sailing or something similar.

The fact is that, over time @SailingEnergy and I have worked on quite a few events together and we always said that we had to try to do a photo session together, to see what we could get out. And here is the result.

THE SESSION: NOTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMS

I’m not going to lie to you, in the wing foil session, the wind was very light. I was riding my Fanatic 1250 front wing and used a 5.5 Duotone UNIT for most of the session and then the 6.5m, it was quite a challenging shoot for both of us, I don’t know about Sailing Energy, but I had a great time. Also, I had the fantastic idea of forgetting the screws on the base that join the mast to the table, and it was a holiday in Mallorca, so we had to go on an excursion in the surroundings… looking for a hardware store where to find screws! As you can see in the photos, I was wearing a bikini because it was very hot, the water was great and the dish was. Also, I return to the theme of being Canary but, being Canarian, I am not used to sailing with forest and green, so for me, sailing here was a super beautiful and unique experience.

As for the SUP shooting, I think it’s a bit like all the photo sessions that one tries to do; when they are unplanned they come out easy and when you plan them, everything turns out to be a frog. Well, I’m exaggerating a bit (laughs) but many times Murphy’s law is indeed put there, to the top to make things complicated for you.

Going back to the day of the shooting, it was quite difficult for us to choose a spot, mostly for weather and weather reasons (I had to run to another event the next day and it was the last day we had to take the photos), also, we arrived at the spot and a super grey cloud decided to land on top of us, which made us have to wait a while, but finally, the sun came out!

Our objective for the photos was to show how comfortable and easy it is to transport my inflatable SUP, in this case, I used the Fanatic Fly Air 10”8. The backpack of this model does not have wheels, other models do but, for your information, you will be carrying 8.6kg on your back. Wow, less than what I carry on my back every time I go to the airport! This board has 308 litres of volume, its 10’8 feet translates into 3.25 meters long and the maximum recommended user weight should be 105 litres.

I love the inflatable models because they took up much less space than when they are not inflatable, especially when you don’t have much space at home. It inflates relatively quickly and the inflator has a system that makes inflation cost you practically no effort, a small child can inflate it without any problem. You take your SUP out of the backpack, inflate it calmly, and you go to the water to enjoy a little journey like I did. It is also ideal for having a good time with the dwarves and for them to enjoy the water safely. In the front part, the table has an elastic band so that you can store your reusable water bottle or whatever you consider.

In short…A perfect toy for calm days.

Intense sports day during the Spanish Championship of SUP Resistance Race last Saturday, September 25 in Baiona, Galicia, under the great organization of the Waira Club and its entire team. The strong wind did not make things easy for the competitors, who also scored points for the Spanish Surf Federation Cup and also for the Galician SUP Race Championship.

SPANISH

CHAMPIONSHIP SUP RESISTANCE RACE 2022

Up Suping

More than 65 competitors from different parts of Galicia and other autonomous communities met early in the morning on the beach of A Ribeira on a great sunny day, but with a strong wind that produced changes in the routes of the categories SUB 12 and SUB 14, finally making a tour of the port area, being very colourful for the public.

Sofía Puñal and Antonio Martín Brion climbed to the top of the podium in SUB 12, while Daniel Folgar also showed a great performance taking first place in the SUB 14 category. The basic work and the SUP youth system in Galicia do not stop growing, being one of the communities that are contributing the most athletes to this sport.

In the afternoon, the rest of the categories were developed following the planned routes with different conditions off the coast of Baiona. A good group of Amateur competitors lived the experience of participating in a SUP competition, playing a great role and being cheered on when they reached the finish line. The SUB 16 category amazed us with its spectacular performance in these harsh conditions, with Iván Puente taking first place ahead of Pablo Blanco and Diogo Guerra. While Paloma Porta got first place in the female category.

Also, the leading role was in charge of the participants who scored points for the Spanish and Resistance Cup, covering distances between 10km and 21km, and due to the harsh wind conditions, there have been several dropouts. This competition put many competitors to the test, generating a lot of emotion in each lap they made around the circuit.

The young man from Cantabria Manuel Hoyuela climbed to the top of the podium both in Resistencia and in the Spanish Cup, having paddled a total of 2h 31min. The Galician Nicolás Barreiro did a double but was in second place ahead of Manuel Mata in Resistencia, having finished third in Antón Sanz in the Spanish Cup. As for the girls, the young Ana Marta Pérez was the only participant who was able to complete the complete circuit of the Spanish Cup, taking the title of champion of this competition. Without forgetting the great effort made by the rest of the girls who have participated and have given their all, even if they have not completed the course. The day would end with the awards ceremony and the presence of local authorities who have also enjoyed the championship. We insist on the great courage of everyone and each of the participants during this day of competition, both those who completed their circuits and those who have had to abandon due to the harsh conditions. Thank the Waira club and local entities for once again supporting Stand Up Paddle, a sport that continues to grow in Galicia and attracts other athletes from all over Spain.