On the 31st of August 2012 a very strong North wind was forecasted for Lake Garda. The editor in chief of the Italian Funboard magazine scored awesome conditions at Toscolano at the western side of Lake Garda. Almost “Storm Chase” conditions. Read more about this big day and watch the fantastic shots. It´s very seldom to have conditions like this at Lake Garda! Riccardo Montani from windsurfer.it took the shots of Fabio!
Fabio Calo in unusual stormy and wavy conditions at Lake Garda (Pic: Riccardo Montani).
C7: Did you see the great wind forecast?
Fabio Calo: YES! The day before and also during the night and early mornig the Lake was hit by a big storm (a lot of rain, clouds, thunder..). I also saw the forecast on WINDFINDER.COM and when you can see the all area of Garda with north wind direction and the colours blue/green on the map…. you can be sure that a lot of wind will come!
C7: Was it one of the most windy days at the Lake Garda for you?
Fabio Calo: For me absolutely yes. I was completely out of control. Also after the storm, with blue sky -when normally the wind drops a little bit – the wind continued to pick up. Incredible! The wind was strong all around the lake: at Malcesine, Crero, Desenzano, Al Pra, just everywhere.
Jumping that high on a lake, what a highlight in a windsurfer´s life (Pic: Riccardo Montani).
C7: Have you been sailing at Toscolano already before?
Fabio Calo: Not too often. I think only 3 or 4 times before, but with “normal” lake conditions.
C7: Did you have a hard time to control your big board with the small sailsize and which size of fin did you use?
Fabio Calo: Unforntunately I had left my wave board at home. I really never need a wave board on the lake, also when the wind is super strong. But this time it was different. The wind was really violent. I had only my freestyle board in my van, a Starboard Flare 101 with a 18cm fin (Choco Fin). I rigged my 3.7 Neil Pryde Combat. But I had really a hard time to control the board in the air. I just landed some Forwards, Highjumps and one Backloop. In the air it was amazingly hard to control the board. A lot of time I lost my equipment in the air and I had to swim a lot during this session.
The motorboat had a hard time against the wind, but Fabio, too (Pic: Riccardo Montani).
C7: Were there many sailors out there and what time of the day was it?
Fabio Calo: There were a lot of sailors in the water and also on the beach…and a crowd. I was there around 2:30 pm (after working morning session…)!!!! But the wind was so strong all day!!!! From the sunrise till the sunset.
C7: How long was your session? Did the wind drop or kept the wind blowing for several hours?
Fabio Calo: I think my session lasted about 4 hours, the day after my body was completely destroyed. The wind never dropped. During this day the North wind got more and more and more. I never saw so much wind at Lake Garda for 24 hours!!!!!
This was a really big day at Lake Garda (Pic: Riccardo Montani).
© continentseven.com, Fabio Calo 2012, Riccardo Montani
Nice day at lake garda !