Reunion – La perle des Mascareignes

“La perle des Mascareignes” is a video by the French windsurfer Sylvain Bourlard, who used to live on the island of Reunion and returned for holidays to the island. Sylvain: “I was in Reunion from end of July to the middle of August and it was always windy, between 12 and 30 knots. It was great to meet my friends again, like Steven, Loic, Jerome, Pierre, Dahoo and all the others for some windsurfing sessions together at Ravine Blanche, Etang Sale and St. Leu. I was really lucky with the conditions, because July and August is winter on Reunion and sometimes the waves are just too big. You can have 6-7m during the winter.”

And how is it too launch at the spots, we wanted to know from Sylvain: “Launches are difficult and you can break everything without having put even one foot on your board.” And what about the sharks? Last year Reunion came more in the media due to many attacks? “Just a day before I arrived a surfer got attacked at St. Leu. There are not many people surfing on Reunion and many windsurfers have stopped to windsurf. We windsurf/surf only during midday (12-3pm) and only when the water is clear. It is really sad as the island has such a big potential for water sports. There are still studies going on, to find the causation and to find solutions.”