From France to Sicily: A Windy Detour Across Europe

It's that time again — I'm back on the road.

After a pretty intense stretch of kitesurfing in Brazil, I felt the urge to mix things up a little. Not less wind, not less kiting — just something different for a change. A friend once told me: "You can't do too much of one thing — only too little of the other." And right now, trying something new felt like the right move.

So before chasing the next big kite session, I decided to experiment a bit with foil gear. The goal was simple: I wanted to learn paddle-ups on my new chase board. I quickly realized that this wasn't something I would learn in just a few sessions, so I decided to try the setup with my parawing in the waves.

Parawinging was even worse — at least for the first 20 minutes. Back in Germany we have a saying for that: you look like a monkey on a grindstone. But then things slowly started to click. The board stabilized, the foil lifted, and suddenly the whole setup began to make sense. My first proper run wasn't pretty, but it worked — and the feeling was amazing.

A Random Discovery on the Road

After my first more-or-less successful parawing session, I started driving north again. I had a small appointment waiting for me back in Germany, but on the way something unexpected happened.

While driving along a familiar highway that runs right next to the water for about two kilometers, I realized that it was windy again. I had driven along this road many times before, and every single time I wondered what it would be like to kite right next to it.

With the wind blowing and hardly anyone around, the idea suddenly felt possible.

So we stopped the van, launched the kite, and decided to give it a try.

A few board-offs above the road later, the idea that had been sitting in my head for years finally became reality. It felt unreal.

My First Time in Sicily

Now the big question was where to go next. I wanted warmer weather and some new impressions. Sicily had been on my list for at least the last 15 years, and for some reason I had still never checked it out. As I said in the beginning — time for something new — so let's head south to Lo Stagnone in Sicily.

After eight hours of driving across Europe, followed by another eighteen hours on the ferry, we finally arrived in Palermo. From there we drove straight to Lo Stagnone because the forecast for the next day looked windy. Late at night we finally reached the lagoon, one of the most famous kitesurfing spots in Europe.

The next morning I woke up to the sound of wind. Stepping outside the van, the view was incredible: a huge shallow lagoon, warm air, and hardly anyone around. I instantly fell in love with the place — just wow.

After one of the nicest mornings I can remember, the locals slowly started arriving at the spot and the place came to life. I decided to go for a quick warm-up session on my 12m Pace, which turned out to be a bit too big. So I went back to the beach, switched to my 9m, and that's when the unreal conditions really kicked in.

One big kiteloop board-off after another — the Scirocco wind was strong and steady, the perfect combination for some huge flights.

By the end of the day I was completely exhausted — in the best possible way. Standing on the beach and watching the sun set over the lagoon, it felt clear that this trip had only just begun.

If you want to see how the whole adventure unfolded — from the chaotic first attempts to the first session in Sicily — check out the full film here: