Well-known windsurfer Gardette wins Seychelles' Mahe-Praslin race
Sport |Author: Sedrick Nicette Edited By: Betymie Bonnelame | August 27, 2024, Tuesday @ 11:19| 3951 views
Gardette, a well-known windsurfer, was the first to complete the journey. (Seychelles Yachting Association)
Seychellois sailor Jean-Marc Gardette is once again the winner of the Mahe-Praslin windsurfing race, which took place on Monday morning.
The popular event saw participants compete in windsurfing, kite surfing and wind foiling. They had to complete a 44km crossing from Seychelles' main island of Mahe to the archipelago's second largest island, Praslin.
Gardette, a well-known windsurfer, was the first to complete the journey, and reached the finish line on the west coast of Praslin, in 1 hour, 3 minutes and 9.72 seconds. His time was over two minutes quicker than he did it in the last race in 2022.
"To start we thought the wind would not be too strong and we all stopped close to Ste Anne island, but then the wind was mostly on and off, and so we tried our best with that," said Gardette after the race.
The time, however, remains some way off the record set in 2002 by Stephen Stravens, which remains at 57 minutes and 51.62 seconds
Taking second place was Jacquelin Languila in 1 hour 4 minutes and 23 seconds followed by Bertrand Lablache in 1 hour 7 minutes 14.99 seconds.
The record holder Stravens came in sixth place, completing the race in 1 hour 11 minutes 53.83 seconds.
Nine windsurfers competed in the event, all of them Seychellois, with only one of them not making it to the finish line.
The foreign participants were in kite surfing and they were from Mauritius, Russia, and Poland and out of 10 only one did not finish the race.
A Mauritian, Jean Leopold, won the event in 1 hr 13 minutes 20 seconds. Leopold took second place in the last event in 2022.
He told reporters, "The conditions were very difficult with unpredictable winds, but it was good even though my legs started to hurt, but it was great." Leopold added that this was a preparation for the Mauritius-Reunion race that he will soon compete in.
Taking second place was Seychellois Neddy Radegonde in 1 hour 21 minutes 37.12 seconds and third was Sitraka Ramanantsoa, in a time of 1 hour 22 minutes and 22.95 seconds.
New this year was wind foiling and the participants struggled in the waters of Seychelles. Both competitors in this category were the last to arrive at Grand Anse Praslin, where the races concluded.
British participant Edward Paxton finished the race in 2 hours 47 minutes 51.58 seconds and South African Adam Delport was second, with a time of 3 hours 47 minutes 43.29 seconds.