Hello Julian. Can you introduce yourself ?
My name is Julien Frering, I'm 25, I live in the South of France and have been a Takoon ambassador for 4 years now.
Is this your first time at Guincho ?
This is the second time I have come to Guincho. I had already been there 2 years ago during a road trip through Portugal.
What were the conditions ?
The wind in Guincho, it's how to say, huge! I had 12 windy days out of 13 days there. There may be 20 nodes announced and find 35 on site. I had 15 to 50 knots this year. It was just amazing to sail Guincho at 50 knots. We were only 3 kitesurfers and 6 windsurfers in the water.
As for the waves, there are some every day and at any time of the tide. The best time is high tide because even if the waves are smaller, they are much more powerful. There may be 1 to 3 meters. Beyond that, it starts to saturate and become complicated to pass the bar.
When is the best time to come to Guincho ?
Summer is the best time with wind almost every day. It is even tiring, sailing from 2 p.m. until sunset.
Is it easy to access? How did you go there ?
Guincho is very easily accessible. The spot is 30 minutes from Lisbon airport where it is possible to rent a van or a car to get there. This year, I went with my van so I could take as many toys as possible.
What is the nearest town ?
The nearest town is Cascais with a super nice campsite but also many hotels. There is a restaurant on the Guincho spot with paid and secure parking which gives access to showers and an area to rinse your equipment, ideal when you are there in a van.
Is there a community of kitesurfers on site?
I will not talk about community but rather about groups that are formed according to language, with French speakers representing more than 50%. There are also some Portuguese locals that are easy to recognize because they sail strapped for the majority.
Is this the best wave spot in Portugal ?
It's not the best wave spot in Portugal, but it's still a value in terms of wind. I had the opportunity to sail elsewhere like in Viana or Ericeira, but Guincho remains the windiest.
Ericeira is on the other hand the spot where I experienced my most beautiful Portuguese wave.
What other spots would you recommend?
There are a lot of spots in Portugal, including some where you can sail alone. So it's magic to have the spot for yourself when in France everything is saturated. There are wave spots all along the coast with for my top 3, Guincho, Ericeira and Peniche. There are also some flat spots like Obidos which is in my opinion the freeride spot par excellence north of Lisbon.
What did you put in your boardbag?
The perfect quiver for Portugal is the Wook in 6, 8, 10 and 14m² in order to be able to sail on all spots. For the board, I chose the new Candy in 5'7 to take maximum advantage of its volume for a solid navigation whatever the wave conditions. I also never travel without my Bonk 146. It follows me everywhere because I never say no to a session in shoes, let alone in big waves! It's for me a great alternative to strapped surfing while being much more fun. And of course my Tiki to walk in the lagoons but unfortunately for him this year, I had too much wave and wind to take him out
Can you tell us more about your navigations in Candy and Wook in Guincho?
The Candy is the perfect board to ride at Guincho. It allows you to surf in power, a style that I appreciate, with strong and fast curves as I have rarely been able to do in strapless. Its volume also allows you to keep enough speed when exiting a cut back or during big turns to get as close as possible to a surf session, with the advantage of working just as well in freestyle by taking advantage of good ramps going up. at peak.
Wing question, for Portugal, I wanted a Wook and nothing else. This is the wave wing of the range, perfect for the conditions I encountered. It has rock solid stability and drift that allowed me to really focus on my surfing. I chose to sail it with the V-bas and shorter lines ranging from 15m for the 6m² and 8m², to 17m for the 10m² and 20m for the 14m². This allows you to have a really radical style, the wing stays where you want it to and it drifts even better. My advice for a waverider is to sail with a 17+4m bar to really get the best out of the Wook in all types of wave and wind conditions.
