Windsurfing: 40th anniversary of the Mahé-Praslin Crossing |18 August 2022

Mr Alcindor giving details of the activities to commemorate 40 years of the Mahé-Praslin Crossing

Airtel Praslin Slalom to commemorate 40 years of crossing

This year, the famous Mahé-Praslin crossing on windsurfing board is celebrating its 40th anniversary and to commemorate the occasion, the Seychelles Yachting Association is hosting extra activities to complement the event.

Other than the traditional crossing, scheduled for Saturday August 20, at 11am – subject to change based on weather conditions –, a series of windsurfing and kite-surfing has been programmed to take place on Praslin .

Baptised the Airtel Praslin Slalom – one week slalom on Praslin with a number of races – the event has been sponsored by local telecommunication company Airtel Seychelles and, along with the crossing, will gather 30 surfers, including three from Reunion and three from Mauritius.

Four junior surfers from Praslin have also confirmed their participation.

The record to beat on Saturday is 57 minutes 51.62 seconds set by Stephen Stravens since 2002.

The first crossing took place in 1982, with a total of six participants, namely Patrick Lablache, Gerard Lafortune, Jimmy Mein, Evans Calva, Marc Magnan and Bernard Sanders.

The event has been held for quite a number of years with some faithful participants, but has also its fair share of cancellations, mainly due to unfavourable weather conditions.

The last crossing was in 2020 where Bertrand De Charmoy Lablache almost clocked a new record in the windsurfing category with a time of 57 minutes 59.79 seconds.

In the Kitesurfing category which is growing in popularity among our locals, Dominique D’Offay finished in a new record of one hour 15 minutes and 9.68 seconds (1h 15:9.68) to replace the record set by South African Steven Taylor in 2008. His record was 1h 22:27.0

In a press conference held yesterday at the Olympic House at Roche Caïman, chairperson of the organising committee, Alain Alcindor, gave details on the event, including all safety measures.

Also present were Saadatou Chekou Kore who is the commercial director of Airtel Seychelles, chairman of the Seychelles Yachting Association (SYA) Michel Bristol and record holder Stravens.

Mr Alcindor explained that all the logistics side of the event is going according plan, and for now, fingers crossed for a favourable weather condition on Saturday.

He said the main change in this year’s crossing will be the finishing place which will be in front of the Indian Ocean Lodge which is one of the sponsors.

Another new feature will be Global Positioning System (GPS) which will be attached to all the surfers to ease tracking and better monitor them while at sea.

On behalf of Airtel Seychelles, Ms Kore noted that the company has always believed in the development of the people of Seychelles and through the event, it is once again showing its commitment toward this vision and affirm its support for the surfers.

The other sponsors of the event are Hunt Deltel, Hospitality Supplies Ltd (HSL), Cable and Wireless, the Seychelles Coast Guard, ZilAir and former surfboarder James Lesperance.

Roland Duval