Windsurfing: 40th anniversary of the Mahé-Praslin Crossing |22 August 2022

The crossing’s top three finishers: Gardette (left), Languila (right) and Kandasamy

Jean-Marc Gardette wins as Praslinois teenager shocks everyone to clinch third spot

Praslinois surfboarder Jean-Marc Gardette is the winner of the traditional Mahé-Praslin crossing held on Saturday, while his fellow islander, 13-year-old Jules Kandasamy shocked everyone to finish third overall.

Saturday’s crossing gathered 33 boarders who competed in both windsurfing and kitesurfing.

Gardette completed the crossing in one hour, five minutes and 19 seconds (1h 05:19), which is not even close to the crossing’s 20-year-old record of 57 minutes and 51.62 seconds set by Stephen Stravens in 2002.

Jacquelin Languila was second overall in 1hr 15:41, while young Kandasamy finished third in 1hr 15:46.

In kitesurfing, it was Mauritian Richard Patrick who finished first in 1hr 20:30, finishing ahead of his compatriot Jean Leopold who took the runner-up spot after clocking 1hr 22:39.

Marcus Gappy finished third overall in 1hr 23:09.

Other than the crossing which is celebrating its 40th year, a series of windsurfing and kite-surfing has been programmed to take place on Praslin.

The Airtel Praslin Slalom – one week slalom on Praslin with a number of races –has been sponsored by local telecommunication company Airtel Seychelles.

Roland Duval