Windsurfers are crazy. And I'm one of them. This was clearly shown by my last trip to Cannes Palm Beach (France), on Sunday, December 21st. 

Windsurfing, report: Cannes, December 21, 2025

I've been thinking about it for a while: windsurfers have got too much water in their brains from all that diving... and they're no longer functioning very well.

Saturday evening, after a wonderful day of cross-country skiing in Switzerland, around dinner time, I checked the forecast for Cannes, again. Arome was predicting a good east wind in Palm Beach. Plus, that damned Ravalli got involved, announcing on the forum that he would have given to France a try... And so I decided to leave early the next morning. It's been a bit of a stingy autumn without good sea conditions, so when the opportunity arises, you have to seize it.

I left Monza, near Milan, where I live, at 7:00 in the morning and arrived in Palm Beach at around 10:40. Finally, the roadworks on the A-10 motorway in Liguria have been, more or less, finished, and it took me about 3.45 hours to get to the spot, something I haven't done in years.

Click here for a quick slideshow of the day.

When I arrived, the wind was already blowing and growing. Having solved a small issue with the harness...., I decided to try the Tabou Da Curve 88 2025, which I recently purchased used, with the idea of ​​taking it to Chile next January. I set it up with a standard K4 Scorcher 18 fin in the center and two asymmetrical K4 Incinerator 10 fins on the sides (the standard ones are 11). Anticipating increasing wind, I immediately rigged the Goya Guru 4.2, not trusting myself to go out with the 4.7. Small waves early in the day.

I got in the water around 12:00. The first few rides immediately reminded me what a wonderful board the Tabou Da Curve is: fast, it goes upwind very well, it's very responsive, and it turns really well, both in maneuvers and in the waves. The first part of the session was decent, with the water surface not too chaotic and the wind not too unstable. A few waves to jump.

Between 1:00 PM and 2:00 PM, conditions got a bit worse. The wind on Sunday was generally easterly, and therefore more onshore, compared to the beautiful November session, also here in Cannes. Furthermore, towards the middle of the day, it became very unstable, both in strength and direction, with significant drops both off the beach north of the parking lot and in the center of the channel in front of the Îles des Lérins. As a result, the water surface became really chaotic, and I, with the Da Curve, started to struggle more than I should have.

I then returned to land to rest, eat something, and change boards: I switched to the Tabou 3S 96 plus, with a standard MFC G10 center fin and two K4 Stubby 11 fins on the sides. And once I got into the water, this board proved to be fantastic too.

After 2:00 PM, the wind picked up significantly, and while it remained unstable, the lulls became less of a problem. I had to secure the boom to the lower sail clew. And the waves grew significantly: both in the center of the canal and in front of the parking lot, waves rose well over two meters, breaking.

And it was at this moment that I met Orion, a French local rider, in the water. He and his friend Vincent always put on a great show. I admired the way Orion rides the wave effectively, in switch stance, with his body forward, and with the clew sail forward, bringing the mast aft, and how he easily and effortlessly completes forward loops. I hadn't seen Orion here in a long time.

I also started surfing the waves a bit, and the Tabou 3S proved to be a board that holds the sea wonderfully and handles chop very well (I even screwed the mast foot quite far back, to avoid the bow digging into the waves).

Unfortunately, in front of the beach, near Boulevard Gazaignare, the spot was quite crowded (it was Sunday...), and I often had to give up a few waves to avoid too close encounters.

I finally got out of the water at 3:45 PM, dead tired.

In short, it wasn't the best Cannes, and I had more fun with the perfect skiing the day before.

But being at sea is always beautiful and exciting, and it's always good for the mind.

Ciao. Fabio

Click here for a quick slideshow of the day