Naish rider Michi Schweiger shares his unforgettable connection to Lake Garda, particularly with the renowned area between Torbole and Malcesine. In this thrilling feature, Michi shares his recent downwind adventure runs, enjoying the sights, the changing wind conditions, and his exciting dreams for the winter!

It is always mind-blowing how things come together when you least expect them. My family and my windsurfing background connect me very closely to Lake Garda. Particularly with the renowned area between Torbole and Malcesine, a hub for all wind sports in landlocked central Europe.

For anyone unfamiliar with the wind magic that occurs here, at its peak, you'll experience a northern wind called Pelèr in the morning, which subsides around noon and becomes a southern wind known as Ora. The region is bordered by cliffs, charming towns, and an Italian lifestyle of 'Bella Vita'.

Although my roots are firmly grounded in windsurfing, I have always had an open mind. This has led me to explore SUP paddling and, more recently, foiling and winging. Whenever the weather permits, I enjoy participating in all of these activities. My focus within stand-up paddling has mainly been downwind paddling, a discipline that gained immense popularity in Maui, where my family and I live.

When foiling resurfaced in its various applications, it became apparent that foiling would dramatically increase water time in any kind of condition.

Kai Lenny paved the way and had us all excited to learn it. In its early stages, it seemed unachievable. But we soon realised that with the improvements in equipment, this can be within reach for most people.

Downwind foiling with or without a paddle was the hardest to achieve, but after spending time on it, more and more people could have fun on Maui, which offers ideal conditions. Initially, it required a lot of wind to get our shortboards going, and you had to be skilled and read the ocean correctly to avoid falling off the foil.

Meanwhile, Dave Kalama made it his mission to develop gear to make it easier to get up on the foil, opening up the sport to an even larger crowd. The trend towards longer, narrower boards combined with higher aspect foils opened doors, and quickly, we all started creating gear based on those parameters. Much of our equipment catered to windy downwind conditions as we experienced them on Maui, but the wind threshold started to decrease more and more.

In another corner of the world, flatwater pump foiling started happening and gained popularity. Bigger, large wingspan foils that can be pumped around and dock-started at any lake.

While working on pump foils, it became clear that they also brought down the low wind threshold for downwind foiling with a paddle even further. Starting from entirely glassy water conditions became a real possibility.

And this is where I can link back to “how things come together”. While I was somewhat addicted to downwind foiling during the Maui summer months, Lake Garda always remained on my mind. I started dreaming of doing downwind runs from Torbole to Malcesine and vice versa.

In September 2023, I had the opportunity to revisit Lake Garda. I put together my Naish Hover DW and a larger size of HA foils (1840) to give it a try. It wasn’t difficult to convince my local friends Nik and Dani Slijk, Ronny and Pietro Kiaulehn, and Patrick Lombardi to join me. It’s hard to pass up the chance to “surf” wind chop for miles with no end in the heart of Europe!

And so we did - We launched in the morning from Circolo Vela Torbole at Conca D’Oro and followed the flow of the Pelèr, which meandered towards the western walls of Limone and then eventually swung back towards the east coast of Malcesine, allowing me to do a beautiful sightseeing run downwind. With the longer board and high-aspect foils, it was surprisingly easy to get going shortly after leaving Torbole.

Riding along the cliffs at Ponale, cruising past the wind and kite surfers who enjoy the morning winds, and passing by the picturesque town of Limone was quite enjoyable. Around Limone, it became evident that the wind favoured the east side of the lake towards Malcesine, and riding the “wind swell” while turning left brought us right in front of the medieval castle in Malcesine that sits right at the water's edge.

Meanwhile, the east side of the lake basked in the sun rays shining over the crest of the mountains, which added to the amazing and warming sight.

As we approached the castle, the wind began to lighten significantly, but the “bumps” that the wind created kept travelling south while the water's texture changed to what surfers would call “glass”.

We passed through the town with its little pathways that descended down to the lake. We went past the ferry terminal that connects many of the small towns along the lake and then turned into the bay towards Brenzone using the last remnants of the Pelèr wind.

Now, this is no longer just a dream but a reality that can be experienced again. Hopefully, our next destination will be one of those winter Pelèr days when the mountains surrounding Lake Garda are covered in snow. The wind will then carry me even further south - who knows, maybe even to the southern end of the lake with larger and more powerful waves to ride. Stay tuned!

By Michi Schweiger

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