MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands' coast ideal, say visiting windsurfers

Photo call in Stanley: Ben Proffitt, SteveChismar and Mariano Estivill

A DUO of windsurfers from England and Argentina say a fortnight they spent exploring the Falklands coastline far exceeded their expectations.

Brought together in the Islands by surf journalist Steve Chismar, professional windsurfers Ben Proffitt from the UK and Mariano Estivill from Argentina are to be the subject of a feature, with images (as seen here) by photographer Jean Souville. Steve said he wanted to bring the pros together for a "peace story" for German windsurf magazine, Surf . He explained: The idea behind this story was to invite an Argentinian and an Englishman to come to the Falklands to windsurf together. Not many people have done it here, and certainly nobody famous. Nobody really knows where to windsurf here. We've sailed in two places that nobody has before - Armantine Beach and Volunteer Beach." He said the Falklands had "great potential" for windsurfing: "Good winds, great surf and, of course, the wildlife." Although the Falklands are notoriously windy, in the first week of their visit, the four had three days of perfect sunshine with little wind - not ideal conditions for windsurfers. However the professionals said the Falklands were perfect for them, given the sheer amount of coastline on offer. Mariano commented: "Being islands, you can choose where you want the wind to come from - it's excellent." Ben said the inaccessibility of some of the coastline - and the need to hire vehicles and guides – could make the cost prohibitive for some windsurfers, but he added: "You probably have about a million suitable spots in the whole of the Islands - all the places we went to were really good." Ben and Mariano said the interaction of wildlife they witnessed was something that would stay with them - every time they went to Bertha's Beach they were accompanied by Commerson's dolphins, at Armantine they had Peale's dolphins playing by them, and at Volunteer Point magellanic, king and gentoo penguins played in the water between them. Penguin News