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Port Safaga Jem Hall Clinic |
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Written by RoyMcIver
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Friday, 07 April 2006 |
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In March 2006, my three mates and I flew from Manchester to Egypt. We had different ideas in our min
ds of what we would do to occupy the time in Port Safaga. One of my friends took diving courses, the other kite surfing, and one preferred to get a tan on the beach looking at the Russian girls. I stuck to my windsurfing and went to the Jem Hall Clinic.
Only five and a half hours flight from Manchester and a forty minute transfer from Hurgada is the Hotel Shams which we booked through Sportif, on a half board arrangement including a generous breakfast and evening meal both with lots of variety and high standard. The rooms and grounds of the hotel are also high quality with all the usual facilities to keep you occupied should there be no wind.
There is a huge crescent shaped bay behind the hotel and five minutes walk to the Club Mistral Centre which is equipped with all the latest Mistral and North gear.
You can launch from the centre and in the mornings sail across to Tobias Island (which is 3km away) using the cross off shore wind. At around lunch time the wind swings round to a cross shore direction which enables you to sail directly in and out from the beach with ease. The conditions are quite flat on the inside and a little further out some wind blown rolling swell and chop provide some good ramps for jumping. During the time we were there we had five days out of seven with excellent force 4 to 5 blasting wind.
I hired a Mistral Syncro 103 for the week but spent half of the time on a Syncro 90 with a North 5.3 ICE wave sail.
The highlight of the holiday had to be the Jem Hall Clinic which consisted of both on the beach and on the water sessions then video analysis in the late afternoons with a few sun downers. Jem normally works with small groups of around 10 people so the volume and quality of one to one coaching is exceptional and you cannot fail to progress.
Some people consider the cost of Jem's Clinic to be highly priced compared to other windsurfing holidays which include coaching, but having experienced both, this Clinic was worth every penny due to the sheer quality and amount of dedicated one to one coaching which in my opinion makes it far cheaper when reviewing your progress at the end of the week. On top of all that we had loads of fun and a good laugh even though Jem is a southern Shandy drinking tosser (joke, from a northern monkey).
Evenings are a little quiet but after the evening meal with a few glasses of the local red wine and a few bottles of eygptian stella, in the relaxed atmosphere of the pool bar, we could only think of our beds and getting a good nights sleep so we were ready for the next day's action.
Cost wise the holiday worked out as follows :-
Half board at the Hotel Sham including flights £442.00
Insurance £25.00
Board Hire £125.00
Clinic £225.00
Don’t forget you hardly need any spending money as Egypt is very cheap. In one week I struggled to spend £200.00.
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