bronzio wrote:Hi,
My name is Benjamin, I am french and i am lost in Rauma since 1month... I am here for the work for at least 2 years.. so i could not imagine not windsurfing during this so long time... Can you help me for several topic please?
1: where i can buy some material, i let my board and my sail in france...
2; I am living at Rauma and working at Olkiluoto, so does anyone know a place where waves are coming? Somebody told me about Pori, but after??
3: When i will could windsurfing in Finland? (temperature topic...)
Hey,
I learned windsurfing in Rauma at 80s and 90s so I know something about the place.
1. STORES: I think its forbidden to advertise here at forums. There isn't any windsurfing shops in Rauma to my knowledge but there is a windsurfing center at Pori, Yyteri. You could buy some stuff there. I think that the best choices are to a) look for Finnish windsurfing shop webpages or b) look for European windsurfing webshops.
2. RAUMA: The windsurfing spot of Rauma is or was 'Otanlahti'. The Raumsurf-windsurfing center was located at the underground storage of old dancing pavilion. I don't know if there is any activity left after 90s.
The Otanlahti is small but quite interesting place for winds. Western winds rush towards the bay between islands and its almost completely flat even during high winds. Sometimes we cruised upwards against the wind to 'lahdenselkä, Rauma'. There is some rocks to be avoided between islands but Otanlahti and Lahdenselkä are quite safe except very very near the shores. At Lahdenselkä, there are the first waves although probably not anything like in real wave places. Really big waves might be possible in places like 'Rihtniemi' or 'Nurmes' although I have no real experience about them. I just a slight memory of hearing about waves at 'Rihtniemi' or something like that. In Rauma, its a wellknown place filled with summer cottages. Wind blows directly from Sweden to Rihtniemi and Nurmes. However, you would be windsurfing alone and in "wilderness" so it might be risky unless you know what you are doing and have safety gear. I have no idea what kind of problems there might be with underwater rocks.
Also, for a windsurfer, the archipelago of Rauma might be a nice place to travel from an island to another just for fun with bigger boards and sails. Local people tend to do small island trips with small boats but you could do similar trips with surfboards. You just need a floating board (maybe 120+) for that, since wind changes direction unpredictable near the shores and between small islands. It's better to keep eye on the water since thats where you get hints how wind turns when you surf at shorelines.
2. REAL SPOTS: Windsurfers from Rauma visited regularly Pori, Yyteri even in the old days. Yyteri is probably one of the best beaches in the whole northern Europe - only reason for someone from Rauma to go to Pori

. Unfortunately it could not be transferred back to Rauma. There is huge sand beaches and waves.
http://www.purjelautaliitto.fi/yyteri/ Use the "surffispotit"-link for google maps. Another option might be Hanko but that is quite far away for a single surftrip. From Rauma, a short Yyteri-trip might be possible to do even during workdays while Hanko-day requires weekend for a fullday trip.
3. CALENDER: It's end of the March and people have already started kite- and windsurfing with dry suits here at Helsinki. There is ice in some parts surfing spots but the main beaches are already open and there is no swimmers to worry about. In Finland, you can probably never windsurf without any wetsuit. At June and July you can use thin non-sleeve suites when its warm. Personally, I have windsurfed only at april-september since I have never had a real winter wetsuit or dry suit.
3. WINDS: The problem is that during the summer months winds are weaker, less frequent and unpredictable even at hourly rate. Active windsurfers often travel quite a lot and are always waiting for rarely occuring windy days. Quite often the best wind sessions last only a few hours so you might end up doing a lot of not-so-good trips to far away places. I think that the more regular and stronger winds tend to start at september but then its getting cold for non-hardcore windsurfers.