Blind windsurfer aims to cross the Strait of Gibraltar

September 21, 2010 | Windsurfing
Xavier Mandico: he will cross the strait of Gibraltar

The Surf Center Arte Vida in Tarifa and NorthSails Spain have worked together with Xavier Mandico, a blind sportsman who has developed a program for blind windsurfers.

Using a radio set, Xavier is connected to a second windsurfer and is, therefore, able to do what he always wanted to do - windsurfing.

Now he is planning the next step: crossing the strait of Gibraltar.

Xavier Mandic is 42 years old and lost his vision at the age of 26 due to high exposure to solar radiation in the high mountains, combined with a genetic disease.

In January 2009, Olivier Brisse set a world record for distance sailed on a windsurfer by a blind person in Dakhla, Morocco.

  • Dutch environmental activist and windsurfer Merijn Tinga, also known as the "Plastic Soup Surfer," has made an audacious journey from Oslo to London, braving the North Sea's currents and winds, to call attention to the pervasive problem of plastic pollution.