These Things I Know
Michel Carnet
 ONE - Life is full of results and excuses! TWO - I love the sun because it is responsible for the lows, the highs and the wind that results from their interaction, and for the waves that my board loves to ride. THREE - If God really did create the ocean, the waves, the tides and the wind, then respect to her!  FOUR - When I fly I don’t miss kitesurfing, when I kitesurf I also don’t miss flying. FIVE - Whether paragliding or kitesurfing, take-off is optional but landing is mandatory. SIX - Brighton is my local beach in the UK and in ten years of kitesurfing I have never seen or smelt sewage in the English Channel or ever regretted being in the water. SEVEN - Tides have no effect on the wind but a fast tidal stream will affect your relative wind and make all the difference between you sailing or not. EIGHT - For any given beach, spring tides always happen at the same time of the day. NINE - Men are bastards. I read somewhere that 70% of men are unfaithful.  TEN - You've got to be a real prat to smoke. And in any case it's very impractical to smoke whilst kiting or flying. ELEVEN - A mid-life crisis is almost inevitable for most blokes...and I am certainly in no hurry to come out of mine. TWELVE - Murphy’s law applies equally to paragliding and kitesurfing. If something can happen, it will. And you can bet it will happen at the worst possible time in the worst possible place. THIRTEEN - I wonder with whom those 70% of men are unfaithful. Michel Carnet was born in Caen, France, and moved to the UK when he was 19-years-old. As well as making the first double kitesurf crossing of the English Channel in 2004, going from the UK to France and back again with three other riders to raise money for Great Ormond Street children's hospital, he is also vice British hang-gliding champion, seven times British paramotor champion and current vice world paramotor champion. Michel is a paragliding instructor and parttime editor of Paramotor magazine and this month will be competing in Beijing, China for the world paramotor championship  This feature is in Issue 29 |