Ballet-Kite Surfing

There is just one road along the Atlantic coast of Spain to the southern most tip of Europe. It follows the coast of De La Luis, the coast of the light, leading you to Tariffa, possibly the windiest beach in the world. Tariffa feels remote. It’s Europe’s closest point to Africa, you can see the coast of Morocco. The beach is unspoiled, with no resorts. Its wind and the water hold the secret of the newest 1)craze in water sports: kite surfing.   

Nacho is an instructor 1 at Club Luscrow, one of the two surf schools on Tariffa’s main water sport beach, Puenta Paloma. Every morning, before the wind gets to high and when the beach is still empty, the schools hold intensive classes for beginners. If your Spanish isn’t quite up to picking up the technique of wind surfing, there are classes in English and every other European language.    

The secret of success on the board is balance and confidence. For beginners, it’s never all plain sailing. By the afternoon, the winds are reaching up to sixty miles an hour, the sun 2)bathers are out in force and the 3)novice 2 surfers make way for the experts.   

This is the wind surfing capital of Europe, but it’s not the wind surfing that is now attracting the crowds to the beach; it’s kite surfing. Over the last two years, the popularity 3 of this new sport has taken off. Kiting is an 4)evolution of snow boarding and surfing. People who discover the secret of Tarriffa travel from all corners of the world to experience the 5)adrenalin and style of this sport. It was developed fifteen years ago by Cory Rossler, an American from Oregon. He started by putting a kite with water-skiis. Today the advantages of a single board are the incredible 4 6)acrobatics 5 that surfers can create reaching heights of up to forty feet. It doesn’t need the wave, the lightweight kite is pulled on a 7)pulley system to catch the wind in whatever direction it is moving. Tariffa has two wind directions which can create the perfect conditions.   

Kite surfing has been called “aerial ballet”, fast overtaking other forms of surfing, because there’s no waiting for waves or for the right conditions. The wind may be magnificent for water sports, but it holds an ancient secret: local myths 6 has it that it causes madness. Even if the 8)unrelenting wind is the secret cause of madness, it’s not stopping Tariffa beach growing in popularity. It has a laid-back, truly European atmosphere retaining unspoilt and simple charm 7.CE

1) craze [kreiz] n. 风行一时的东西

2) bather [`beiTE] n. 洗澡的人；游泳者

3) novice [5nCvis] n. 新手；初学者

4) evolution [7i:vE5lu:FEn] n. 发展；演变

5) adrenalin  [E5drenElin] n. 肾上腺素

6) acrobatics [7AkrEu5bAtiks] n. 杂技；技艺

7)  pulley [5puli] n. 滑轮，滑车

8) unrelenting [5Qnri5lentiN] a. 不松懈的

28、空中芭蕾——风筝滑浪

到达欧洲最南端，顺着西班牙的大西洋海岸只有一条路可走。那就是德拉鲁斯岸边的灯影之路，引领你到达塔里法，那里可能是世界上风刮得最猛的海滩。塔里法感觉上有点遥远，是欧洲距离非洲最近的地点，从那里可以看到摩洛哥海滩。这个海滩是天然的，没有旅游设施。在风中和水中藏着一个最新流行的水上运动秘密：风筝滑浪。   

纳曹是卢思克罗俱乐部的教练，这家俱乐部在塔里法主要进行水上运动，是海滩上的两所滑浪学校之一。每个早上，趁风速尚未很高以前，海滩仍旧空荡荡的时候，学校就对初学者进行密集训练。如果你的西班牙语还不太好，不能听懂风帆滑浪讲解的技巧，那里也开有用英文或其他欧洲语言讲解的课程。    成功操控滑板的秘诀在于平衡力和自信心。对初学者来说，绝对不会一帆风顺。到了下午，风速达每小时六十英里，晒日光浴的人大举出动，新手只好让位给专业人士了。   

这里是欧洲的风帆滑浪之都，但现在人们慕名来到海滩不是因为风帆滑浪，而是风筝滑浪。过去两年中，这项新运动异军突起，流行起来。风筝滑浪是由滑雪和冲浪演变而来的。人们发现了塔里法的秘密后，从世界各地赶来，尝试这项既刺激又有个性的运动。风筝滑浪是十五年前由一个名叫科里·罗西勒的美国俄勒冈人发明的。起初他只是把滑翔风筝和滑水结合在一起。今天，滑单板的优势发展到可适合繁多的花式，令滑浪者可以创造出高达四十英尺的高度。无需海浪，身轻如燕的风筝由滑轮带动，利用风势向各方向移动。在塔里法有两种风向，可以产生完美的效果。   

风筝滑浪被称为空中芭蕾，很快取代了其它形式的滑浪，因为它无需等待海浪或合适的条件。在水上运动中，风是很重要的因素，同时还有一个古老的说法：据当地传说，这种运动会让人精神错乱。纵使强风会使人精神错乱，也未能阻止塔里法海滩变得越来越受欢迎。天然、简约的魅力令海滩保持着地道的欧洲悠闲气氛。CE