Two weeks have flown by, I’m heading home and leaving Boards test team behind. It’s been an enlightening time, seeing how they group and compare different board sizes, how the guest testers work and what can, and does go wrong. But that’s not a story I can tell you now, that would be like reading the last page of a novel before its sent to press.

What I can say is I should have done this a long time ago, it’s been a great learning experience, and one I’d like to repeat. What did surprise me was how different the brands see the same style of board, and how first impressions didn’t give away its style.

I’ve sat on the other side of the fence from the test team, and I can tell you there’s nothing more frustrating than getting a bad test from your latest board or sail, it really does effect sales. On the side I’m encouraged by the commitment to the test, even in the lightest of winds a day was never wasted, and during a windless spell we built a water tank to see just how close to the stated volumes the boards really are, but as before, the results are for another day.

This was just my first Boards test trip, but my first experience of El Tor, Dahab is my normal port of call, and they couldn’t be more different. The biggest difference has to be the night life, or lack of it. Your group is you entertainment, most evenings were spent at the beach bar next to the windsurf centre.

Going into town is probably just a one-night plan.  From experience I’d opt for the new fish restaurant, food was good and plentiful. Its not that there was a lack of food at the other restaurant, lets face it, at one pound fifty for a meal you could afford seconds, but while I’m not over fussy, clean does come into it.

On the water its also very different. Being a much smaller bay it’s easier to move from the flat stuff and out into the swell, with the added bonus of a few jump ramps where they meet. That said most stick next to the sailing centres, it’s a great spot to host a clinic, and while I was there Jim Collis was running one.

It was a little gusty, but to be fare the wind was light, apparently it had been howling for three weeks strait before we arrived. I took a kite with me for the light wind days, especially as the kit we were testing was for stronger winds. Both sports live alongside each other well in the bay, it may be small but with only one hotel its never going to get over crowed.

The question is, would I come back, and while there is a but, the answer is yes. Once here the costs of living are almost zero, so for a cheap week of windsurfing its an ideal spot, but the hotel is a little tied so don’t expect to see my family here, El Tor is about time on the water.