James from Eco-kart (between Vila do Bispo and Sagres), offered us the chance to have a go on his landsailing karts, so we waited for a couple of unsuspecting males to join us (Richard and Mark) and this is what Richard had to say about it!
When my son-in-law, Mark, and I were offered the chance I hadn't got a clue what Eco-karting was, so it was a surprise to see what I would have called land yachts speeding around a track just off the main road.
When we arrived there was a brother and sister competing head to head, to see who was the best. As an older male it was sad to see the male eating dust and being beaten by his sister!
We were introduced to the instructor, James, who asked if we had been karting before (which we hadn't), so after we had climbed into our boiler suits, protective knee and elbow pads and selected a helmet, the basics of an Eco-kart were explained.
Once we had been told how to avoid injury we were given the all clear and asked to start slowly, get familiar with the sail and steering before becoming more competitive.
The track which from a distance looks flat with lots of space suddenly seemed to be full of lumps and bumps and the track narrow in width with sharp corners everywhere!
After what seemed like an age, the instructions that I had been given finally clicked and the sail was full with the cart speeding from one bend to the next. The race was on! Mark is about half my age but that wasn't going to stop me showing everybody that there is still life in the old man!
All I can say now is that I had the greatest fun and exhilaration that I have had in years. You can forget about theme parks and go-karting this was just awesome. As for Mark - it's difficult to win if you crash out!
I can recommend Eco-karting to everybody both the young and the old. I was disappointed to have to stop but once I had managed to get out of the kart I just wanted to smile. It was fantastic fun and it's worth every euro.
We would like to thank James for a brilliant afternoon! More information and contact details about Eco-karting and a video clip.