First day of shortboarding in Ontario!

July 6th. Seems like a bit late in the year for my first short-boarding session. But there really hasn't been much wind - certainly not in the last week. The forecast of a north wind didn't have me very optimistic, as those are notoriously gusty.

When I got out to the Launch Pad it was blowing 7-15 knots from the NE. Our corner of the bay is a quite sheltered when it is NE so I knew the wind would be better a bit farther out. The temperature was 20c and the water was even warmer.

I set out on the Ray 122 with my NP 7.0 V6. It was the perfect setup for the shifty wind with so many gusts and holes.

It was so fun. I was screaming back and forth and having some great long runs. I adjusted my harness lines, boom height, downhaul and outhaul and got it set up pretty comfortably.

My GPS watch was a bit loose on my arm and shut itself off and I think I almost lost it! I tightened it when I realized that and will try to remember to have my GPS tight and in locked mode when shortboading!

Heading back upwind at the end of the session.
Note the gusts!

7.0 is easier to handle than a 9.0!

All smiles and I'm gonna be sore tomorrow!

Zero catapults all day and minimal spin out. My jibes were not so great - I just don't seem to be able to plane through a jibe with a 7.0. The board also does take more time to get going than the foil - not the instant acceleration I've gotten used to in the last few foil sessions. It was fun to be able to waterstart though without worrying about stabbing my foot or leg on the foil! Here is the GPS trail (minus around 10 minutes when my GPS was off.)

GPS trail on a Northeast day looks similar to a SW day!

Here is the speed and heart rate chart from the 2nd part of my GPS plot. Max heart rate hit 175 - three times my resting heart rate which is generally 57 according to my watch! Total time was 1:45 with over 30 kilometres sailed.

Top speed 49.4 km/h