Wednesday night racing at Toronto Windsurfing Club

This was the first night of 2017 that I made it to the Toronto Windsurfing Club for the Wednesday night race series. I'd tried a few times earlier in the summer but either the wind or my schedule didn't work out.

The Kona is a fun board, but there are only a few of us who sail Kona regularly. Most of the fleet of 40 or so boards are raceboards which are much faster and the top windsurfers often do 2 laps in the time it takes me to do one lap which is humbling!

On this night it was quite low wind so the only other Kona was 81 year old John Darling. I had a bad start and was way at the back of the fleet and easily beaten by the veteran windsurfer. I would actually love to be the 81 year old someday beating 52 year olds! What an inspiration.

Last year I came 7th out of the fleet of 14 Kona sailors. With Bob, John, Chris, Andree and the other being such good sailors, attendance to help your overall score is critical.

My 2016 TWC Kona results 7th out of 14.

The TWC website has a host of information

After work foilboard vs freestyle board

After finishing all my work I headed out to finish my shelves in the shed.

But the gusty north wind had picked up, and so I headed out for the first time on the 36" Slingshot foil mast. It was actually very windy, and after my 4 x 2km runs in 30 minutes I was bushed. I was getting really long runs but my legs were so tense as I was on a knife's edge trying to keep speed and balance.

I did start feeling that I understand what the foil is doing below me and didn't overfoil once which was comforting.

Way more time planing on the foil than the freestyle Skate 108.

After the foiling runs it seemed windy enough to be on my Skate 108 - but I was wrong. I only got going in two gusts. I'm pretty sure that foiling is the better way to enjoy time on the water in marginal conditions.

And the shed is organized now!

After the session I put away all the boards (including my kids' board) on my new rack. Pretty excited about that!

Organizing the shed - 10mm bolts & 2 runs on the 5.4

The wind was out of the Northeast, which is not a great direction. Gusty and offshore, I normally don't even bother.

So I spent Sunday afternoon cleaning out the old shed and making room for my boards and sails. I started installing a board rack which makes storing the foil board much easier.

I set up the Techno with the 36" Slingshot mast. I was happy that the 10mm hex bolts I purchased fit perfectly into the bolt holes on the BIC Techno 148. See photo.

NEW - Using 45mm M10 Hex bolts means the screws aren't sitting proud anymore!

OLD - The heads of the big bolts supplied with the
Hoverfoil would sit at the top of the custom collars I built.

The bolts in the fuselage of the Slingshot Hoverfoil had seized somewhat, so I lubricated them again and didn't tighten them as much this time. I will try to remember that I need to loosen them when storing for extended periods. I got a good reminder in the Slingshot blog post on the subject of corrosion.

Around 7pm I decided to head out after all. I tried the 5.4 Duke on the Freestyle Skate 108 in the cold gusty winds. I did get two runs in, but called it a day pretty quickly. No foiling today.

Got planing twice!

I'm looking forward to a classic west wind bay day - likely in August!

One foil run from the NE

My 12th foiling session was super short.

The wind was blowing 3-15 out of the NE.

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I only got up on the foil once and only went 250 metres but it was fun and made the 1/2 hour session on the water worthwhile. I had my best friend Geoff watching from shore which was very nice.

I really need to find time to set the board up with the 36" mast.

In international news, Sebastian Kornum has been very competitive in foil competitions. He averaged 24 knots during a recent European competition. I only barely hit 15 knots so far.

Here's a photo I took with Sebastian in 2009 when he easily won the HIHO race. I kind of knew he was going to be a winner in the future. I didn't predict the foiling part though!

At the HIHO 2009: I got a photo with Sebastian Kornum
I knew he would be big in this sport!

Quick Friday night session

There wasn't really any wind predicted but when we got up north indeed there was a reasonable SW convection wind blowing.

I raced out and got the Duke 6.2 sail and the Fanatic Freewave 116 board. I managed to get a bunch of runs just blasting back and forth. I was also having fun doing a few duck jibes, upwind 360s etc. and my sail feel improved when I shortened the boom by 2cm to get more curvature in the sail. I'm not sure whether I like it more or the Skate 108 for blasting, I need to do a bit more back to back sailing on those two.

The first 2/3 of the session was on the Duke 6.2 and Freewave 116
The last 1/3 was on the NP V6 7.0 and faster Ray 122

After the wind died a bit I took out the NP V6 7.0 and used the Ray 122 for the first time this year. I got it up to 44 km/h on one run.

An image of the 2014 Fanatic Freewave 96, I have the 116 - for waves

Image of my 2013 Fanatic Ray 122 - for speed

The Ray is a fast board with so much relative stability due to its 76 cm width. Even though it is only 1 cm wider than the Techno, I'm kind of tempted to try it with the foil some time!

I think this was the first session this year that I didn't try foiling at all. Overall an hour and 45 minutes of clean windsurfing fun.

Another windsurf teaching success: Keep the front hand on the mast.

I really like teaching windsurfing.

My Sunday windsurfing school student was Matt, who had actually windsurfed a bit before and is also a sailor. But he wasn't sure he'd be able go out and get back as it has been quite a while since he has windsurfed.

So I gave him a refresher on land and then sent him out with the 4.2 on my 35 year old YPSI Wayler which is still a classic beginner board. Matt quickly realized it is only unstable until you put the centreboard down!

Perfect form from my student for going back and forth.
I find it works best keeping the front hand on the mast for beginners.

To me, the front hand on the mast is the most crucial part of teaching someone to windsurf. It means that the mast stays vertical above the centreline of the board, and as such the board just naturally wants to go across the wind or even slightly upwind. Then the beginner (in German they are called Aufsteiger - stepper upper) can get back easily to where they started. I usually keep the beginner using the front hand on the mast for their entire first lesson (or lessons as required). But Matt was such a pro I gave him permission to use his front hand on the boom after several runs. He did start going downwind a bit too much right after he began having both hands on the boom, but easily made it back upwind when he was done.

Coming right back to where he started!
(Didn't need a SeaDoo rescue after all)

Congratulations Matt!

I'm hoping to build a windsurfing simulator soon, those always help with teaching too.

How to carry a windsurf foil board

Another weekend, and another chance to foil. The southwest wind hovered from 10-15 knots all day, and the 6.2 wasn't quite enough to get going.

While I was carrying the board back and forth to the water several times, I finally figured out how to carry the foil board. I had tried my traditional footstrap and universal joint method and wound up breaking one footstrap. I had also carried the board on my head, but that kind of hurts. And carrying the board from the foil mast doesn't work well either.

My wife got this shot of my new carrying technique, you hold onto the foil fuselage and a footstrap!

My new wind foil board carrying technique

Then, just as I was ready to call it a day, the wind picked up and was blowing 13-17. My wife got some nice video:

11th wind foiling session from Canadian Guy on Vimeo.

I got a number of runs, but many ended in low impact catapults. 32km/h top speed! Here's the chart.

A good number of foil runs in my 26 minute session.

9 out of 10 days

Well my Canada day & week of working remotely from up north is over, but before heading back to the city I had one more quick foil session. Wind was 10-15 knots.

The 6.2 Duke and the Techno with the slingshot foil were ready to go. I headed out and got just 3 runs (and 2 almost runs), but that silent floating feeling is so cool I can't wait to foil again.

Enough foil runs to make me want more!

I ordered the web version of the latest copy of  the UK magazine Windsurf and it has several articles dedicated to foiling. So much to learn. Check it out at:

Click to go to the Windsurf Magazine foil issue

I'm starting to think that I will want a dedicated foiling board

The magazine also has a great article on the IWT Morocco event I was at.

Saturday Night's Alright for Foiling - and regular windsurfing

I headed back north from the city to catch the last wind of the day - and was thrilled to get a quick set of runs on the 6.2 Duke / 108 Skate. Wind was 18-22 knots and perfect for around 20 minutes for some nice shortboard windsurfing.

Shortboard session - not that much time actually planing

Then the wind dropped a bit to 12-16 and I put the BIC Techno with the foil under the 6.2. Those runs were fun too! Way easier to get upwind.

Foil Session - some long runs in a short time

I only got up on the foil a few times, but my wife caught some more video.

9th foiling session from Canadian Guy on Vimeo.

It is great being able to us the same already rigged sail for two very different feelings. The short board is so easy to sail in a straight line, but tacking is hard. The Techno is hard to sail while foiling, but super easy to tack. Very different versions of wind surfing.

We watched the sun setting and the wind didn't actually let up. It turns out could have sailed more well past sunset but I was just happy to have gotten my 8th session in 9 days!

Longest foil runs so far - several over 1 km!

I headed out to the Launch Pad Island for my 7th straight day of windsurfing! I'm not sure that has happened at home for many years - if ever. Certainly not since I started writing this blog. A new fascination with wind foiling, working via remote access and better weather reports via the internet sure helps with getting more sessions.

The wind was from the south at 10-15 knots and I set out on the BIC Techno and the Slingshot foil with my 2005 7.0 NP V6 sail. This was my 8th time out on the windsurf foil board.

After getting upwind, I started having foil runs immediately. Many of them were over 1 km long! I'll admit it requires a lot of concentration to keep up on the foil. It looks so effortless when the pros are racing like they did at the IWT Rio Vista event. I did touch down from time to time, but never enough to slow me significantly.

My multiple km long foiling runs. I hit 30 km/h!

I've read that front foot pressure is important when foiling. I'll agree it is when you really get going. However, to get going I still need to put a lot of pressure on the back foot to break the surface tension on the board and "pop" up onto the foil.

In just over an hour I sailed 16 km. I was pretty tired from keeping my core so tense to balance my arms, feet, ankles and play with twisting my body to be able to use the harness. I need to get some more tips from other foilers.

As it happens I was a housemate with Venezuelan windsurfer Diony Guadagnino in Morocco. When he was a kid he used to caddy my wife and my gear in Margarita to and from the beach. And then he'd show off in the late afternoon out on the water. He is a pro now and I read some good tips he gave at the recent IWT event in the gorge. I think I need to move my boom up and move to shorter harness lines as he recommended.

I also got some quick feedback on my videos from the folks at Slingshot. Very nice and I look forward to their next set of videos.

Top speed on the foil was 30 km/h. 2 of the runs ended in very soft catapults because I got too high and breached the water surface. The BIC board seems to be good in that way. It might be time to graduate from the 30" solo mast to the full 36" mast.

I would have gone out for a second session if the wind had stayed, but I timed my session perfectly for the best wind of the day. I certainly wouldn't be planing in that wind with a 7.0 and a regular windsurf board.

I look forward to doing more foiling with some board and sail comparisons.

My track in Google Earth - always fun to see the shoals that I missed!

Low wind foiling limits?

So I headed out on the foil and was happy to be out for a 6th day on the water (and my 7th attempt at foiling).

However, the wind never picked up over 10 knots, and without any good gusts to get going in, I really didn't have much foil success. I will call it my 7th foil though, as I did get up and go for maybe 50 metres.

Looking at the GPS, I did get close a few times. I need to work on my pumping skills I think.

My first time out, almost got going.

The second time out, I did get up on the foil once for a few seconds

I may try the 9.0 sail next time it is this light.

Another foil run on video!

A beautiful day on Georgian Bay. Not much wind but I headed out on the foil anyway.

I got very lucky and the only run I got going on was the one that my daughter was behind me with her camera!

6th day of foiling from Canadian Guy on Vimeo.

Other than that it was an under 10 knot slog fest. But I was glad I'd rigged the 7.0 and will certainly be looking forward to the next 10-15 knot day.

Happy independence day to my American friends!

I found the Slingshot discussion forum at:
http://www.foil-academy.com/courses/take/wind-foil-academy/discussion/question/16238
and look forward to learning some more.

Screen shot of my 6th wind foiling video

Track showing the top speed during the video
the rest of the faster parts didn't really get up on the foil,
I was just pumping a lot!

Most of the time I was going slowly...

My videographer!

Longest wind foil run - 1/2 km!

4 days of windsurfing in a row! That doesn't happen to me at home very often. The new wind foiling is definitely getting me out more often.

Today it was blowing 10-15 knots, a day where I likely wouldn't have bothered rigging the 9.0 sail to just go back and forth at bit.

But I was excited to try the wind foil again and see if I could get more than one 200m run like yesterday.

I headed out and tacked upwind to get into the clear wind. This was now my 6th ever session of wind foiling.

I had a couple of good runs and started feeling much more comfortable with the foil under me. On my last run I really sheeted in and got going faster and faster - almost 30 km/h!

5th foil session - one 500 meter run with 29.8 km/h top speed!

I think I'm almost ready to graduate from the 30 inch (largest of 3 sizes) flight school mast and move to the mast the Slingshot Hover Glide FWIND1 came with, the big 36 inch mast.

The slingshot Hover Glide
wind foil with 36" mast

Next time I'll also rig the 7.0 sail and see how that feels. It is exciting to have a whole new sport to try!

Coming back in smiling!

One single foil run

The wind was light so I took some time to switch to the 3rd of the 4 foil extensions. The Slingshot kit has graduated sizes, and the longer they are, the higher you can fly, but the harder the crashes will become. The board also gets heavier with each extension to the foil mast. But it should make it easier to get long runs going. Just as I had it set up a thunderstorm started coming in!

Thunderstorms heading our way

After the thunderstorms passed through there was a bit of wind for a few minutes. I took the 6.2 out to the foil board and had one nice run. Total distance was just 200m and I hit 24 km/h in wind that was lightly white-capping. I'd guess I pumped onto a plane in a 15 knot gust, and kept planing in less than 10 knots.

My one foil run of the very short session. 200m at 20+ km/h

The 30 inch mast lets me ride just a bit higher than the 24 and had the same sensation of flying. I could still hear the water underneath begin to bubble when I got to high and the foil started cavitating. Then the foil "stalls", the board falls to the water, and as long as you don't lean forward it doesn't seem to result in a dreaded catapult.

I need to work on getting some longer runs, but not bad for my 5th time!
I packed up and heading in for dinner - likely one of my shortest sessions ever, but still a great day.

Canada D(eh) super session - first foil video!

Canada day, July 1st 2017. The west wind had come up quickly after the last rain showers went through and the sun started shining.

The small 4.7 sail and board I used for my first few runs!

I actually started out on the small 4.7m sail as it was so windy - that doesn't happen often. After 3 very nice runs the wind had dropped and I walked up to get the 6.2m sail but that wasn't even enough.

Launching the wind foil board

So I got the Techno with the foil and did some more runs with that. This was now my 4th time ever trying this new sport. It is really exciting as the America's Cup boats are now using foils to get all the way around the race course!

My lovely wife got the first ever video of me wind foiling! It is definitely easier wearing the waist harness. I did a few short foil runs usually getting up going for a bit, then dropping back down. When I started trying to go down wind I'd usually wind up gently wiping out. I did a dozen or so runs like in the video.

4th foil practice from Canadian Guy on Vimeo.

And now the wind was building again. Back to the 6.2 and Skate 108. I headed out for my first long regular session of the season. The weather was warm (20c), the water was getting nicer, and the wind was perfect and building from the west. Especially after downhauling the sail at Taggart's island to make it more comfortable, I had some awesome runs back and forth. I went over to visit Scott and OJ and have them text home that I'd be late for dinner! Maximum speed was 53 km/h.

Full track looking west, 35 km. So much fun going between all the islands

Total time 2.5 hours, 35 km!

After dinner there was a great boat parade through the harbour. It was so windy, I could have still been windsurfing at sunset.

Canada day boat parade in windy Key Harbour
(view looking west out toward the sunset and same direction as my track above)

What a fantastic Canada Day!