Terrific beginner day

It was a beautiful sunny and hot day with a nice SW wind. I had 3 keen beginners interested in their first windsurfing lesson.

I got the simulator set up with a combination of sails and boards. I did the full dry land lecture and had each of the "aufsteigers" (German word for beginners is stepper uppers) give it a try.

Lessons start on the simulator!

First up was Luke, he headed out on the 4.2 on the eons old LeBoard which has a slippery deck and is heavy and narrow. Really quite a challenging board to use. But he was a star, heading back and forth. I did give him one short upwind tow with the jetski, but after that he had it nailed. Vanessa and Len were out in the boat and even gave him permission to take his front hand off the mast and put it on the boom, something I usually don't allow on the first day of instruction.

Luke starting out

Luke's posture improved very quickly!

Checking in for a thumbs up from the instructor!

Heading back out into the wonderful water!

Next was Ron. He admitted to not ever having done any balance sports, no skateboarding, wakeboarding etc. So I put him on the Viper 80 with the 3.5, figuring the wide board and small sail would give him a balance advantage. He struggled for a while just trying to stay in the neutral position. I towed him upwind in the waves which had built as did the wind over the hour since we started. He could uphaul, but then kept losing his balance. 

Then I realized the lack of balance skills was the issue. I got the jetski next to him and we floated together with my feet on the board as well, so he could practice using his ankles for balance. After around 5 minutes of doing that, plus having him use the sail to steer us, he had gotten the hang of it. He did a few runs in each direction and even started standing straight as he headed back to shore.

Ron photo courtesy of Vanessa

Helping Ron get balanced on the board

And he's off! Nice!

Last up was Sam, she was amazing as well, getting going on her first runs immediately. She sailed clear across the harbour, and was getting ready to tack when she fell. I went over to help with the jetski and sucked the strap from the adjustable mast cap into the intake. DOH! For a moment, the ski was immobilized and stuck to the sail. I managed to free it, and we limped back upwind with the broken end of the mast cap strap still in the impeller. Sam sailed back to the island having had a too short but successful first session. (Sorry I didn't get a photo - wait for tomorrow's blog!)

Luke in the meantime wanted to go faster and was out on the bigger 4.7 sail and the old Bic Veloce 328. It is lighter and narrower and still a pretty good intermediate board. He was rocking it! Back and forth and staying upwind never needing another tow from the jetski.

Luke on the bigger sail and smaller board

All smiles!

Seriously good form for day one!

Time for a lunch break!

After lunch, Luke headed out for more; definitely getting the "keenest beginner ever" award. He sailed so far up wind we lost sight of him. I headed out on the Stingray foil and 6.5 NP V6 to try and keep an eye on this first day beginner. I got some nice planing runs working my way upwind too, but had to pump quite a bit in the winds that averaged 9 and never exceeded 13 knots all day. 

I got some nice foil runs in the 9-13 knot winds

Winds that never exceeded 13 knots

Luke started looking for more challenges so I described and demonstrated jibing. We did a nice last downwind run together where he totally got it, and was mesmerized by such a cool smooth way to turn. I don't think I've ever taught a beginner who could get enough upwind ground on day one to start to learn jibing on the same day.

Luke being awesome!

Great form while learning to jibe

Everyone was sunburnt somewhere as we enjoyed dinner. Tomorrow might be another good beginner day!