3 sports before the storm - windfoiling for the win!

It was a beautiful south wind day. Lots of sun and solid (if a bit gusty) wind between the morning thunderstorms and predicted even stormier evening thunderstorms with a tornado warning!

The thunderstorm approaching as I headed home…

I started the day on the recently repaired 7.0 NP V6 on the Ray 122. It was much more comfortable than yesterday with the 9.0. I was happy with the seat harness and was soon comfortably blasting out to Dead Island. I worked my way upwind and briefly thought about going around Dead Island or even to the Bustards. The visibility of shoals underwater was excellent and I could have picked my way around any islands. But with thunderstorms predicted and no family or support boat back at the island, I opted to head back and stay in the Harbour. 

A nice big cruiser was heading into the Harbour and I had fun in the smooth water behind it. I kept going out and back as the best wind seemed to be closer to the shore. I tried for some top speeds and hit 45.3 km/h which I’m pretty sure is my maximum speed this year.

I headed in for a break and found I’d done 39.99 km. I had a bite to eat and noticed the cruiser was still circling the harbour. Then a boat approached asking about anchoring in the bay north of the Launch Pad. I helped them tie up to the old iron posts that have likely been there for many years!

Then it was wing foiling time. I pumped up the 4.2 slingshot wing and started tacking the Stingray 140 with the 99 cm foil upwind. That was a fair bit of work but I finally got to where I could do long runs. I wing foiled up to find buddy Scott out on his Hobie Cat. We chatted a bit about how nice the weather was and I generally was able to match his speed. I also managed to almost hit the only shoal in that open area!

Then it was time to go in and change to sport number 3. I took the old 6.5 NP V6 and the 76 cm foil on the Techno. So easy to tack upwind. And so smooth to get going - no real pumping required. And with the footstraps controlling the foil is easy too. It was my favourite of the day, but I could hear the thunder approaching. With a tornado warning I figured it was time to call it a day.

Interesting to see the GPS trails and speed charts of the 3 sports:

Windsurfing with a 7.0 sail

Winging with a 4.2 wing
(Almost hitting the only shoal in the SW corner)

Windfoiling with a 6.5 sail
One very satisfying jibe in there

Some good speeds on the windsurfer and a
5 km reach from Dead Island to Key Harbour

Winging has half the speed of windsurfing

Windfoiling has the nicest jibes though!

I packed up and even tied down the little sailboat. I wished the big cruiser crew all the best and made it back just as the rain started and the wind peaked at 30 knots!

Cruiser offshore after my 40 km windsurf

Cruiser tied up at the Launch Pad

Storm panorama

Looking south

Looking north

The gusts!