Too gusty to race?

I headed down to the Toronto Windsurfing Club for the first time in months. It was a windy day with the odd shower passing through as the gusty wind shifted from west to northwest.

I rigged up the 9.0 Kona sail as it was the only thing I had. Most people were on short boards with 5.7s and there were several wing foilers out too. The day was nice and warm and I was just in shorts and booties. (And a PFD of course.)

I did 10 kms in 30 mins, staying dry for the first 20. I was going faster on the Kona than most other sailors. I was also faster at 38.6 km/h than my last time in high wind on the Kona. It was interesting having to give way to a few big powerboats though.

A fun high wind Kona session at Toronto Windsurfing Club

I came back smiling since the racing was cancelled and I could get back home to help pack up the last of our 3 kids moving out of our house which is up for sale. That also means I won’t be making it down to the Toronto Windsurfing Club as much in the future. I will miss the camaraderie of fellow windsurfers and the great views of Toronto.

Some Kona jibes at the windy south end of my reaches
Wind shadow near the club launch

Hit over 38 km/h a few times - a record for me on the Kona

Old school reggae

Visiting a friend’s cottage for the weekend after dropping our daughter off at med school meant I didn’t have any of my windsurf or foil gear with me. And of course there was a decent 8-12 knot west wind.

So I dug their old windsurf rig out of the garage and cleaned off the old BIC reggae board. I’m quite sure it was the first time it was used since a visit there 5 years ago. A mouse ran out of the sail as I unrolled it - it seemed to have been nesting there for a while and made a hole at the top of the sail.

I rigged it and headed out for a half hour sail. I’ll admit that I know why windsurfing struggled in the early 90’s. That board had been sold in the late 1980’s and by the time people were trying it out at cottages it was too narrow and small at 190 litres for its weight. It would be near impossible to teach a beginner on that board.

Nice evening for a windsurf session

I think if I’d had harness lines and 5 more knots of wind I would have got it planing with the vintage 4 batten 5.7m FUN sail. But it was so wobbly to tack, and so unstable to uphaul, I’m not surprised that there are hundreds of these sitting unloved under cottages everywhere. New boards like the Fanatic Vipers that I use to teach at the Launch Pad Windsurf Academy are soooooo much better for everything except spectacular high wind days.

The board hadn’t been used in a while

A few runs where I got a bit of speed…

The sail was ok, except for the mouse hole up top!

It cleaned up ok.

Overall I think I found it about as hard to sail as heading out past the rocks at Ho’okipa. But maybe that’s because I was rusty, as I haven’t had a windsurf session in weeks… Here’s hoping my September schedule lines up with some windy days.

Foiling in the Northeast wind

The NE wind did build between the periods of rain as predicted. I took out the 5.6 Idol and 140 Stingray board and 99cm foil. The Northeast wind is always gusty, but I was able to have some great runs.

I also got around on two downwind 360s - one in each direction. I only foiled the first half of each, but got around and continued in my initial path of travel. The water was nice and warm so I figured I should risk some falls and try some tricks as the temperature was quite a bit cooler than the last few days.

I was pretty happy when I was returning to the dock.

9.3 kms in 45 minutes - max speed 29.1 km/h

I now have a full year of weather data from my Tempest weather station that iWindsurf.com / weatherflow also reports as Key Harbour, Northeast is pretty rare in the summer. Southwest is so much more common in our area - especially in August, check out the charts below.

Nope

The wind died just as I went out at 5:30 on the old 6.5 NP sail and 140 Stingray with 99cm foil. 

Looks like some wind tomorrow though.

It had been pretty foggy in the morning!