Wow, after Wednesday’s epic session around that island, I didn’t think Georgian Bay was going to have much more excitement to offer me as this season closes out. But the SW wind came up as predicted and so I headed out on my 4m Duotone Unit wing and got going immediately. I had fun playing in the flatter water near the harbour doing my FIRST EVER multiple foiling upwind 360s.
Then I headed up to Wedge Island to play in the surf. WOW - I thought the waves were going to be small but they’d already started building and I was able to ride down wind flagging the wing.
 |
| Webcam selfie! |
 |
| Windiest spot in Ontario! |
 |
| Awesome wave rides in the NW corner |
 |
| Upwind foiling 360s! |
 |
Nice long time up on the foil
The dark part at the 1/4 time mark were the upwind foiling 360s |
I stayed up on the foil for around 45 minutes. All without a harness. After getting a bit more adventurous on the waves, I fell in on my 2nd downwinder. I struggled a bit in the waves to actually get going again. When I did get up, I sailed cautiously back towards the harbor.
I played a bit more in the flat water, in and out of the islands carving some pretty nice jibes. After an hour I was getting a bit cold, not from the 21° water and 18° wind but from the windchill as it became over 20 knots.
Then it was time to try Windsurfing. I selected the 5.2 Idol sail on the Skate 108. Out at the point it seemed windier than 5.6 and not enough for my 4.8. I was glad to have purchased that 5.2 Idol for Jen. I started out and was perfectly powered although I felt definitely rusty getting out on a shortboard Windsurfer for the first time in a month and really only my fifth short board session of the year.
I made my way up wind much slower than on the foil board but eventually I was getting nice long runs with the occasional jibe. Most jibes were non-planing, and my tacks were labored. At the end of my first hour though, I was having so much fun short boarding again feeling the speed and ease of being in a harness, perfectly powered two fingers on the boom - legs straight, absorbing the bumps. And the speed!
 |
No sharp upwind angles, but still got to play in the waves
with some downwind parts to the NW. |
 |
| Good top speeds, but very few fast jibes |
 |
| I wound up being on the windsurfer twice as long! |
 |
| Windsurfer skeg bite - not a wingfoil bite |
 |
| Crazy warm water for October 6th |
 |
| The air was pretty warm too! |
I tried around 6 vulcans. My two downwind 360s felt nice but I fell on one of them.
Somehow the short windsurfing board is more comfortable for long long runs. It is nice not worrying about over or under foiling and being catapulted onto the wing. The contrast is in my jibes, where I’m a bit frustrated that after 30 years of Windsurfing jibes are inconsistent. After just three years of wind foiling I’m much better at jibing the foilboard. I’m gonna start a comparison chart of Windsurfing versus foiling sometime. But bottom line I wound up having a much longer session on the short windsurfing board in the perfect southwest winds.
Nice to be able to alternate between wingfoiling and windsurfing! I didn’t quite get my 100km day this year, but 2/3 of that goal is still an achievement!
No comments:
Post a Comment