Fastest Windfoil speed so far! 33.8 km/h

It looked like a typical gusty northwest cold wind day so I lazed around a bit during breakfast and then headed out to the Launch Pad at 12:30. 

Thanks Liz for the photo!

I was pretty excited to try the new wind foil set that I got down in Hatteras but haven’t used yet. I expect to be using it racing next weekend in Kingston, so it’s about time to get out and give it a try. 

The  Fanatic 1,000 cm2 foil with the 90cm mast and long fuselage was easy to assemble under the Stingray 140. I didn’t bother putting on foot straps because I only had an hour. I figured that with the wind looking pretty strong and gusty I didn’t need a big sail. I took out the 5.6 Idol that I had used the other day.

It was a quick slog down to the wind line out by Whistler Bay. Sure enough the wind was super gusty and strong - 15-25 knots. I worked my way upwind tacking easily and only over foiled and exploded once. The 90 cm long mass is pretty forgiving. 

Once I was upwind and starting to worry about shoals I started on my downwind run and was pretty impressed with how stable that longer mast and fuselage were.  

YouTube video of my return to the dock

I got my fastest foiling speed of all time! 33.8 km/h = 18.2 knots!  (Last top speed was 14.6 knots) Of course that is way slower than top windsurfing speed of over 50 km/h but it is a completely different kind of wind/water sport - and around 2x the speed of a typical sailboat.

Fastest foiling speed so far! And it was pretty comfortable.

I could definitely cruise faster than I ever have
with the dedicated windfoiling foil

My course up into the gusty north wind and back

Coming back upwind to the dock

Weather station data - colder than yesterday!

It is nice to see the every turbine in the wind farm running and generating electricity. Of course at 4pm it stopped entirely for a few hours.

The night before at one of our neighbour Paul’s retirement party and fish fry I met a new neighbour. He sounded very interested in coming out and trying some sailing and windsurfing as he used to be an Olympic class sailor. I’m looking forward to spending the latter part of July and early August up here with lots of time on the water.

Windfoling is definitely the better of both wingfoiling and windsurfing for the wind we had today. Really happy with the ability to slog out to the wind and then ride the foil back so easily.

Wing foiling tops Wind surfing

My jump on the way back after 90 minutes and 2 sports!

It seemed like 15+ knots so when I got to the Launch Pad, I was excited. I took the Skate 108 to the point and then went out with the 5.6 Idol sail in my 2 mil long legged wetsuit. Air and water were 19c.

I over estimated the wind (or it dropped a bit) and slogged back-and-forth barely getting going once. Back to the dock without falling though.

Quickly topped up the 6m Unit wing and put the 1080 Aero foil under the 125L sky board. I worked my way out of the channel in the southeast wind. As soon as I was to the wind line, I got going but prompty hit a shoal just off the point of the Launch Pad. Ouch, my first scratch on the 1080 carbon foil. I swam out a bit and then got going again and started working my way (south) upwind towards the open south of us. 

My upwind / downwind track!

I did jibes all the way up the channel and eventually was doing some heelside tacks and even got a couple of heelside tacks. It was a bit of a surprise to get I three of those in a row consistently!

Some heelside and even toeside tacks!

I started my downwind run and got a lot more jibes in a row despite falling twice. I was doing some duck and spinny typed jibes. After my second fall I felt pretty wobbly trying to get going again and thought I should head back in. 

18 kms in 90 minutes

I made it back into the harbour on one really nice long run went around the old cribbing and worked my way back towards the dock. A last couple of jibes and pretty decent jump which I got on the dock cam.

Just after I got in the rain came through and it looks like the wind might be done for a while. It had been the windiest place on Georgian Bay.

What a nice little pre-Canada Day session.

Sup Paddling in Collingwood

I went to Sunset Point to see whether there was going to be any wind materializing after the thunderstorms and front went through. Indeed there was a bit of Southwest wind turning to West, but not quite enough Northwest for it to fill in along the shore. 

So I decided to take out the used Fanatic AllWave 150L SUP that I got in the spring but haven’t used yet. I paddled upwind on my knees towards the Inukshuk. Then back down wind standing up, checking out the shoals and very, very clear water. 

My thermometer wasn’t working properly but the water was really quite chilly for the fourth day of summer. Overall just 1.5 km enjoying the nice sunset over the lighthouse island to the west.

Post SUP photo

SUP paddling trail

Not sure why the speed dropped off for extended times?

I finished my session and decided to check out a new secret launch that is very close to home. I saw a fellow WhatsApp chat member Jake coming in from his session. It had been windy enough to foil but it had definitely shut down for the day. I think that launch will be high on my list in the future!

Visiting the secret spot after my session

Local at the secret spot - it was windy enough earlier…

I was pretty sore that night! I’d already done my morning hike up the grind…

My morning hike up the Apple Crusher / Grind

A record time for me up the Grind

Let’s see if there is a dawn patrol wingfoiling session on Wednesday.

Quick Father’s Day 10k

I was so tired and sore after yesterday‘s epic session that I wasn’t really sure I was going to head out on Father’s Day. Especially with the power out all morning. But Jen made me lovely eggs Benny and quickly got my energy level back up.

We headed out to the Launch Pad where it was starting to get gusty with a warm south east wind. I packed up the stuff that I wanted to take back to Collingwood for the next two weeks. As the wind was looking good I decided to go out on Jen‘s 142 L Fanatic Sky WS board. 

The 6m Unit wing seemed right for working my way up the channel and then proved to be remarkably easy to use in the up to 20 knot gusts that were developing. I continued my way up wind riding switch doing jibes and then switching feet and even doing a side-switch jibe!

Thanks Jen for the photos

I did a couple of tacks while upwind and managed to connect jibes and stay dry all the way back to the dock. The downwind run was pretty fun as I was able to just flag the wing and keep my speed at 15 knots in the 20 knot wind. 

Lots of jibes in the gusty winds

Pretty good sessions!

Hydro crew looking to fix the power to Key Harbour

We’ll see whether I get some sessions in Collingwood. It’s back up here on the 28th.

6m is better in 15 knots than 4m!

DOH. Maybe that’s what the problem was yesterday and why I couldn’t get going. I realized I had pumped up the 4 square metre Duotone Unit wing and not the 6 metre one. They are both so lightweight and look similar.

Jump captured on the dock cam
on my way back on the 6m wing and 1080 foil

I headed out and even on Jen‘s big floaty 142L board with the 2000 cm foil underneath I was pretty frustrated that I could only get going twice in what looked like 13-14 knots of wind. 

I slogged back figuring I needed to pump up the 7m wing and was wondering what was wrong with my pumping and foiling skills when I realized I had pumped up the 4m instead of 6m yesterday. DOH as Homer Simpson would have said.

So I pumped up the 6m Duotone Unit which only goes to 7 psi. The 8.5 psi indicated on the 4m should have been my clue but I was thinking to myself “wow that 2024 Unit really has a much higher pressure than what I’m used to on my older Slicks”.

Luckily the wind continued to be strong so I decided to go out Jen’s big 142L board first. But I was clearly overpowered with the big wing AND the big foil underneath. I went back to shore one more time and switched onto the 1080 foil under my smaller 125L Sky wingfoil board.

Video of the smooth landing back at the dock

Back to change down to a smaller board and foil

And that was the ticket! I had a good hour and a half after that just ripping back-and-forth. Did 33 km in two hours total. The 1080 foil is so much more efficient through the water that I didn’t need my harness much at all. 

The wind was actually fairly cold and despite the sun being out my 4/3 wetsuit had me feeling a little chilled towards the end of the session. That might have been that I started practising carving 360s and falling a lot more!

GPS trail with two nice strings of linked S jibes

I did do (what I will need to check but feels like) my first ever switch stance (goofy) toe side jibe. I’ll have to check my blogs to see whether I did any of that last year. I remember trying it once in Bonaire, but this time I was actually foiling most of the way across on my heels in switch side. I never got to try a switch heelside jibe which I think would feel pretty cool?

Dock cam footage of my jump!

I did a decent jump on the way back to the dock but didn’t land it. I was surprised at how high I got even though I was in the wind shadow and basically just cruising on momentum. I also did a few other jumps off wakes out in the bay. Oh well, they looked great in my mind.

Luckily the wind dropped off after I had a quick lunch of some dehydrated Mac and Cheese. I did a bunch of tidying and the Launchpad and was frankly too exhausted to go out later in the day when it picked back up.

The windiest spot on the bay - again

A super surprise session as it wasn’t supposed to be that windy, but that’s what happens in the north east corner of Georgian Bay.

Missed a nice bit of wind…

I’ve been away from the Launch Pad island for quite a while and it was certainly windy a lot of those days.

We got to the island and did a bit of sampling of the septic tile bed and then drove that up to Sudbury. On the way back I could tell it was getting super windy. The windiest spot on the Bay actually.

NE corner is the windiest spot on the bay

Wind was gone by 7pm!

I finally got out around 7pm and pumped up (what I thought was) the 6m Unit wing. It had been over 20 knots but as I was leaving the dock it was just 11 knots. 

Slogging back on the 4m (thought it was the 6m!)

I never even got on the foil. Some kids on a boat came by to check out what I was doing but I politely turned down their offer of a tow behind their boat.

It was down to 6 knots when I finally swam back. Oh well, another day.