More Wing Skiing

I wasn’t really expecting to go wings skiing in the harbour again. But while I was down getting water, the southeast wind was so strong that I decided to try not give it a try.

I had fun skiing straight down the hill from the front stairs and had enough momentum to get all the way across the bay. Had a couple more runs back-and-forth. Two kilometres in total. Max speed 31 km/h

Highlight was definitely having enough speed to get almost all the way back up the hill to the stairs. Thanks Michelle for the photos and video.

First wind sport day of 2025

It was supposed to be a day of taking the old shed siding to the dump by Skidoo. But the weather was so windy and snowy and thus slushy that I couldn’t go.

I got my wing pump from the Launch Pad and waited until the blizzard was over. My 4 year old 6m Duotone Echo wing was ready along with my 25 year old Blizzard skiis.

Sadly the wind was dropping off as the skies cleared a bit. I got a nice bit of momentum coming down the luge track from the balcony but soon the slush was slowing me down.

I did 1.1km heading out to Bill and Christine’s and back. By then I was done with the gusty wind in the Harbour. I really only got going when I caught a gust in fresh snow near a previously packed down Skidoo track.

An hour later we got our building permit for the new place out on the island. Next year I’ll be rigged and ready to take advantage of the conditions whenever it is windy!

I had fun

My GPS trail on a summer satellite image

Webcam capture

iWindsurf with some misleading wind direction information

 

The shed pile that didn’t get moved in the wind.

Here’s a video on Vimeo including some shots from my webcams:

2024 Wrap up - Lots of Wingfoiling

My 2024 season ended on October 21st. I popped an inguinal hernia which I didn't realize happens to 1/4 men over 50. Luckily I got a quick doctor's examination on the 22nd and got slotted into an ultrasound cancellation on Oct 31. Nov 6 I saw a doctor.  A few days later he called to say he had a cancellation Nov 11 and slotted me in at the last minute as he recalled that I had lamented the possibility of missing ski season. So I got repaired very quickly!

Despite not having any late October / early November sessions, 2024 was my 3rd most active year for days where I sailed. I had 70 blog posts, the most since 2020/2021 (COVID). 

I had fun looking back on my past few years of adding foiling to my time on the water. In 2019 and 2020 I had started wind foiling but didn't track it separately. I started wing foiling in 2021 and since then have tracked the 3 activities separately. Winging has definitely taken over.

In terms of time on the water, it was a record. It turns out that I'm still going the same overall distance as when I was windsurfing, but much slower so my time on the water increased.

I think 2025 will be a very busy year but hope to be able to get out on the water a lot again.