The couple that learns to windsurf together...

Luke and Sam wanted to do more windsurfing after their successful first lesson. Sam and I walked into the nice warm 8 knot south wind and did a quick refresher on the simulator. Luke windsurfed right from the dock up to the point. 

Luke was on the 4.7 and the BIC Veloce again and made it to the point in just 5 or 6 tacks! He was wearing a lycra and pants to cover the sunburn earned yesterday, but his smile gave no hint of discomfort. He asked "what's next to learn?" so I set him up with the harness. He used it perfectly and I didn't see any knee or harness marks on the sail at the end of the day. 

Sam headed out and did quite well, just one lift upwind from me on the jetski. I could only offer her the 4.2 to use, which she was able to uphaul quite well despite its increased weight over the 3.5. She didn't quite get the art of leaning back against the sail and being a #7, but did sail and tack extremely well. Vanessa reminded me later that next time I will need to use the ABK/Andy Brandt "pony tail back" and wheelbarrow downhill tips to get her hips up over the board more and save her back from getting sore.

Sam heading out nicely

Luke mastered the harness on day 2.

Luke is all smiles!

Luke and Sam windsurfing together into the future!

Sam sailing back to the point

Luke coming back from exploring Georgian Bay

Luke doing his first "boomerangs". Use the force Luke!

And it worked - right back into his hands!

Seriously. He's duck tacking on his second day!

With Luke having moved to a smaller board and bigger sail on day one, sailing upwind and learning to jibe, he joins a select few students I've taught. With him using the harness, sailing upwind and exploring, then doing boomerangs and duck tacks on day two, he takes the award as my keenest student ever.

With a quick repair now done to the 3.5m sail, I look forward to teaching some more beginners this summer!

Terrific beginner day

It was a beautiful sunny and hot day with a nice SW wind. I had 3 keen beginners interested in their first windsurfing lesson.

I got the simulator set up with a combination of sails and boards. I did the full dry land lecture and had each of the "aufsteigers" (German word for beginners is stepper uppers) give it a try.

Lessons start on the simulator!

First up was Luke, he headed out on the 4.2 on the eons old LeBoard which has a slippery deck and is heavy and narrow. Really quite a challenging board to use. But he was a star, heading back and forth. I did give him one short upwind tow with the jetski, but after that he had it nailed. Vanessa and Len were out in the boat and even gave him permission to take his front hand off the mast and put it on the boom, something I usually don't allow on the first day of instruction.

Luke starting out

Luke's posture improved very quickly!

Checking in for a thumbs up from the instructor!

Heading back out into the wonderful water!

Next was Ron. He admitted to not ever having done any balance sports, no skateboarding, wakeboarding etc. So I put him on the Viper 80 with the 3.5, figuring the wide board and small sail would give him a balance advantage. He struggled for a while just trying to stay in the neutral position. I towed him upwind in the waves which had built as did the wind over the hour since we started. He could uphaul, but then kept losing his balance. 

Then I realized the lack of balance skills was the issue. I got the jetski next to him and we floated together with my feet on the board as well, so he could practice using his ankles for balance. After around 5 minutes of doing that, plus having him use the sail to steer us, he had gotten the hang of it. He did a few runs in each direction and even started standing straight as he headed back to shore.

Ron photo courtesy of Vanessa

Helping Ron get balanced on the board

And he's off! Nice!

Last up was Sam, she was amazing as well, getting going on her first runs immediately. She sailed clear across the harbour, and was getting ready to tack when she fell. I went over to help with the jetski and sucked the strap from the adjustable mast cap into the intake. DOH! For a moment, the ski was immobilized and stuck to the sail. I managed to free it, and we limped back upwind with the broken end of the mast cap strap still in the impeller. Sam sailed back to the island having had a too short but successful first session. (Sorry I didn't get a photo - wait for tomorrow's blog!)

Luke in the meantime wanted to go faster and was out on the bigger 4.7 sail and the old Bic Veloce 328. It is lighter and narrower and still a pretty good intermediate board. He was rocking it! Back and forth and staying upwind never needing another tow from the jetski.

Luke on the bigger sail and smaller board

All smiles!

Seriously good form for day one!

Time for a lunch break!

After lunch, Luke headed out for more; definitely getting the "keenest beginner ever" award. He sailed so far up wind we lost sight of him. I headed out on the Stingray foil and 6.5 NP V6 to try and keep an eye on this first day beginner. I got some nice planing runs working my way upwind too, but had to pump quite a bit in the winds that averaged 9 and never exceeded 13 knots all day. 

I got some nice foil runs in the 9-13 knot winds

Winds that never exceeded 13 knots

Luke started looking for more challenges so I described and demonstrated jibing. We did a nice last downwind run together where he totally got it, and was mesmerized by such a cool smooth way to turn. I don't think I've ever taught a beginner who could get enough upwind ground on day one to start to learn jibing on the same day.

Luke being awesome!

Great form while learning to jibe

Everyone was sunburnt somewhere as we enjoyed dinner. Tomorrow might be another good beginner day!

Hot Friday even with a north wind

Windsurfed tonight without a wetsuit! It has been so warm this last week while we were back in the city that the water has warmed up to 23c. At 7pm the north wind that was blowing the umbrellas off their bases while I was BBQing burgers was still gusting to 15 knots.

So I headed out on the foil for a late evening session. I took the Stingray 140 with the Idol 5.6 sail. During my quick foil session it actually felt like a hairdryer was being pointed at my legs while I was up on the foil!

I had a nice 1 kilometre run and two solid jibe attempts. On one jibe I was on the foil for the full 180 degree turn but came down off the foil during the sail flip.

Nice 1 km run hitting 31 km/h

10 knots gusting to 15 from the north

I came back past the BBQ deck and gave a quick on water demonstration to the beginners who are looking forward to lessons on Saturday. Should be a nice SW "bay" day. I'm looking forward to my first bit of teaching for 2020.

Short Sunday foil sessions

The wind was averaging 9 and barely touched 13 knots, but that was enough to get me going for a few early afternoon foil runs.

Then it was time to hang out with Timo in the sail locker while everyone else went snorkelling.

Timo hanging out with great uncle Carl in the windsurf locker

I got in another late afternoon foil, with my new improved bent leg pumping technique. Also, my runs are feeling smoother after changing the foil position. Interesting to see what a little change in foil position makes. The Slingshot switch fuse (see blog post here)

Managed to be out the two times
in the day where winds hit 13 knots!

Foiling out of the fog

When I arrived at the Launch Pad, the wind was 9-13 knots but it was foggy. Kind of neat seeing the mist drifting across the water. I had been stiff and sore all morning after 3 straight days of windsurfing, but my muscles were starting to loosen up throughout the afternoon.

I took the Stingray 140 foil with the old NP V6 6.5. I planed on the first several runs heading upwind. Vanessa, Len and a sleepy Timo were in he boat taking some photos and video. The consensus is that my pumping technique looks awkward with my legs too straight. Video on that to follow. But I was having fun and feeling more and more comfortable on my 7th day on the new board.

At 6pm I went out for another quick foil. The wind was touching 14 knots - the maximum for the day. I think that moving the foil backward using the 2nd position on the Slingshot switch fuse helped my stance and even pumping ability.

Max 14 knots - perfect for the foil

Ridiculously fun foiling

Last year in Bonaire we watched a wonderfully innovative windsurf foiler named Balz Müller; his nickname is Radiculo. His style and flow and crazy jumps and tricks are incredible. Click to check out this video!

Today I had my first day where I felt a tiny bit of that foil flow and maybe even a bit of style. I headed out for a 5pm session and the wind had shut off. Glassy. But then, 10 minutes after I arrived at the launch pad I watched the SW wind line arrive and suddenly it was 14 knots gusting to 18.

I tried something I've never done. The windsurf foil with my tiny 4.8 Idol sail in high wind. It was so windy it was easy to get foiling, but with such a small sail, it was easy to turn off the wind too. I did so many up and down wind runs, and then some runs where I just surfed from close to broad reach using my toes and heels to carve the board. The 6th session on my new Stingray 140 foilboard, and I'm loving it. (I didn't use the back footstrap much though, I'm going to try moving the foil back by reversing the slingshot fuselage.)

I got even closer to getting a foil jibe, and then tried two carving 360s. SO COOL! I actually flowed down through the carving 360 back up into the wind and while I dropped off the foil, I sailed out of both of them. It was a super fun 18 km, 75 minute session.

Lots of squiggly lines. And two 360s in there somewhere.

Lower foil speed equals more fun?

As I was putting away my gear, Len arrived, ready to windsurf. He went out on the Techno 148 with Vanessa's 5.7 Firefly. He had some good planing runs until the wind dropped and was generally loving the water and being free after the last day of school. Yeah summertime!

Happy last day of school!

Sorry I didn't get any planing shots...