Setting up the new Wing

I was excited to get a wing for Christmas! 

I got the Duotone Echo 6.0. It has a metal "boom" so I think it will feel nice and familiar to holding a windsurf sail. 6 weeks later I finally found time to unbox it and figured out the rigging. 

Setting up in the warmth

A few tips... The boom part goes to the outside. I did it wrong the first time! 

Wrong boom placement!

Correct boom placement

Also, the loop line goes around the boom extension - it wasn't in the instructions but I found some youtube videos which helped. Lastly, the pumping is pretty hard on my back, so I need to use better posture or may someday switch the bi-directional pump to just using the downstroke.

The bladder release really wasn't set properly, I'm going to inflate/deflate it a few times until it seats properly. 

The bladder relief seated better after a few inflations

I hope to get it out in the snow in the next week. Here is a shot of the first setup. 

Test setup complete!

Launching the Launch Pad Windsurf Academy

Well I've officially registered my website www.launchpadwindsurfacademy.ca 

I got some great feedback from friends and family and am lucky to have a good selection of photos from past teaching sessions to give a sense of how much fun I have teaching windsurfing and foiling.

Since we are so remote, I'm not sure yet I want it listed in windsurf school directories, so I haven't submitted it into google yet. My biggest questions right now are whether to move this blog over to the Wix based blog tool, or keep this blog here.

I'm happy for any other feedback, but mainly it is a fun project to work on in the coming years while I continue to enjoy giving lessons. Eventually we will look to develop a business plan and rebuild the windsurf sail locker.

2020 Hindsight - 1,227 km!

Well 2020 was quite a year. Covid. Lockdowns. No travel. Social injustice. A brief market meltdown. Working remotely. A lot of windsurfing and windfoiling. And then retirement from my 30 year finance career.

I downloaded my Garmin connects activities and calculated that I windsurfed/foiled 1,227 km last year in my 75 sessions. That totalled 87 hours with the average session just over an hour each. The longest sessions by distance and time were 56 km of windsurfing and 3 hours of foiling. That was a record number of sessions, but still under 100 hours on the water. (I know I had a few sessions that weren’t recorded on the Garmin - some during their data issues in the summer, but I think that is a pretty good baseline.)

So I'm guessing in my 40 years of windsurfing at maybe 50 hours per average year for 2,000 total hours on the water? I'm well below the 10,000 hours that Malcolm Gladwell says we need to master something. If I add in the number of hours spent watching windsurfing videos, practising on the beach and dreaming of moves in my mind, maybe I am close to 10,000 hours?

In 2020 I taught 14 first timers, had 2 repeat students, launched one student on a board for the first time in 30 years and got two experienced windsurfers foiling in 30 minutes. Happy to be getting so many people into the sport!

Goals for 2021? 

• Set up my windsurfing school website
• Windwing on skis
• Get my windsurf teaching certificate(s)
• Learn to Wingfoil
• Have a 100 km windsurf day
• Have 100 sessions/days on the water. (And maybe total 200 hours on the water?)
• Windsurf to the Bustard islands and back
• Some more foiling 360s
• Maybe another Vulcan?
• Teach 20 new windsurfers

I realize that there was one photo I didn't post from last year. Here is a shot of some cold water windsurf gear I didn't use in the fall. Hope I don’t need that in May.

Oh, and one more thing I’d like to do someday. Ice board sailing. But that is likely in 2022 before doing the International Windsurfing Tour? That is if the global Covid situation improves...

Sit down, enjoy the ride & then shut it down

My last session of 2020 turned out be a wonderful way to start planning for 2021. I had lunch conference calls, so I had to get out early in the day. I started my session at 9:30 am; the earliest in the morning I've sailed this year. Luckily it was already unseasonably warm.

The wind was 16 knots, tempting me to look at using my FreeWave 116. But I decided to go with the Techno 148 and hopefully not spend much time slogging through lulls in the wind. I took the 7.0 NP which is starting show its 15 year? age.

It was the perfect combination. I tacked upwind out of the harbour and then started planing. I had my seat harness on instead of my waist harness and just sat back, blasting back and forth, slowly making some upwind ground. That board is so easy to ride! I was being very cautious on my jibes so I only had one real planing jibe. But I didn't fall in for over an hour and forgot to send an "I'm having fun" GPS message. By the time I got back to shore after 32 km and an hour and 15 minutes, my wife was a bit worried.

I was in my 5/4 suit for the 12c air and with the water back up to 10c from the record warm November weather I didn't even wear booties.

Post session #75 smile!

No need for booties when the water is 10c

12 c air and 16 knot winds

GPS trail - with one planing jibe
one floating balloon garbage pickup

Planing most of the time, 4th jibe kept some speed!
Lots of tacks just after the halfway part
Then some speed runs at the end hitting 47 km/h

I did have one sketchy moment as I windsurfed
over this hidden shoal - as the water starts going 
down again I'm going to need to be more careful!

That gear and an early start to the day has me excited to set a goal for a 100+ km day next year. And with 75 sessions in a busy and complicated 2020, 100+ sessions might just be a possible goal year with more time, the 99 wing and hopefully better skills.

Pretty consistent wind at the end of my session

I de-rigged a few more sails and then went back to attend to work and emails. At dusk I was back at the island to de-rig the rest of the sails and secure the Launch Pad for the winter. 

It was even windier and warmer at dusk; a record for Nov 10th?

With no trips on the horizon, none of the gear is coming back to the city.

Shutting down the Launch Pad sail locker

The sun sets on my 2020 season

Sunny and even windier on Remembrance Day

Some very nice wind out there but the gear is all packed up.

See you in 2021

Strapless Saturday

The wind was forecast at 10 knots from 12-2pm so I got to the launch pad and finished repairing the walkway which was on my pre-closing todo list.

It was 9-10 knots with gusts up to 13 and I debated rigging the 9.0 to have a better session than the last few days of exhausting pumping to get planing.

I decided to try the 6.5 again with the 99cm wing. As I started tacking upwind I could already sense it was going to be good.

The wind was filling in a bit and I‘d watched a few videos (like this one) where it was evident that keeping the front leg straight when pumping was key. I quickly got on the foil and had much longer runs than the last 3 days.

I fell in on several jibes but the 5/4 suit and booties kept most of the 7c water out. I even waterstarted once. Not having any footstraps is pretty easy to get used to. My feet definitely find their way to stand right on the inboard strap positions. My back foot seems to like being inboard even more - sometimes even on the Tuttle box fin/mast screws. In any case it seems to be good practice to make lots of small foot movements to figure out how the foil board reacts to those smaller changes than a big step into a strap then being stabilized by the foot in the strap.

I worked my way upwind and found bigger swells than I expected for such light winds. I had an absolute blast riding the waves west of Wedge Island. It is such a cool feeling to be propelled down the swells, holding the sail more for balance than for power. Then sheeting the sail back in to get a bit more speed and to steer to the next wave. And without footstraps, it feels surfy and more pure. Simply incredible to have that new experience right in my own backyard.

Smiling after my session

A whopping 11c and SW 9 knots gusting to 13

So much fun surfing the waves Northwest of Wedge Island
And there are around 3 tail assisted jibes and a lot of fall in jibes

On the foil for most of the 75 minute session!

1994 old school sail meets new school board and foil.

There had actually been some gusts to 16 knots during my session

We had a wonderful sunset Hot Dog and marshmallow roast at the point and then put away the chairs for the winter.

The sun is setting on 2020

When I got home I saw my buddy Rob had live streamed a bit of my session on facebook so I took a screen grab so I have a photo of the session after all!

Thanks Rob P for the FB video!

Lunchtime pumping

I had a free lunch hour, so I headed out to the launch pad. Winds were 9-11 knots so I took the 6.5 V6 with the 99cm Slingshot foil. I had the Surfers “windsurfing” playing in my head after watching that video again on YouTube.

I had a surprise dip in the water while pumping the sail for my 2nd run. I hadn't seated the US cup mast foot properly and the two pins hadn't popped into place. So when I pumped the sail vigorously the second time, it popped off. I swam quickly after the board but since there wasn't much wind it didn't go far. I'll check the pins carefully next time, and also take gloves with me even if the air is relatively warm (10c). 7c water made my hands go numb quickly - I can't imagine having to go for a longer swim.

The view from my changing room

Exciting 9 knots and 10c air

Foil tracks: I figured out how to show the speed colour when using
AppProSail - just change the sport to running in the Garmin Connect
App or web after uploading the session

More solid time on the foil vs. the last two days

I was toasty in my 5/4 wetsuit. The pumping with the 99 cm foil really works to get going and also works up heat in the suit.

While I was out foiling I was thinking about what I'll eventually want for the launch pad next year:

• A new or used wing to learn wingfoiling
• A new Techno 148 for me, so I can use my 12 year old one for teaching foiling
• A 2m and/or 2.5m kids rig for teaching more kids
• A GoPro 8 or 9 to get some footage of a completed foil jibe
• Tricktionary 3 so I can get certified as an instructor by WIPA
• A used 7 - 7.5m V6 Streetracer for light wind foiling
• A used 125l free ride board with a new 7m cambered sail
• Size 12 over the ankle split toe booties
• A platform for rigging and storing sails and boards at the point

When I got back my work email box was flooded which seemed strange for a Friday afternoon. As I looked closer I saw it was with retirement congratulations from work colleagues!

72 Sessions

After finishing a morning of work calls, I headed out to the Launch Pad and to wind which I knew was tapering off.

It was down to only 8-9 knots so I figured my only chance to get going would be to get the 99cm wing fixed. Amazon had provided me with a left hand drill / screw extractor kit. It worked well and I quickly had the broken bolts out of the mast.

First drill out the broken bolt using the left hand drill

Use the extractor to remove after drilling

Repeat on the other broken bolt

I filed the mast surface to make it flatter and put stainless screws in. It sits considerably tighter now than the last time I headed out with the 99cm wing and discovered that it floats!

The wind was really light and I slowly headed upwind doing heli tacks with the 7.0. I was starting to doubt whether to really call it a “session“ as I wanted my season tying 72nd session to be a real one. Just as I was about to give up, I managed to pump onto a plane briefly. And then 3 more times with a top speed of 21 km/h.

Windfoil trail - 4 sections where I pumped like heck!

My 4 planing sections

It was nice not to have footstraps on the board, and even nicer to have booties on with the 7c water. I was plenty warm in my 3/2 wetsuit in the 10c air doing all that pumping for a few short runs.

I’m still hoping for a more significant session over the next 4 days.