Trying a tri-sport day

There was suddenly more wind than I expected from the forecast so we headed out to the Launch Pad for the afternoon.

It was blowing around 17 knots so I decided it was time to try out the used 4.2 Slingshot SlingWing V1 I bought for smaller family members. (But I guessed I might use it too...) I inflated it and was happy to see it uses the same pump nozzle as my Duotone Echo wing.

I headed out and was surprised that I got going on my first run. I'll admit that I miss having the "boom" to hold onto. The soft handles are ok, but it felt like I wanted my hands to be right where the handle attaches, not in the middle of the grips. I also don’t have a harness on it yet. It was nice and easy to get the smaller wing tips out of the water when I went too far down with the wing, and it was also easier to flip over.

Pumping back to shore on the small wing for the first time

I had floundered quite a bit and will admit that the 3/2 wetsuit I picked wasn't quite warm enough despite the added hood, booties and gloves. The water was just 9c and the air 9c as well. I was pretty chilled and tired and worried about my left shoulder after just 33 minutes. It will be a ton of fun winging when I can set up a harness for the small wing and get up to ride the swells at Wedge Island. I did warm up a bit pumping back into the wind shadow, and was PUMPED again about how cool that sensation is. Jen got some video of me pumping on the way in! (It was actually my 5th day of winging..)

Decent speed and even a 1 km run on the wing foil

I was thinking that I would change into a warmer suit but then noticed the wind was up to 18 knots. I got inspired by the old Astro Rock up on the rack and took it out with the 4.7. I got going a few times but wow, it really doesn't release and start planing like my Fanatic Skate. So I slogged over the old cribs a few times, not so worried about the old board and skeg. Even though I wasn't planing it was lower stress and I had fewer plunges in the cold water than winging.

Windsurfing doesn‘t have the same upwind/downwind
 compared to wing or wind foiling. With the old board,
I even risked going over the ancient Key Harbour wharf cribs.

Even though I got the windiest part of the day with the windsurfer, it wasn‘t quite enough to get planing. So eventually headed in again and this time took the 4.7 sail on the foil board. This was easily my favourite setup of the tri-sport day. It is so easy to get going vs. the wing on the foil or sail on a board. I was cruising with one hand casually on the boom, heading upwind then floating downwind. I blew most of my jibe attempts and then had one that felt really good. The wind felt like it was getting even stronger even if the wind chart doesn’t agree; and there were some rain cells approaching, so I called it a day after doing 3 wind sports in 2 hours.

Wind had shifted to west and increased
for my wind foiling session

I‘m surprised that wind foil speeds are so similar to
wing foil speeds above

Ahh, sun and west wind

Nice stormy sky after dinner

So pumped!

I had an amazing new sensation today. Pumping the foil board with my legs like I've seen in so many videos. When using the handheld wing, the board becomes so much more responsive than when using a windsurf sail attached with a universal. I've definitely pumped the board a bit to get going with the windsurf sail, but it only responds a little due to the sail being attached to the board. So on my last wing run, when I was foiling down into the wind shadow of the island, I started pumping with my legs to go faster and it totally worked! Such a cool feeling.

But there were some other highlights to the day. It started out with Phillip and Maxx heading out for an afternoon session. I put Maxx on the 4.7 for the first time as he's been rocking the 3.5 last year and yesterday. Phillip took the 6.5 and the 99cm wing on the Stingray 140. The wind kept building and they worked their way upwind.

I headed out with the 6.0 wing and the 76cm foil under the Techno. It wasn't windy enough to get going, and I made it upwind a bit, but struggled and headed back in. Just as I was getting the drone set up Phillip came foiling in. I'm so PUMPED for him!

Pumped for Phillip coming in on the foil

Phillip back at the Launch Pad

Phillip looking good after his 3rd day of foiling

Phillip got the nice windy SW part of the early afternoon

I also had the drone going for a few shots of Maxx out enjoying the SW wind.

Maxx out in the Bay

Nice form Maxx

Neighbours got a nice shot of Maxx too!

Thanks Nadia for the photo!

Maxx pumped for his 1st day on a bigger sail

Water was 11c the air was cooler around 8c. Even after falling in the water a few times I was finding it comfy in my 5/4 with the 3 mil booties.

My slog upwind with the wing. Lots of falling in.

Not quite enough wind at 8-10 knots to get going with the 76cm foil

After lunch I headed out again, this time on the 99cm foil under the Stingray 140. With the wind shifting more west, there any tacking required. As soon as I got to the wind line I was foiling and made it upwind of the pier.

My wing foil GPS trail in the 12-15 knot winds

Extra speed with the PUMPING at the end!

The handheld wing with enough wind provides amazing upwind and downwind ability. My few runs were definitely not "mowing the lawn" back and forth. I had a few moments of downwind with the wing just floating in my hand. And my two jibe attempts were nice and smooth. My winging is partially inspired by Canadian windsurf / foil / wing legend Max Robinson who is just finishing the World Wingfoil Championships in France.

My highest speed of the day was on the way back in when the wind was dying. That is where I PUMPED the board with my legs and built up extra speed. So much fun!

I'm pretty worried that this new found winging joy will be sidelined by the clicking and soreness of my left shoulder. Using the harness this time for the first time using the wing on the water certainly helps though. Finishing the night with some wings while playing poker was a great end to the day.

Foiling with Phillip!

My son Phillip is done with his work term and is moving up to the cottage for the summer. So I was excited that his first day up here had some nice SW wind predicted.

Happy dad returning from foiling with his son!

We headed out to the Launch Pad after lunch and the sky was looking ominous to the north. The rain held off but the wind was actually dropping while I was rigging sails which had been stored for the winter. It took a while to find the masts and get the 7.0 set up for Phillip and the 3.5 for Maxx.

Ominous clouds to the north!

The wind built nicely from 3:15 till 4:45!

Maxx was out on the water first, tacking nicely upwind on the Fanatic Viper 80. The wind was just 5 knots but Phillip headed out with the 7.0 and the Techno with the stock fin. He quickly returned, rightly figuring that he might as well have the 76cm Slingshot foil under him.

I was the last one to get on the water and had the 6.5 and the 99cm Slingshot foil wing under the Stingray 140. We slogged back and forth for a while and I got up on the foil one time while the Coast Guard was nearby maintaining buoys DK9 & DK11.

Maxx heading out

Phillip with the big sail

Slowly the wind built and after I'd had a few more runs I swapped kits with Phillip. He'd almost gotten up with the 7.0 and 76cm foil, but started having success on the wider board and bigger foil. I hadn't ridden the Techno with a foil in almost a year and found it easier and more satisfying than I expected.

Me after switching rigs with Phillip

Phillip getting going

Maxx wound up windsurfing for 2.5 hours. The water was 11c and the air too. I was warm in my 5/4 and hands were ok without gloves, but I think it was a bit too soon to go without booties!

Nice SW wind

Good foiling runs in the 2nd half of my session

Phillip and I wound up having some great runs and since it is so silent, I could sneak up behind him and then start talking with him hearing me. It was tremendously satisfying for me seeing my son up on the foil with amazing control considering it was his 2nd day of foiling ever!

A quick little wing foil

I had a bit of time in the afternoon and headed over to the launch pad not expecting to do much with the dying NW wind.

There were still some gusts so I went out with the 6m Duotone Wing and the stingray 140 with the 99cm slingshot wing. I wasn’t sure I’d even get going and headed back and forth across the channel. The learning moment was that it is really hard to tack a wing board in 5 knots of wind. When the gusts came I could work upwind and then got going on the foil a few times. I only scraped the wing on a shoal once.

Some very short wing foil runs

I realized that I can jibe on a dime if I really step back on the board - the old sink the back / waterline ABK trip. The 140 litre board is so nice and stable I didn’t fall in once. I stopped after a very short 20 minutes though. It wasn’t because of the temperature; I was toasty in my 5/4 XCEL wetsuit, cap and ankle booties. 

10 knots avg as I headed out.

10c - warmest session this year!

6 knots avg when I got back shortly after 20 minutes

The issue was that I could feel and hear my left shoulder clicking while moving the wing up and down. Hmm, don’t like that but hoping I can ignore it for the nice predicted S/W for tomorrow afternoon’s session with Phillip.

Getting used to wing foiling

I took some of the advice friends gave for my 2nd wing foil session. I removed the universal and hooked my leash to some webbing I put in the rear footstrap screw. I also put the hand/wing leash at the front of the wing instead of the boom - it doesn't fly around as much that way.

Tacking upwind to start my session

It was much easier to work my way upwind today and I was foiling on my 4th tack. Upwind angles are pretty amazing and downwind is good too.

I will need to use the harness next time as after 30 minutes my forearms were spent and my left shoulder was getting sore. The wing is super sensitive and seems to work more efficiently the closer my hands are together. Two of my wing foil runs were a km long without touching down. That felt pretty awesome for my 2nd day winging!

The jibe at 3.5 km kept some nice speed!

I had some nice downwind runs and was surprised that I hit 22.5 km/h - almost as fast with the wing as I am with a sail. But cruising is definitely slower. My two jibe attempts were surprisingly good and I remain convinced that I will have them reasonably consistent by the end of the summer. Riding switch still seems very strange.

Side carrying handle and leash at the rear

I'm loving the wind data that the new Tempest weather station delivers. I had 12-13 knots of wind, and it definitely was enough for winging.

Tempest weather data for the day. I went out at 2pm.

I resisted the beckoning of the swells out past Wedge Island. With the SW wind I knew they were out there calling to me. But it seemed a bit far in the cold and with it just being my 2nd day of winging I stayed on the safe side. I am really looking forward to riding swells soon with the wing!

Finning it in the gusty NNW wind

For those windsurfers who are addicted to windsurf and windwing foiling, going back to a regular windsurf board is now called "finning" it.

Blasting into the harbour

The NNW wind was spectacular with warnings across Ontario about the intense wind. People were surfing on Lake Huron and southern Georgian Bay. The weather said it would be best near us around 4pm so we headed out to the Launch Pad after lunch. I got the plumbing going with the least drama we've ever had on the island and we did some more tidying up.

By 3pm I couldn't wait anymore and headed out on my FreeWave 116 with the 4.7 Duke. Launching off the dock was a bit of a fail, but eventually I swam/floated down to a spot where I could beachstart.

This eventually ended with a swim down to the windier area

Jen came out to the point and took a few videos and then kept an eye on me through the windows at the Launch Pad.

The wind on my old weather station said it was 20 knots gusting 17-30. and the new Tempest said 20 knots avg. It looks like I got the best part of the day.

20 knots and 5c

Or 7c outside depending on the thermometer 

I was out from 3 - 4 pm - pretty good gusts at 3:20

Watching the video it is clear how gusty it was. Thanks Jen for heading down to the point to shoot that!

As this was just my second "finning" since the fall I felt rusty. (And even that short March 11 session is actually a long time ago too.) I had that feeling I've experienced in past years heading to an IWT event where I felt quite awkward getting back on the board in gusty conditions. Around 1/2 an hour into the session I was finally able to feel in control and managed some nice jibes (even one duck jibe). But after 15 km in an hour of windsurfing I was pretty spent.

15 km and planing most of the time

Nice to see the north side of the windfarm running today, but this time the south side was shut off despite the huge winds.

While I have often disliked the gusty NNW winds, with a relatively floaty board and some patience, it worked out ok. And I'm guessing I will like north winds even more for winging in the future. It was great to have the heat on in the Launch Pad and the shower running for a nice post session warm up.