Super Friday Foil Session

Len came out with me to check out the wind. Initially he wanted to go windfoiling which he has done several times now. I convinced him to try wing foiling and he is officially my first student - full blog post at www.launchpadwindsurfacademy.ca/post/len-and-my-first-wing-foil-lesson 

After Len was successfully staying upwind on the wingfoil I got out on my Slick 5.0 wing and Fanatic Sky 125 foilboard. I had a fantastic session doing my first ever jumps:

Len eventually came in and switched for the 4.8 Idol and Techno 148 with the Slingshot 76 foil. 

Nephew Jonathan and niece Vanessa were out in the Invitation sailboat. The harbour was full of colourful sailing craft making the most of a 15c 15 knot SW wind.

Phillip took all the many amazing photos above - thanks Phil. What a great day.

Cautious first part of the session without many falls
Then I realized this might be my last session for many weeks
And definitely my last warm session in Canada this year!

Looks like this might be my last day on the water for several weeks as we head to Europe for a conference and some family visits.

Well that’s a fast and cold change

Wow, from 21c to 9c overnight. The wind was gusty from the NW. I decided to change things up and took out the 6.2 Duke and Fanatic 122 Ray. It was my first time this year taking out that speed board.

It was weird having cold exposed fingers and warm exposed toes. The water was still warm at 19c but the air was 11c. I managed to make all my tacks. I didn’t fall on any jibes but didn’t plane through any either. I was sweating in my 5/4 wetsuit.

I had a huge run in to the channel north of the island but the wind was so swirly I couldn’t make it all the way around. I floated back out into the bay; had one last run out and then came screaming past the point and did my last few tacks upwind. 

My GPS track - with additional track drawn in later as
my watch had died and missed some data 

Top speed for the year - 51 km/h between the lulls!

I was sad to see my battery died and when I powered it back up it didn’t load into Garmin Connect. I knew that maybe it didn’t get the fastest part of my runs but I’d already seen 44.5 km/h on the watch. But what was my fastest speed? I did manage to find a free website recover my .fit file off the watch. Yeah, I managed 51 km/h a personal best maximum speed in over a year?

 

It sure got windy for the Hatteras crew!

Steve and Brett decided to stay for the predicted afternoon wind. After another eggs Benedict and some computer work we made some sandwiches and headed out to the launch pad. The predicted rain had passed through and it was getting lighter but not yet sunny.

Three “Hatteras” amigos later in the day

A good start to the day

I went out on my 5.0 Duotone Slick wing and the 125 Fanatic Sky foil board. I had my best ever foil session. Launched right from the dock and made my way upwind with one jibe after another. I wasn’t yet in the footstraps but since I wasn’t changing my feet, I stayed on the foil most of the time and didn’t fall in! Eventually I did start using the footstraps…

I count a lot of turns in the 30+ minutes before I fell in for the first time. And only 5 falls in the whole hour session. A huge improvement in just my 5th session on the new Sky foilboard. Staying switchstance is a huge improvement in consistency. After the first 10 minutes I thought my forearms would die and that I really needed a harness. But I was having so much fun I forgot about my arms and managed to ride for over an hour.

A lot of time (31 mins?) and at least that many
jibes before I fell in!

While I was out Brett and Steve were launching Brett’s kite. Brett got upwind easily and had a super hour long session. Steve was on his small wing and board and was successfully “stinkbug” starting that new sinker board.

Kite cam!

The only photo I got all day - Brett comfy on the kite

I was back in from my session and raced to the point when Brett was coming back in. He didn’t really need my help but I wanted to be there just in case.

Steve headed out again and since the wind was supposed to build, I took out the 5.6 Idol and Skate 108. I slogged upwind pretty well but then also slogged for most of the next hour. I had plenty of time to admire Steve getting nice rides on the foil. While we were out the sky cleared completely and I expected the wind to shift from SW to W and build. It just stayed at 10-15 knots though and I had just a handful of planing runs.

Good upwind slog from the dock but only got planing a few times

My lame shortboard session

The wind farm was generating 1% of Ontario’s energy
(And the next day they finally got the turbine that hadn’t
worked in 4 months fixed)

We both headed in to regroup but the guys were done for the day and started packing up. I decided to do one more session wind foiling with the 5.6 Idol and Stingray 140. As I got going I realized I still had the short 24 inch mast underfoot but still avoided overfoiling most of the time. The wind was building so I did a quick foil around the island. 

A nice litte windfoil around the island

Sure enough over the last 1/2 hour as we packed up the boat the wind built to over 30 knots. Would have been fun to be out on the old Tiga or the Skate with a 4.8m sail. Next time!

Super warm outside for Sept 21
Water was still 19c

Late afternoon wind

We should’ve saved some energy for the late afternoon push

Flags are leaning!

That’s some wind!

That was a wrap to the not very cold Hatteras. In fact at 21c on our boat ride back to the marina we were all commenting on how insanely warm it was for the fall solstice. Looking forward to next time with even more of the gang and more shenanigans. 

Sunny low wind day for the Hatteras crew

The wind wasn’t expected to get over 10 knots so the morning was spent on computers. Later in the afternoon we headed out to the Launch Pad for some chill water time. The first thing we realized was that Brett left his board at the point overnight!

We didn’t quite collect all the gear the evening before

Steve watched me slog upwind on the 5.0 Duotone Slick wing and 140 Fanatic Stingray board. I tried one time to pump up onto the foil but it wasn’t happening.

My no foiling wing session
Getting better at going upwind though

Steve went out on his 6.0 Slick wing but didn’t get going either. I chased him on the sailboat which was a very pleasant cruise.

Sailing!

Nice day for a slow wing session

My 4.5 km sailboat track

Pretty warm water for Sept 20th

Obligatory afternoon nap

After Brett’s calls were all done we did some Wakefoiling behind the boat. I had a fun run out to the bay and was crossing the wake consistently - something I haven’t really done before. Brett got good at starting on the Stingray 140 foil board and got the feeling of the foil underfoot once he got steady outside the wake. Liftoff is imminent. Steve was amazing on his little Wakefoil board, pumping on, crossing and riding the wake. (I’m missing footage of the guys’ rides which are on their phones)

Wake foiling

I even got up on Steve’s little board for 10 seconds!

Pretty nice local grown tomatoes

Water was still a nice 20c as the sun set on our day. Lots of wildlife, a snake in the water, fox on the rocks, beaver in the dark.

I found two photos of the fox on my big camera!

Big wind predicted for tomorrow afternoon!