As a couch surfing seeker of vicarious thrills, I’m gonna need some more details.
It was windy. Those forecasts of 30+ gusts were accurate. Air wasn't too bad in the low to mid 50s.. Gene and I foiled on 4 somethings. I should have rigged a 4.0 or 3.7, Rhett winged at the end of the day. I saw Chris P. there but didn't see him out. Hamdi gamely held on to a 5.0 on a foil for a while. Barrett said his 6.0 was flat. Robert stopped by to say hello and snap some pics with a new travel/hike camera.
The wind would come in sets. When it was 15-20ish, it was nice. Once it got above 25 is was just hold on. I suffered from a comedy of errors so my tolerance for the "hold on" part was very thin and I bailed early. My thanks to Gene for lending me his harness (just one of my several "errors"). btw, current score in my household. Neoprene beanies 1 Full head hoods 0
I agree with everything that webguy says, except I think in knots. Steady high teens with pushes up to 26kts at times. I managed my 5.5m2 wing by holding further overhead and rode straight into the wind. Nice fast rollers were forming in a few different places which were a blast to jump and surf downwind.
New 60L board was a blast. I'm not going to lie, it's a little tricky in wavy conditions to hoist yourself up to a straddle, but from that point, take-off was relatively easy:
1) one pump of the wing to bring the board to a plane and hop from straddling to kneeling,
2) a second pull to pop-up onto the front foot, and,
3) a few more pumps to lift the rear knee and achieve flight.
Landed a few jumps, body-slammed a few more. Almost managed a traditional windsurfing water-start. Carving turns on the face of the rollers was a dream with that small board.
Barrett, Gene, Hamdi, and Webguy were all shredding hard. I was surprised that all the windsurfers except Barrett used foils, given there was enough wind to power a sinker!?
I tried attaching some pictures and session tracks. Still working to upload videos ... Not sure if they've loaded correctly, but here's some captions.
1. Choice parking! (... sorry Gene)
2. Strong gusts, steady whitecaps
3. New 60L Armstrong board (and hole in my wallet) for windy days
4. Gene & Stuart
5. Stuart & Barrett
6. Session 1: 1:00 - 1:50pm
7. Session 2: 2:15 - 2:50pm
I don't think I can make it that early but early afternoon looks possible
Not absurdly cold. That's good
Van Pugh ok?
I’ll aim for a 12 noon arrival . I gotta be off the water by 3pm …
I can sail early afternoon tomorrow at Van Pugh.
Live: WNW solid whitecaps, wind about 20mph.
Barrett
I hope to sail after lunch as well
Against all odds, this day of wing-foiling is happening! And, the conditions look glorious
VP ETA is closer to 12noon
I arrived as Stewart headed out with a 5.5wing & tiny 60 liter board. Impressive - he made it work in the high winds! Great turnout & epic day.
Barrett
It was windy. Those forecasts of 30+ gusts were accurate. Air wasn't too bad in the low to mid 50s.. Gene and I foiled on 4 somethings. I should have rigged a 4.0 or 3.7, Rhett winged at the end of the day. I saw Chris P. there but didn't see him out. Hamdi gamely held on to a 5.0 on a foil for a while. Barrett said his 6.0 was flat. Robert stopped by to say hello and snap some pics with a new travel/hike camera.
The wind would come in sets. When it was 15-20ish, it was nice. Once it got above 25 is was just hold on. I suffered from a comedy of errors so my tolerance for the "hold on" part was very thin and I bailed early. My thanks to Gene for lending me his harness (just one of my several "errors"). btw, current score in my household. Neoprene beanies 1 Full head hoods 0
I agree with everything that webguy says, except I think in knots. Steady high teens with pushes up to 26kts at times. I managed my 5.5m2 wing by holding further overhead and rode straight into the wind. Nice fast rollers were forming in a few different places which were a blast to jump and surf downwind.
New 60L board was a blast. I'm not going to lie, it's a little tricky in wavy conditions to hoist yourself up to a straddle, but from that point, take-off was relatively easy:
1) one pump of the wing to bring the board to a plane and hop from straddling to kneeling,
2) a second pull to pop-up onto the front foot, and,
3) a few more pumps to lift the rear knee and achieve flight.
Landed a few jumps, body-slammed a few more. Almost managed a traditional windsurfing water-start. Carving turns on the face of the rollers was a dream with that small board.
Barrett, Gene, Hamdi, and Webguy were all shredding hard. I was surprised that all the windsurfers except Barrett used foils, given there was enough wind to power a sinker!?
I tried attaching some pictures and session tracks. Still working to upload videos ... Not sure if they've loaded correctly, but here's some captions.
1. Choice parking! (... sorry Gene)
2. Strong gusts, steady whitecaps
3. New 60L Armstrong board (and hole in my wallet) for windy days
4. Gene & Stuart
5. Stuart & Barrett
6. Session 1: 1:00 - 1:50pm
7. Session 2: 2:15 - 2:50pm
upload #2
upload #3
Hamdi foiling & Barrett on fin
Some pics from Monday
webguy
FoilDodo
The new camera works! Excellente!
Seeing Gene and Hamdi in their space suits is making me rethink that urge to get back on the water.
What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.