Fall Foil-age, A Shark Tail

[Scott]

Fall Foil-age, A Shark Tail

The coldest weather of the Fall season accompanied a persistent late night and morning rain. The cold west winds that brought it here give the windsurfing community a bit of angst as suitable launches are next to nil. But there is a new game in town and its called foiling. Local kite surfers have been foiling for years but only recently has the windsurfing crowd had the opportunity; the technology finally arriving for windsurfing boards. And this seems to have opened up the some new sailing as the foil equiped boards can point to weather easily and have the ability to plane in variable light thermally conditions. And so our day begins!

The last of the four cords of wood got stacked late in the night before the rain and cold settled in. The Ibuprofen I took after breakfast would hopefully ease the back pain and perhaps get me through a cold day of sailing. As I cruised up 590 I was pretty sure I’d be heading to Long Pond even though the winds were out of the west and usually a west south west wind is the best directions for this shallow water sailing spot.Pulling up to the pond I wasn’t completely surprised to see a sailor already cruising up the pond, Art was on his Starboard windsurfer foil kit and from what I could tell was plenty juiced and was making great use of his tall foil mast. I sent a quick text to Doug who was finishing up a XC meet with his kids a bit west of the pond. Doug bought Art’s used foil and had yet to successfully mount it to his Techno board. “I’m on my way, I’m bringing the foil”, he replied. Looks like its a shark foil party to me!

Steeping hot apple cider was safely stored in my stainless steel thermos under the blanket in the back of my Volvo along with way too much windsurfing gear. I quickly assessed the conditions and motivated by the sailor already on the water, I rigged. The wind looked plenty stiff for foiling, at least to my limited experience so I rigged my Ezzy 5.5. Art came ashore and looked half frozen, to which I promptly produced the hot cider still steaming from the even hotter stove. Art smiled as he drank the cider and then promptly burnt his tongue. “Oh! Sorry! Did I mention it was hot!”. Art commented on the wind strength as he warmed up and let his tongue heal but as I rigged and assembled my MFC foil wing, it did what Long Pond does; the wind died. Anyone who’s ever sailed the pond knows that the wind never just dies, it throws a few head fakes and then picks up taunting you to re-rig. Don’t fall for it.

The fratocumulus clouds overhead with blue gray bottoms contrasted beautifully with my bright orange Ezzy sail. A bald eagle circled in a thermal just overhead and slowly drifted out over the lake as we three looked skyward. To the south the sun light shot rays of bright light through the clouds, just like the ones that painters paint. It was a striking fall day. I walked my foil kit safely out into the pond to a depth where it wouldn’t strike the muck bottom which you would think would be the safest place to take your foil. I mean what’s a little muck on a thousand dollar carbon fiber wing! BUT, I will tell you this bottom is a museum of human and natural random artifacts. You’ve been warned. As I righted the foil and grabbed the up-haul the wind started to freshen and the adrenaline began to slowly take hold.

The water was quite flat as the wind freshened and the foil wing popped up nicely without too much encouragement. I was flying. The five five Ezzy seemed perfect for the conditions. I could not believe how the smaller sail felt in my hands. It was so easy to control and allowed me to make the subtle corrections to the board to stay silky smooth. This was exciting, it revived those feeling of the early windsurfing years. Something new, something exciting. Pass after pass was interrupted only by my rudimentary tacks in the cold autumn air. I was flying, I was silking along. It was fun and I couldn’t wait for the boys to come back out to join me.

I came in for a warm up and some scolding hot cider, my fingers had gotten cold from the chill. Donny and Doug were feverishly working on Doug’s foil mount. Drilling and pounding, pounding and drilling. Then there was a smile and like a little kid Doug rigged up and joined Art and me on the water. The winds ramped up and ramped down, the foils went up and the foils went down but mostly UP! Then to everyone’s surprise (sorry Doug), Doug is foiling. It’s his first time out and he’s got the damn thing in the air! Body slam here, body slam there, the learning curve does not discriminate. I threw in a few just for good measure. (What do you think the Ibuprofen was for? Hell, I can stack wood all day long, just as long as my wife helps!)

So what in the morning seemed like a cold dank unworthy windsurfing day turn out just perfect. And as Art told me before he left; “I sure hope we don’t forget what we learned come spring!”

[windydoug]

Great post Scott.

I’m thankful for all the assistance I got from the crew while figuring out some technical difficulties with mounting the foil to the board.  This is what happens when a standard is not followed as a standard.  Deep Tuttle screw holes should line up, right?

Some filing and drilling with Art and Don and I eventually got my first session on a foil.  I got up….then I got down.

I am using a 135L Techno with an Starboard GT foil, so I took the back straps off to figure out foot placement.  As the session progressed, I managed to stay up more and more on the foil.  It was all so foreign.  I can’t thank local windfoil pioneers Scott and Art for all the tips and tricks and for giving me a visual all summer long.  It helped me feel successful.

As Scott mentioned, the wind was pretty west on LP and only averaging 12-15 with gusts to 20.  I was riding a 5.8 sail with the foil.  I would not have been able to plane on my 7.5 and 116L windsurfer in those conditions, so this session was an affirmation of why I purchased the foil.  I am a windsurfer first, but when I get skunked this gives me an option.  The times I did get to a spot where I felt balanced and locked, the sensation felt similar to Freeskate riding on ice.

At one point I was so hyper focused on what I was doing (schlogging) that I got spooked by Scott who zipped by upwind on foil.  I never heard him till he said something.

Scott and Art were both having great sessions on this day.  Scott was going shore to shore on the foil and looking very fluid and smooth.  The same can be said for Art as they both were letting their boards “air dry” as the foil was the only thing in the water.  The two of them are looking quite comfortable.

I needed plenty of Ibuprofen when I got home.  I don’t know if it was the crashing, or the fact I wasn’t using a harness but my muscles were sore!

I have some pics of these guy in action….stay tuned.

Wd.

 

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