Where to go for beginning foilers?

[Richard]

Finding the ideal conditions seems impossible as a beginner. Wind too light on the fingers or not enough downwind bail and walk points with all the private land. Too much swell in the greats with nice wind! Then depth is also an issue in some spots. Where are your recommendations for a beginner setting out to foil?

[mihelbergel]

Not sure what discipline of foil you are learning. Kite is the most limited because you need a lot of area to launch the kite. But windfoil and wingfoil have pretty good access. I live in Buffalo and learned to windfoil last season with my wife. The Buffalo Harbor was a good spot. But also, Seneca Lake and Lake Ontario were great. Lake Ontario has very little shore break compared to Lake Erie. Olcott has a breakwall that is upwind when wind is ENE. Virtually zero shore break if the wind is under 30mph. And Wilson has zero shore break on west wind if wind under 25mph. There is some swell, but it was not difficult to learn on. By session number 3 my wife and I were windfoiling in Lake Ontario with wind 20-25mph. Durand Beach in Rochester is also very friendly for learning to foil. Very little shore break. We were there twice during our first 15 sessions. Seneca Lake is very foil friendly at the north end. We got a couple sessions there as beginners. Good luck and have fun! Foiling is truly incredible. I’m an addicted windsurfer, but windfoiling is twice as much fun as windsurfing.

[Mark]

Coming from the perspective of a Rochester resident who hasn’t tried foiling yet:

On any given day when I’m out on Canandaigua, it seems that I’m the only one not on a windfoil or wingfoil. On any of the Finger Lakes it’s best to wait for a wind mostly out of the south if you’re attempting to sail at the north end of the lake. Anything east or west will get swirly and gusty. Others can chime in on locations further south (ie: Myers Point on Cayuga)

As Mihelbergel says, Durand should be a pretty good choice too for anything onshore (WNW to ENE). Offshore is way too gusty unless you head offshore a bit, which I’m <span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>not</span> keen on doing.

[Author]

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