2026-06-04 Blaine is a Foiling Machine!

 

Ted, Kent, Blaine and Bruce at Sailworks

Our day started off with a trip to Sailworks - just so say hi! Bruce is slowly clearing out all the windsurf and wind foiling gear, but still has a few treasures for sale - and of course, he can still make you a custom sail if you want it - but it is made locally so costs a "bit" more than the ones made in China!

Luhr Jensen beach was the call for Blaine, Kent and I.  Kiter Ross, launched from the Event Site, but met up with Kent for an upwind run almost to Viento..  ok truth.   Kent thought they were at Viento but they were only 1/2 way.   Kent was bonked and just wanted to get of the water and have a nap - more about that later!

Kent rigged a 3.9 and was first out on the water.  He headed up wind to the Hatchery.

Blaine rigged his 4.5m Armstrong V2 Wing with the 899 front foil and 125L board.  Blaine had a great session getting on foil on most reaches.  I saw him foiling lots of times and getting part way through some jibes.  He is getting very comfortable standing on the board and taxing in light wind while waiting for a puff to get going.  Progress every day.

I took out my new Cabrina Swift board for the first time along with my 4.5m Wing and 975/375 Foil.  The Swift is a Mid Length board which means it is longer and narrower with the idea that it get going faster when it is in the water so it can get on foil quicker.  Being narrow, it is very different to climb onto and stand on.  Foot placement is much more critical than on my code and it is a bit squirrely when it is getting onto a foil... but it does seem to get going and get up on foil a lot quicker than my Code.  Needless to say, I fell a lot...  and foot switches - well it feels like I am learning them from scratch.  Towards the end of my session I felt like I was getting it - but then everything fell apart.  I was getting tired and beaten up, and nothing seemed to work - I even had trouble climbing back onto the board taking three or four tries before I could get up -  time to go to shore.

I had a lot of fun sailing around Blaine and chasing him when he was up on foil!  Kent came back down and played with us for a while, before meeting Ross, who was on his 3m Kite.  Ross and Kent then sailed up past the Hatchery almost to Viento (half way anyhow before Kent gave up).  Wow,

Blaine and I came off the water about the same time.  After a de-briefing with Jim Mudry, who was still at the park after his session we sat in the sun by his van and had our lunch.  As we were finishing lunch, Kent arrived, exhausted dragging his sorry butt over and sitting on his cooler!  He said he been working hard and tired himself out to the point that started falling - a lot!  This meant climbing onto the board and  uphauling, which meant getting more tired, which meant concentrating on not falling, which meant falling more!   Kent was still shaky the next morning and hoping for a lighter day!  He did 75km.

The wind started to lighten up, so everyone was satisfied with staying on the beach.  We met up with Ross at the Event site and stories were told and a few beers consumed.

We had an exciting evening watching game 2 of the Stanley Cup.  It wasn't anything like when Edmonton was in the final, but it was a great game as I am sure you know, with Carolina coming from behind to tie the game two all, then getting a go ahead goal, then Vegas tying the game again with only a few minutes to go - and finally Carolina winning in OT!  Wow.

It is supposed to be windy again tomorrow.  I hope the Advil that we have all been taking kicks in and helps us all  recover over night!

Ross and Kent reviewing their tracks up to Viento!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2026-06-12 The Gang's all Here!

Image
  Jim, checking his life jacket! It was a bit of a slow morning.   The whole gang is now here.  Cam, Cynthia, Jim, and Jim's grandson Ben arrived last night.  Ben is a 21 year old competitive snow skier, among other things.  He even brought his skies with him in case there was a chance this trip to get up to Mount Hood! Brad got up and explained that Blaine had run out of groceries, so was looking forward to coffee and breakfast at Doppio's !   They headed down on their bikes at around 8:00.  That will be the usual routine from here on.  Big Air Jim, Cam, Cynthia and Ben had gone down for coffee earlier, but got there before Dog River had opened, so had to go down the street. There was lots of discussion about where to go to sail.  Eventually Al went to the Hatchery where he could windsurf, and the rest of us went to the Event Site. As I was driving in to the park, I was thinking about how many hours I should pay for parking with th...
Read more

2026-06-03 Three Times is the charm!

Image
Winger Blaine! We should have read Temirra's forecast more closely .  We had a bit of a slow morning. I went to Sailworks to see Dale and Bruce, and to buy some foil covers for the foils I had bought last season. It was really good to see them and catch up. They were full of questions about the guy's when everyone was coming.  Blaine went to the Event site, and Jim Mudry met him there to haul his gear up to the Hook, so Blaine could foil back and forth and not worry about going upwind. Blaine got out, but just as he stood up, the wind totally died! Damn! Fortunately Jim hadn't gone far so came back and hauled Blaine and his gear back to the Event Site.  I headed to the Event Site around noon to catch up with Blaine, and then decide whether I would sail form there or Moiser, but Blaine was nowhere to be found. I was going to Whatsapp him, but saw he had posted that he had gone to Moiser to try to find wind there. When I arrived at Moiser, Blaine was walking back t...
Read more

2026-06-16 Wild Winds - Learning Day!

Image
  Ben... showing how it's done! The forecast was for 30mph - on the verge of too much... The Event Site was the call with people starting to head there around 10:00.  When I arrived at 11:00 everyone was rigging.  It looked gusty with light wind in front of the Event Site and much more wind upwind! Al went to the Hatchery, which was probably a much better call.  He had three sessions on his 3.8 sail!  The middle session was the best, his last session was very gusty and shifty. I set up and took photos for the first couple of hours, although it was difficult because of the gusty conditions as people were generally staying on the far side.  I started at Luhr Jensen's, and then moved to the point at the Event Site. Big Air Jim - making it look easy! I had a tough day on the water.... you think you are getting pretty good, and then you have a day when just nothing really works.  While I was overpowered some of the time, that was not an issue.  The iss...
Read more