Adam reached out to the Launch Pad after trying wingfoiling in Tarifa Spain. His only lesson there was a bit frustrating and after a quick phone call I’d already identified a few things that he could have been taught to have a better chance at success. Like getting up on the board "like a seal getting on an ice floe", instead of like someone doing a whip kick to get out of a pool - which results in legs kicking the foil under the water. After hearing that, Adam said he was 100% sure he wanted a lesson with me.
He and Kim arranged for separate sets of grandparents to help with their two kids. So we met at the marina and headed out to Key Harbour with his parents and six month old Francis. After a quick burger lunch it was off to the Launch Pad point to practice wing handling. We spent over a half hour out on the point working on the basics.
Kim did amazingly well considering she has a six month old and a 2 1/2 year-old! With both Adam and Kim having grown up on Georgian bay, maybe it’s not too surprising. They found the 24° water up in our corner of the day surprisingly warm. Having the parents there to take care of young Francis was definitely an asset.
It was also fun finding out that Adam knows Canadian windsurf instruction guru David Zeni, Kim had once worked for Launch Pad sponsor shop Northline (Boardsports), father John knows artist friend John Hartman and mother Jeanne helped our friends in Tiny buy their cottage. What an insanely small windsurfing / Georgian Bay watersports world.
Adam and Kim got out for several sessions and enjoyed the water. The complimentary Seadoo rescues got more efficient as I figured out how to use a carabiner for rapid attaching and detaching. Adam appreciated having knee p[ads for his second session. I'm finding that around half of students really benefit from knee pads, even on a board with a padded deck.
On the second day there was even more wind. That made balancing on the boards in the waves harder, but they had learned some additional balancing tips on the balance board on land. They also learned a lot of wing handling skills very quickly in the 20 knot winds! Wetsuits were good call against windchill even with the warm weather.
Definitely the session highlight for me was hearing that Adam’s lessons in Tarifa never actually had him standing on the foil board. So the work that we did getting him going back-and-forth confidently on the big Windsurfing board on day one was worthwhile. That work on the big windsurf board got him to the point where he could go on the tippy wingfoil board and actually stand up for the first time.
Here's the long GoPro Quik video with proof of Adam up on the WeCanFoil North demo gear! (I hope to do a re-edit sometime...)
One of the items I learned from their end of lessons feedback was that doing MORE theory early in the session is helpful. I also have started enjoying teaching the description of how to stand up with back leg that I learned from Max Robinson. Instead of a traditional lunge, you turn the back leg 90° to the stern of the board and then rise up much more easily.
Kim wound up standing up earlier than I expected. She also had a remarkable skill in sailing toe side to the wind instead of going switch to change directions. What a snowboarder: I've never seen that before! We eventually worked a bit more on her low wind tacks and jibes and by the 3rd try she was switching feet properly.
The BBtalkin helmets worked great. It is such an asset being able to communicate with my students the whole time they are on the water.
They managed to get in two great days. By the end of the 2nd they were getting some good long runs in each direction for both. It was a much windier beginner session than I would have ordered. But I got to go out for a session or two to “demonstrate” the and that was of course fun (see GPS trails below). The wind was up to 20 knots!
Adam left a wonderful review and I look forward to when we can have them back. We are already corresponding about what gear they should buy! I love hearing that they are already out on the water back home on their friend's gear putting their new found skills to use.
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