The first day of the second ever Sail Canada foil coaching clinic was held at the Halifax harbour seashore. That was the same location near the "wave" as the foiling demos we did for WeCANFoil. It was a sunny but very cold Monday and we arrived to find benches laid out in classroom style.
This day was dedicated to WASZP sailing. After a morning of theory it was time get learn about all the parts that make up a ride height adjusting one person sailboat.
We had a nice surprise visit from Ac 40 sailor Galen Richardson. Then we got on the water. The goal wasn’t just to get the little boat foiling. It was also to learn about driving the coach boat and “winging up” eg. coming alongside.
The afternoon session was on the water. Lots of ferries. I tried the WASZP and had one short run on the foil. Then struggled getting the WASPZ foiling. I wasn’t the only one who struggled - it is really only the best dingy sailors who can get the two handed sailing going on their first try.
It was a lot colder and I was happy to have my 6/5/4 wetsuit on. Later in the day we were asked to help a CBC reporter give WASZP foiling a try. That was my chance to drive the boat and be evaluated by legendary foil sailing instructor Sue Fraser.
That night Jen and I had a wonderful dinner with McMichael colleague Mark Bursey and then walked back to our hotel right on the waterfront. It is exciting to see the site getting ready for the Halifax Sail GP event.
Day 2 - Foil Clinic Continued...
On day 2, the weather made it an easy decision to relocate to the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron. What a wonderful historic site.
We started with theory and quickly moved to learn some wing foiling. I got to share my excitement with the group that included Sail Canada CEO Ryan Kelly who was taking the foiling course to get a better sense of what the fastest growing part of sailing is all about.
I had the group pump up some wings and we did the basics of wing and board handling indoors. The wind was super strong for our outdoor wing handling exercises. We even managed to get out on the water for some on water practice in what was a super windy session. In the hour the 15 of us we were out on the 3 rigid inflatable boats, the wind shifted 180 degrees and then quit.
We finished the day with an IQ foil gear demonstration from passionate Vancouver IQ foiling coach Jonathan de Vries. Hands feet and eyes was an interesting phrase that was used in all aspects of foiling. I'm adding that to my Launch Pad terminology book.
At the closing party I was honoured with a "coolest video moment" award for my Saturday wingfoing in the Halifax harbour which the Canada Sail GP team wound up using in some of their social media. So cool. Jen and I headed home on a delayed flight feeling great about our visit to Halifax.
Comments