Mother and Son Foiling Lessons
- The Launch Pad
- Sep 10, 2025
- 3 min read
Gill came back to the Launch Pad determined to use the skill she’s been learning to get up on the foil using the wing.
Her last session had her successfully foiling behind the boat and she wanted to share that newfound skill with her son.
They rented their boat at Camp Dore and came down the river. The wind forecast was good with 12 to 15 kn predicted from the south. I took gear out to the point and hooked up the wings. They arrived and we did our quick briefing.
I was eager to get everyone out on the water. I was pleased to have borrowed the much larger North Prime 168l board with a 2400 foil under it. Water was 15°C and the wind kept blowing nicely all the way till the end of their session.
I got a couple of runs in myself, which was super nice. (There was a little hiccough when I tried Gill‘s new board with the aluminum mast. It was definitely a more challenging foil board set up. I had a hard time sailing one-handed and really had to concentrate through my jibes. I did get some video of me foiling eventually on the GoPro. Sadly, on one of my jibes, I must’ve been carving so hard to bend the aluminum mast. Luckily it seems to have been covered under warranty.)
It was neat to try Max’s 2400 foil under the 138 board and 7 m wing. I was easily able to get up on the foil. I was definitely feeling a bit sheepish while I was doing it after my students had both put in a lot of effort with only a few short foiling moments each.
When the day was done some dark and stormy weather appeared and they headed back over to Diamond Key Lodge.
Tuesday morning Gill and Nico came back over. Nico took advantage of the Launch Pad's fast Wi-Fi while Gill went out to take advantage of the good wind. Gill had another solid session.
After lunch, the two of them went out. The wind was dropping off slowly. Eventually Gill tried a 7 m wing for the first time. I got some great shot of mother and son taxi back-and-forth. No more tows upwind for her anymore!
While Gill didn’t get a consistent wing foil flight, it was great to hear her say that getting on the board, taxiing and staying up wind were all much easier now than she remembered in the past. I was excited to get that feedback.
Nico was impressive with his ability to stay up wind consistently by the end of in his second session.
Gill texted late on Tuesday night wondering whether a Wednesday morning tow foiling session would be possible. As it turned out, I could fit in a quick tow in the morning.
She started out again on the big Fanatic Stingray 140 with the Slingshot 99. Super steady and she did great just like last time. Now it was time for her to try foiling on the North 138 Seek Prime. I put the 2400 under and after a couple tries she was foiling on that one consistently as well.
What a great feeling having her confidently tow foiling and looking forward to her next session at the Launch Pad. Or maybe in Hatteras with ABK later in the fall? Or in Bonaire with Dasher in the winter? Looking forward to keeping in touch and hearing about her progress.
I’m really enjoying having repeat customers who getting better!
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