Where there’s a Will there is a way…
- The Launch Pad
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Will had reached out last year asking about windsurfing lessons in Collingwood.
I replied that I am only doing lessons at the Launch Pad now because the conditions are generally so much better. A few months ago Emily emailed looking for a present for her husband Will. She got him a gift certificate and then booked May 20th, my season opening day.
A week ago the weather looked terrible but as it turned out, we got some excellent wind for their first lesson. Maybe a bit too much for Emily!
They arrived right at 11am in the boat they rented from Key Marina. We headed up into the nice warm Launch Pad building to do our theory lesson. It was great going over the basics while sitting on the couch looking out where we were going to be sailing. Will was a waterskier and they both had some watersports background surfing. He did recall learning windsurfing as a kid and just being blown downwind on huge and heavy gear.
We walked out to the simulator and Will and Emily did great. I had Will on the 3.2 Duotone Now sail and Emily on the medium iRIG. Once they were comfortable steering and tacking on the simulator we went back and got wet suits on. During that time the wind had shifted from a gentle north wind to a typical and pretty serious southwest thermal.
I got Will out on the water and it was already quite a challenging condition. He demonstrated a self rescue to get upwind a bit. He was staying warm in the classic ProMotion wetsuit that he borrowed from my loaner wetsuit collection. Quite warm actually with the Mustang floater PFD coat.
After getting Will sorted with an upwind tow he was getting most of his tacks and going back and forth confidently. I went back to the windy point and asked Emily if she really wanted to go out in these conditions. I had already moved her to the smaller iRIG.
Even though she was already a feeling cold from the 8°C wind, she said yes and gave it a solid try. Even with the smaller iRIG, it was a challenge in the waves to stand up and hold the inflatable sail. As I was towing her back to the dock she said “I’ll try one more time!” (Super impressive and I am so sorry I didn’t get any photos of her on the water!)
Will by this time was sailing confidently, letting go whenever he needed to with his back hand. So I had him start putting his front hand on the boom. Using the BBTalkin headset, I was even able to coach him through his first jibe which was fun. He sailed right back to the dock!
After warming up inside and having lunch, they decided to have a second lesson for Will! This time about wingfoiling. We took the 4.2 Unit wing out to the point. I went over the basics and got him working on the simulator. I sailed the North Seek Prime 138 up to the point and gave a demo. It was great being able to describe to Will what I was doing over the BBtalkin headsets.
Then it was his turn. He taxied back-and-forth and did his first attempt standing up in his dominant (regular) stance. As it turned out, he didn’t need a tow up wind. He was taxiing across the wind quite well and eventually sailed right back to the dock.
We got changed and debriefed about the session. I made these notes quite detailed as they are already talking about a repeat visit. It seemed like a real nice adventure date for the two of them. It is always great when grandparents watch kids for my students so the couples have some time together enjoying learning some new skills!
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