2024-06-13 Event Site

Brad is starting to feel better!

We had a slow start today.  The forecast was for wind later, but the river was calm in the morning.

Blaine, Brad and a few others went down to Dog River for the traditional morning coffee.

Ross, Kent and I went on a shopping tour,  I picked up a demo front foil from Sailworks, which I am sure I won't like, so don't worry Louise, I probably won't buy it.  (Kent's comment-  Bruce and Dale are Cocaine foil dealers and Ted is a user, I think he is hooked so Louise should look for a new foil when Ted gets home..   PS it is a really nice foil and Ted was noticeably faster and smoother).

We then went to Doug's Rental Shop where Ross picked up his three new kites.   They were on sale, so combined were less than the cost of some of the new kites.  They also pack up very small, so are great for travelling.

While we were there, I found a 2.5m V3 Slingshot wing that will be perfect for Louise!  (I may be able to use it too on the really wind days).  It as a great deal.  It was a store demo kite that no one had ever taken out, so while all their wings were on sale, this one was discounted further, to only $280.  How could I go wrong.  The new V4 version of the same wing is just under $1000US.

When we got back to the Condo, we found out that Brad had bought Blaine's old 800 front foil and that Blaine had purchased a new smaller one.  Apparently Brad wants to sail more like Blaine does now, and Blaine wants to sail more like Kent!  Faster is better!

Eventually, Blaine called from the event site and told us he was rigging 5.2 and to get our asses down there.  We  arrived between Noon and 1:00.  Blaine was first out and went out on his 5.2 and his old front foil, but  after a few reaches the wind picked up so he came in and switched to his 4.5 and his new foil.  He had a great sail and says he really likes his new front foil.  

I went out on my 5.5, and the demo foil.  Dale had told me it would be really twitchy, but it worked really well, and was probably easier to pump up onto a foil than my 799.  Hmmm - I may have to consider purchasing it...  It seems to be faster, and it definitely glides really well through the turns.  It is a bit trickier in the waves, even though that is what it is supposed to be really good at.  Must be operator error on my part.

Kent had a great session on his 4.5 sail.  He was all over the river, and as I said, even spent some time chasing me around.

Kent

Brad went out and had his first session of the trip.  He is still feeling awful, but I think the session helped.

I came in after a good session and met Handré who had just arrived.  Handré went out on his 5.2m sail windsurfing and said he was over powered, but still had a good sail.  Apparently it was all Kent's and my fault for giving him bad advice!

Vadim was out and had a good windsurfing session, but I'm not sure what he was on.

Vadim

John had a couple of runs and for the first session of the the year he did great, although he said he is a bit intimidated by the conditions, and was definitely working hard!

Ross was out on his new 4m Kite and had a great session up near the Hatchery.  He really likes his new kites!  Sorry, no photos because as usual Ross did not come within a mile of the camera.

Big Jim was out Windsurf Foiling and said he completed a few jibes with only a brief touch down!  He was happy with that!

Big Jim had a good day!

My second session was good as well, but I was starting to make mistakes so I decided to call it a day around 4:00.  

I spent some time taking some photos, but of course as I was getting my camera out a few of the guys were coming in so I missed them.  (Sorry!).  I ran into another Photographer on the point.  David Hicks.  He is an interesting fellow and travels all over to take photos of running events, the milky way, and anything else he thinks might be interesting.  He was there to take photos of Robby Stewart, but unfortunately Robby didn't show up!

At 4:45, I headed back to the condo to set up for the Oilers game.  I don't need to tell you how that turned out, but I thought the oilers played well - and if they hadn't had two or three brain farts, the might have  won!  Brad joined me at the start of the game, but most of the other guys were still sailing and didn't join us until the second period.

We had a good evening, with the gang joining us, and then leaving after the second intermission.  It was only Brad and I cheering the Oilers on in the third period!  I thought they made it a great game by coming back to within one goal - too bad they couldn't have tied it up.  Maybe next game.

Everyone did their own thing for dinner, either during or after the game.

Early to bed.  We are expecting Jim, Cam and Cynthia later tonight, although I think most everyone will be in bed by the time they get here.  It will be good to have the whole gang here.

I am at five sailing days in a row (after three biking days), and starting to feel it!  It looks like more wind tomorrow.  Should be fun!

Some kid saw my Camera while I was taking photos and started showing off!
Fun to watch!

You can see all of my photos from the trip here on my Flickr Site