Betsy had bid on windsurfing and winging lessons at a charity auction for the Georgian Bay Land Trust last year. We set up the date and I was looking forward to meeting her. Even more so when she told me her age and goal of learning how to use the wings that she and her kids had recently purchased.
We got out to to the Launch Pad and had our dryland lessons. The plan was to have a quick morning light wind session then early afternoon wing when the wind increases. As former windsurfers they became interested (after a bit of encouragement for me) to start on windsurfing gear. My experience is that first time wingers can spend way too much time just floating straight down wind. Whereas learning to go across the wind and be a confident independent windsurfer without losing downwind ground can help build the confidence and skill needed for wing foiling. Betsy, Jamie and Elise all did amazingly well on the windsurfers requiring little or actually no Sea-Doo rescues to pull them back up wind on the windsurf boards.
Elise getting comfortable on the windsurfer
We took a break, had some burgers and then decided to continue the lesson on land for a bit. This was followed by winging on big windsurf boards which they quickly identified were much better than the small boards they’ve seen of people trying to learn winging on. Betsy at 73 (about to be 74 in two weeks!) was unbelievably amazing being able to position her board in the water and climb on it. Then she raised the wing and she managed to taxi on her knees back-and-forth, staying up upwind. Elise and Jamie both needed some tows upwind, but we’re steadily getting a good feel for handling their wings.
Elise doing it well!
Jamie winging right back to the Launch Pad point!
We finished the session with big smiles and went back to the cottage for dinner and more discussion about Windsurfing, Wing Foiling and Windfoiling specifally related to Georgian Bay. Everyone slept well.
After Eggs Benedict in the morning, we headed back out to the Launch Pad. There was less interest in windsurfing and all three went back out with wings and various sized boards. This time they were standing on the small and big wingfoil board and windsurfsurf board and were able to sail back-and-forth returning to their starting spot perfectly. The bbTalkin headsets were a huge asset in helping me communicate tips to the students on the water and answer any questions that arose.
Jamie went out again having more success on the 6m WeCANFoil North demo wing with its hard handles versus the older soft handled 5m that they had bought for winter winging. Elise was better than the day before and seemed to be solving her switch stance confusion after jibing. Betsy was now standing on the board and then used her wing handling skills to confidently sail right down to the Launch Pad Dock. She cruised right to the dock and sat down gracefully. What an amazing 73 year old student!
We enjoyed a lovely lunch organized by my wife Jennifer and after a Rossport Group of 7 storytime, we were back out for their last session. This time Betsy tried the inflatable windsurfing iRIG we had tested in the morning. We chose the small iRIG instead of the large, but a medium would be perfect for her in the future. She managed to windsurf way upwind and I got some drone footage of her very successful windsurfing session. While Betsy had given up on windsurfing 30 years ago because of the heavy gear back then, I was excited to see her doing so well on the modern lightweight iRIG. I also managed to get some footage of Jamie’s last very confident wing boarding session!
I am going to use the term AUFSTEIGER for them. Betsy will recognize the German which means “stepper upper” which I think is a much better term than beginner. I am looking forward to seeing Betsy and her kids step up again! I’ll remind them that the Launch Pad is just a short boat ride up from Pointe Au Baril on the small craft route.
Quick gear notes for Betsy: The board she liked most was the Duotone Viper HD because of its size and stability and soft deck. It is worth noting that she also did well on the smaller Viper 80 so possibly a Viper 90 would also be OK for her. Certainly the Duotone iRIG medium inflatable sail would be ideal for her - I think she may already have one on order from Northline Sports.
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