Ron gets it!

Ron found windsurfing a challenge last time he was at the Launch Pad. So this year he and I were determined to get it right. We started with a refresher lesson on the simulator after I got a quick foil session in during the windy time...

And then again lots of time on the simulator the next day. Of course it got too windy right after he finished a solid 20 minutes on the simulator.

Phillip however had a great time on the WeCANFoil demo gear - I caught this little bit of video of him...

Neighbour and windsurf student Cam had come over for another lesson.. He was willing to give it a try in the much too strong winds. His dad Richard did get a nice drone shot of the lesson before we called it off:

So I went out for a great 35km foiling session instead until the wind died down a bit. Key Harbour turned out to be the windiest place on the Great Lakes that day!

Once the wind had dropped I chose to put Ron on the Duotone iRig. The biggest student I've taught on the small iRig. But that was the ticket! I towed him over to the bay that is sheltered from the waves. He was able to balance on the board despite the strong winds. And then sail out into the bigger waves.

He was excited to actually get into those waves. His steely eyed concentration on the far shore made sure he didn't lose his balance. I was frankly amazed at his ability to move his feet into position as needed and grab the back handle of the iRig without looking at it! I got a great video of him sailing:

And he got some video of me foiling past the Launch Pad earlier in the day:

The next day he went out again with a regular 3.5m windsurfing sail and had even more success. You can even see his new confidence on the simulator just 40 hours after the photos at the beginning of this blog post. And then sailing back to his starting point. Way to go Ron!

Wow was the water ever clear. You could see our 10,000 year old glacial pot holes quite well!

Overall a wonderful few days with all 3 kids and extended family. Highlights included great food, watersports, sailing, an association meeting with the Coast Guard and Angel.