Wing Foiling Session - 1/11/2022

As you can tell from the blog entries, the wind has been down for quite some time.  There was a blip in the wind forecast - today called for winds in the ridable range, amidst days on end with barely even a breeze.  I did not want to get skunked so I brought out the big foils - Maliko 200, GL210 and in case it was good, the PNL185.

Driving up, it looked light.  Setting up, it still looked light, but the forecast called for the winds to consolidate and strengthen a little towards the end of the day.  I was headed to the water at 3pm.

I started out with the GL210.  I had mounted the new camera mount, so I did not pump the OR A 5.0 that aggressively, so I had some down periods when I think I should have been up.  The battery died quick, so this session with the camera was mainly testing the mount.  The wind had a lot of north in it, so those blue streaks below were schlogging.

Lots of jibes - the GL210 is super easy to transition.  After a little bit, I wanted to ditch the camera so I could pump, but with the wind as holey as it was, getting back to the beach was challenging.

I did make it back, and I took the camera back to the truck and grabbed the M200.

I should have also checked the pressure in the wing - I noticed a little flex in the leading edge.  When I got back to the truck at the end of the session, I checked the pressure - 4 psi in the leading edge... I'm going to have to figure out what is going on.  I think I am not tightening down the valve enough (and am hoping it is not a leaking bladder).

The M200 was really fun to use (and I'm sure would have been better if I had the LE pressurized properly).  It had a decent speed considering how big and thick it is.  Definitely a session saver (maybe even with a OR A 6.0).

I'm glad I got some winging in - the forecast for at least the next week is really dismal for wind.

I'm going to keep track of what sessions I run this year.  Winging (W) - 1; Foiling (F) - 2; Surfing (S) - 4.  When I have a chance, I'll count the sessions from last year and see where I ended up.