There was the possibility of a SW sea breeze at Waikanae today and it came in!
Location: Waikanae Beach
Equipment: Naish 4m Wing, Naish Hover Ultra 125L
Wind: 8-12 kts SW (up to 24kts by the end of the session)
It was a gorgeous afternoon at Waikanae and I was hoping today was the day for foiling. A quick set up and I was out there. But I didn't get going as fast as I hoped and still didn't feel like I got up enough speed to get on the foil. The wind was more west at times and was quite gusty, making controlling the Wing and the Speed difficult. At times it felt like there was no wind. I was playing around with foot positions and moved my front foot further back, but then felt like I was ploughing slower and this wasn't helping to get on the foil.
I tacked out and back quite a few times and noticed the wind speed picking up. I did get up a bit of speed and at one point I thought the board did lift briefly (very briefly) before I lost my balance and fell off. Was I up on the foil? There is a possibility I was but it was so quick I'm not even sure now. I tried again but the wind had significantly increased along with the onshore chop which was making me very unstable. In the end I climbed on my knees on the board for the final tack back in (the rough water was knocking me off and I was tired!)
I got back to shore safely in what felt like 24kt winds.
A Fun and tiring afternoon and I couldn't think of anything I would rather be doing.
