I have finally managed to write the next update blog post “in teaching my son to wing surf”! It has taken a while because of poor wind, poor weather and lack of time. However I did manage to enrol him in out local Windsurfing Club and he has now been out five times with them (see their website here). That has given him an appreciation for wind sports and some transferable skills for wing surfing…
We’ve just returned from a two week holiday to Cornwall which was a perfect opportunity to give my son some more time on the water…
I decided that the best approach was to book him in a lesson early on in the holiday, that way he wouldn’t have to listen to his dad giving him tips and hopefully would take more in from an independent instructor. Unfortunately the wind direction was wrong for the spot and so the lesson didn’t quite happen. So instead I resorted back to teaching him myself. During the first part of the holiday every time I took him out it was too windy and he struggled to handle the 3m2 wing. The result was lots of falling off, shouting and general frustration…
So I changed plan. I booked him into a tow foiling lesson as the wind was too light for a wingsurf lesson. He was riding my F-one Rocket Air V2 5’10 (105 litres) with a F-one Phantom 1780 foil. I was worried that it would be too large a foil for him but I was wrong! After a few runs on his knees he quickly moved onto standing and FOILING! The boat driver and instructor was very experienced at kept the speed low and that helped control the lift from the foil.
He ended the session buzzing, grinning from ear to ear and shouting: “this is best day of my life, it’s amazing!”. So needless to say he was hooked! From then on I found him eager to get out wingsurfing so that he could foil again in the future.
Over the next couple of days, I took him out in very light (6 knots) wind and he was definitely finding it easier to get to grips with wingsurfing compared to the overpowered sessions we had earlier in the week. Mistakes weren’t punished as quickly by the lighter wind and he enjoyed it. So that’s my tip: teach your child in light wind to start with and refrain from taking them out in 20 knots, it will only end in frustration!
The holiday ended there – just as he was getting to grips with the wing in light wind. Now that we’re back home I’m looking forward to taking him out at my local spots! I now have access to a boat too so that will be a far more efficient way of taking him upwind for another try (instead of me towing him on my SUP each time!).