Windsurfing Sherman Island

In the morning, I planned to stop by the Boardsports Shop in Coyote Point to participate in the Windsurf Foiling demo hosted by Wyatt Miller of Slingshot.

2019 SLINGSHOT WINDSURF, KITE & SURF FOIL DEMO & BBQ SAT 6/15
with special guests:  

Wyatt Miller & Maui Mike*Bonus – we will have the 2020 Slingshot SLING WING for demo as well. We will have a SUP available to demo with the SLING WING 

When:
Saturday 6/15/19 11:30am-5:30pm 

Where:
Boardsports California Shop ALAMEDA (forecast is for eddy pattern and WSW flow on Saturday, which favors Alameda and is poor for peninsula, so we are going with Alameda to catch rideable winds for the event). 

Time:
11:30am-1pm FREE Foil Gear Lineup & Intro to Foil Clinic for windsurfing with Wyatt Miller and for kitesurfing with Maui Mike
1pm-4pm demo gear on the water – high tide is 12:30, so come early to get the higher water for foiling. Foil only demo – bring your own kites/sails/sups. Pre-req Intermediate riders only
4:30pm-5:30pm Maui Mike BBQ (he’s famous, don’t miss the best BBQ action)

The demo was initially scheduled for Coyote Point but changed to Alameda a few days ago. I was not informed of the change and arrived in Coyote Point at about 11:24, only to learn that the demo moved to Alameda. I drove to Alameda (50 minutes away), and the demo was on the way, but I did not miss much.

Wyatt explained the significant differences between various Slingshot Foils, with the Infinity 76 recommended for beginner to intermediate foilers:

• 2019 HOVERGLIDE FWIND FOIL - 76cm Infinity Wing, recommended for most beginners

Wyatt also talked about the various Slingshot foil boards, including:

• Wizard 125 - most recommended for beginner foilers
• Wizard 105 - for advanced foilers who want less swing weight on the nose
• Wizard 103 - for most advanced foilers (cannot be easily uphauled)
• Levitator 150 - for beginner foilers who have no experience with windsurfing

Since the wind at Alameda was very light (about 11 knots), I decided to drive to Sherman Island to windsurf in 20 knots (as reported by iWindsurf.com). This decision was wise, as the wind was best at Sherman Island.

When I arrived at Sherman Island, the wind was about 17-20 knots, and I rigged an Ezzy Elite 5.7m. I also prepared a new Fanatic Freewave STB 105 board with the new True Ames 36" fin.

Here is a GoPro Hero7 Black video session I recorded.

After a few runs, I ate my turkey bagel and relaxed. Since the wind picked up, I re-rigged to an Ezzy Elite 5.0m. It was much windier, and many windsurfers and kiteboarders were out.

I had a fantastic time trying to complete planing jibes and getting large jumps.

Here is another GoPro Hero7 Black video of my windsurfing session on a smaller Ezzy Elite 5.0 sail: