Saturday, June 18, 2022

Windsurfing at Coyote Point

It's been almost 9 months since I last windsurfed, and I was eager to return to the water. When a strong wind was forecast by iWindsurf.com on Saturday, June 18, I was excited to resume my favorite sport.

I arrived at Coyote Point, San Mateo, at about 2:10pm. After paying the $6.00 park entry fee, I parked my Toyota Sienna minivan near a grassy land strip near the windsurfing launch point.

I wanted to know the size of the sail to rig. The forecast called for 18-24 knots of wind, but actual wind varied from 14-17. I decided to use a more giant sail to ensure adequate power. I rigged an Ezzy Elite 5.7m sail on an Ezzy 430/400 mast. I used my Fanatic 105 STB with a long fin.

When I got on the water at 3:00pm, there were many wing dingers on the water. In fact, it looked like windsurfing was dying, as only 1-2 other windsurfers were remaining. Everyone else was either wing foiling or windsurf foiling.

As I started sailing, I had to adjust to the gustiness of the wind. It was dead one second, and in another, it was blasting 25 knots. I finally got planing on my STB and had a nice long ride. On the way back, I had difficulty water-starting as the wind was gusty. Eventually, I got going quite well.

It was a great start to the season. I sailed for about 90 minutes total and was really tired afterward.



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