Super windy and a bit cold today

Very strong winds today at LaSalle (see the iwindsurf chart below):

It did not start well with a broken 4.2 but thanks to Denny's summer donation of a 4.0 I was able to go out. It was pretty intimidating but a lot of fun. John, Adrian, Dirk and Ke were there as well as 2 kiters. John might have some pics on his website later on (www.windinsight.com).

Strongs winds this week (updated)

Very strong winds today (Wednesday 27th) on Lake Ontario with super warm weather (above 20!). Adrian and I were out on 5.0 and 5.6 (overpowered at the end!). I will try to put a clip later on. Looks promising for the next 4 days (west and north west) but colder. Can't have it all.

Update: Thursday was super nice too with winds from the West and 5.0 sail. Only a kiter and myself were out. Saturday was awesome with winds from the WSW at 25-30 knots, 4.5-5.0 sails, and warm weather. Only 1 hour on the water but well worth it!

Side Road 26, October 20 2010

Super windy day on Lake Erie (4.0-5.0). The conservation area is now closed so we went to Side Road 26 (just East of the entrance I guess), although we were told my maintenance staff that if the gates are open we can still go in as long as we are out by 3pm. Marty, Ke, Cliff, Henry and other kiters were there.

Looks like this week will be a warm and windy one.

Side Road 26, Lake Erie. October 20 from jf lamarche on Vimeo.

Still some warm winds at Long Beach

We were treated really well last Friday on Lake Erie with some WSW winds at 25 knots. Hopefully we will get more of this stuff but for now here is a clip with Ke, John and Cliff. Some of these guys are leaving for NC in a week or so. Let's wish them good winds. For the rest staying up North, we will follow their adventures on John's website if we are not on the water.

Long Beach, October 8 2010 from jf lamarche on Vimeo.

October 3 at Neil's house

It is beginning to look like fall with rain and colder winds. The water is still pretty warm however. Cliff and I launched at Neil's house after a cup of coffee. It was a good couple of hours on the water on 6.0/6.2 sails. We did an up-wind to Port Dalhousie which was a lot of fun.

Neil's launch, October 3 2010 from jf lamarche on Vimeo.

Looks like tomorrow (Wednesday 6th) will also be good. Thinking of going to Lakeshore near NOTL.

Strong winds on Lake Ontario Sept 24 and 25

Here is a video from last Friday with winds from the SW at 25-35 knots (4.2 sail) and also on Saturday with winds from the West at 20-25 knots (5.0 and 5.6 sails). On the second part of the clip you might see Cliff and John.

Club LaSalle Sept 24 and 25 2010 from jf lamarche on Vimeo.

Long Beach Sept 7 and LaSalle Sept 6

Was at Long Beach today with quite a crew. Had to leave at around 1500. For some reasons, the wind was picking up when I left. I did not see any pics on John's web site yet so do not know how the day ended.

For those who were thinking that they should have gone to LaSalle--maybe. Got there around 1700 with very gusty, off-shore winds that were fading fast.

Here is a clip, of Dillon, son of windyyet, at Club LaSalle yesterday. He looks great doesn't he on his 2.9 (thanks Gene and Sharryn)! At that time winds were off shore at about 10-15 knots close to shore and about 15-20 knots further out. I was out on a 6.7 for a little while.

Dillon, Club LaSalle Sept 6 from jf lamarche on Vimeo.

LaSalle, A day later...

It was another great day of windsurfing at Club LaSalle with winds from the West and South-West at 20-25 knots, mind you with some big lulls. Denny, Dirk, Cesar, Cliff, Rob and Bob were in attendance. A wide range of sail sizes were used today from 5.6 to 9.0 with a chilly start of the day to a beautiful sunny and warm late afternoon. Here is a clip (not HD due to the 1 HD video limit of Vimeo):

LaSalle Sept 5 2010 from jf lamarche on Vimeo.

Windy day at Club LaSalle

Fantastic day, with winds from the West-South West at 25-35 knots. Henry, Angelo, Cesar, Dirk, Rob, and Bob were there and Cliff arrived a bit later. 3.8-4.2 kinda day!

Club LaSalle Sept. 4 2010 from jf lamarche on Vimeo.

Update on Shippagan

What a place!

A real windsurfing/kitesurfing paradise. The last 3 days were steady 15-30 knots with each days sailing on the Gulf. Will try to send a vid later. Right now, we are just parked in front of a cafe with wi-fi.

Summer vacation to Shippagan, NB

We are just leaving Lac Brome, Quebec, on our way to Shippagan, NB. We should be there Sunday afternoon. Should be a great trip and it might even be windy. Not sure about the internet availability over there so I am not sure if clips will be available for a while.

Clip from about a month ago at Long Beach

A bit of a delay on this one, sorry. You see Ke, Eric and Brenda and I think Yurii on this clip. Lake Erie has been really nice this summer so far.

Long Beach July 17 2010 from jf lamarche on Vimeo.

Club LaSalle July 28 2010

Finally got the chance to go to LaSalle. Cliff, Deny, the Welchsss and Neil were there. It was a nice day with winds from the SW at 15-20 knots, gusty as usual. There was a cool red ship in the background and we even saw the Empire Sandy at the end of the day. Here is a clip from that day

Club LaSalle July 28 2010 from jf lamarche on Vimeo.

Sauble Beach

Cliff and I met Yurii at Sauble beach last week. I have to say that it was probably the most thrilling windsurfing day for me. Winds were from the NW at 25 knots and we were using 5.0 and 5.3s with our 100 litres boards. Steady winds with beautiful ramps. We had the beach to ourselves.

Here is a video from that day:

Sauble Beach from jf lamarche on Vimeo.

Updating videos

I have been in the process of updating the videos to a better quality and in HD. The Long Beach vid from June 16 is now done and the others will be updated as I go along. To watch the video in HD, start it and then you will notice an icon on the right saying "HD is off". If you click on this, you can watch the HD video on vimeo. The HD quality is much better.

It seems that the video are of better quality when you watch them on vimeo as opposed to the embedded video on this blog. To do this just click on "vimeo" on the bottom right of the vid.

Quiet week on Lake Ontario (a few days of 7.5) but early next week is looking promising!

Good times at Long Beach (new vid in HD)

What a great day at Long Beach last Wednesday. Winds were from the SW at 20-30 knots with a good number of windsurfers (Ke, Denny, John, Dirk, Bob, Rob, Dan, Chris, Cliff plus many more with names that I do not know or forgot--sorry, will get it right soon!). I tried to get a few of you on the clip below. Works best if I am near you but it did not turn too bad I think. Got a bit of Cliff doing a loop. Sail sizes were somewhere in the 4.0 to 5.0 range.

Long Beach June 16 2010 (new) from jf lamarche on Vimeo.

Finally some wind! What a spring.

Denny and I went to the park just before Niagara-on-the-Lake. This is a great spot for NE winds. Today we were on our 7.5/8.0 with winds in the 15-19 knots range. It picked-up nicely around 2pm and we were both fully powered. The water is warmer (around 19 degrees). For those who kitesurf, there was one at the park and he launched just a bit downwind from us in a clearing near a rocky point. Directly across, although hard to see, is the CN tower in Toronto (maybe 22 nautical miles across).

Great spot. When you arrive, take the small road that will lead you to the very far left (west) part of the park. There, you can rig and walk about 10 yards to the water. Here is a clip from today.

Niagara-on-the-Lake, June 15 2010 with Denny from jf lamarche on Vimeo.

Back on the water!

Back on the water after a great trip to Hatteras. Last weekend was crazy with gale winds from the West and South West. I was not on the water but Cliff, Henry and Yurii were. This is a pic from Saturday just after they got off the water:

Cliff and I were at Neil's house yesterday on some North East winds (maybe 15-20 knots), both on our 6.2. It was nice but still really cold. Here is a vid from yesterday:

Neil's House May 12 2010 from jf lamarche on Vimeo.

The windsurfing count is (I think): Cliff 13, JF 8.

Spring trip to Hatteras

We have been in Avon (Cape Hatteras) for a few days already. The first few days gave us little to no wind but great warm weather. We tried standup paddleboarding and surfing. The board was really long, wide and stable. Paddling in the ocean was hard but dropping the paddle and surfing was really fun (actually rode my first wave). We saw a lot of dolphins which was amazing.

Finally, on Wednesday April 14, the wind came in Avon. North/North West at about 20 to 27 knots. It was a great day using sails ranging from a size of 6.2 to 4.2, later during the day. We did a downwinder to the Canadian Hole later in the day. It was a bit tough as the wind decreased while I was on the 86 litres with a 4.2 sail, but it was fun.

Here is a video of some of the on water action that day. You briefly see Bob on the water as well as John who I am trying to catch. Have a look at John's website www.windinsight.com for another video taken Friday April 16!

Hatteras, April 14 2010 from jf lamarche on Vimeo.

Club LaSalle (April 9, 2010)

Cliff and I went to LaSalle on Friday (just before leaving to Hatteras). The water was warmer (still cold) and we had a bit of wind (6.2 and 5.7 sails) from the West and North West. Here is a video of our session (still learning with the video camera and editing).

Club LaSalle from jf lamarche on Vimeo.

First blog entry, first session of 2010!

No better way to start this blog than to report on our first session of 2010. March 22, it was cold, rainy but windy. Went with Cliff at Neil's house. Cliff was on a 6.2 (with new board!) and I on a 5.7. It was awesome.