Thanks, Iain

It's Thanksgiving, and there are many people and things that I am thankful about. But I'll dedicate this to the man who made the picture above possible: Iain Smith, the inventor of the Ianovated wetsuit.

That's me in the picture above, getting ready to windsurf in Wellfleet Harbor earlier today. It was a lovely and sunny day, but air temperatures had dropped from mid-50s yesterday to 34ºF (1ºC) today. Wind meter readings were around 30 mph WNW - too good to not go windsurfing! Even last year, I probably would have stayed at home. Yes, I have sailed in similar temperatures before, but it's usually a gradual process - as it gets later in the year, we slowly get used to the lower temperatures.

Enter Iain. He is a dedicated British windsurfer who did not want to stop sailing in the winter, when the best winds come. Like many of us, Iain experimented with all kinds of gloves and mittens to keep his hands warm. He experienced the usual trade-offs: if gloves are warm enough to keep your hands comfortable, they will make your forearms very tired very quickly, cutting sessions short. But unlike most other cold-weather windsurfers, Iain has a "cold weather handicap" - Raynaud's disease. Wikipedia describes this as "excessively reduced blood flow in response to cold" - in other words, your hands get much colder, much faster.

But Iain did not give up. He experimented until he found a solution that works: a system to blow warm air onto your hands while you are windsurfing. In hindsight, it seems simple enough: blow into tubes through a snorkel mouthpiece; run the tubes through the inside of the suit to keep the air warm; and finally have the tubes emerge into mittens. After proving the concept, Iain then formed a company to manufacture and market the suit.

As many great inventions, the suit was met with a lot of skepticism and ridicule. On every windsurf forum where Iain posted about the suit, the vast majority of responses explained in lots of detail why such a system could never ever work (I have seen such posts on British, German, Polish, and US forums). But on each forum, there would also be a few windsurfers who tried it out, and reported back that the "tube suit" worked not just well, but amazingly well. I got one of the Ianovated suits last winter, and it kept amazing me  for many sessions in a row, even after I knew that it worked well. My lovely wife, who had no intentions of buying a new wetsuit, tried the Ianovated suit once, and bought it right away. We sailed through the winter using open-palm mitts, even when the water temperature was close to freezing (we did, however, only sailed on days where the air temperature was above, or at least close to, the freezing point).

Many of my windsurfing friends have told me that they stop sailing because their hands get too cold. So after trying and loving the Ianovated suit, I hoped that I might be able to get some of my friends to try it, and also enjoy some of the best windsurfing of the year - cold weather windsurfing. Yesterday, I was very happy to see two friends try their new Ianovated suits for the first time. Not surprisingly, they (a) were surprised how well the hand warming system works, and (b) loved the suit.  Today, my suit gave me the confidence to go out after a 22-degree temperature drop in 24 hours. As expected, it kept me nice and warm the entire time, and I had a blast windsurfing on a beautiful sunny, if chilly, day. So once again: thank you, Iain!

Below are a couple of pictures that my lovely wife took, and a short video from one of the runs today.

Plenty of wind

We got plenty of wind today - averages up to 42 mph, with gusts just below 50. We also got a lot of rain, but the wind was too good to not go windsurfing. After a few days with temperatures below freezing, today was outright warm, with air temperatures around 55ºF (13ºC).

With winds this strong, my first thought is to go for speed. The timing and wind direction were not quite right for Sandy Point, so I thought - why not try speedsurfing on Bass River, just behind West Dennis? Well, the GPS tracks show that this did not quite work out as planned:

The hoped-for speed track is the top right of the image. Dean, who started sailing just as we arrived, quickly reported that the wind there was way too gusty - "0 to 50 mph in a couple of seconds". That seemed hard to believe - we had checked out the spot the day before, and the obstructions (some small trees and shrubs) had seemed too far away to have a big effect. So I rigged my 5.0 m speed sail, grabbed my 90 l slalom board, and went to confirm Dean's findings. Bummer- he was right! Close to shore, were we had hoped to sail, the water was flat, but gusts were extreme. I never saw Dean fight for control so hard - and we are talking about a guy who'll sail a 6.2 m slalom sail in 30+ mph winds and big chop for hours. He's a much better slalom sailor than I am, so you can imagine how far away I was from any kind of control. Here's a picture that illustrates this:

Note that I was on perfectly flat water, simply trying to go straight - but the board is out of the water as if I was going for a new school freestyle trick. It was just a big gust hitting me...

I quickly decided that this was not a speed day for me, and walked back to rig a smaller sail and get my "comfort" board, the 3S 96. That took a while, but I eventually made it out and sailed in front of the parking lot, where Jerry was having a blast, throwing plenty duck jibes and speed loops. He inspired Nina to also go for duck jibes in the 40 mph winds - and she got at least one after just a few tries.

I had rigged down to a 4.5 m wave sail, which turned out to be a bit too big for my taste. Funny, though - Jerry, who weight about 40 pounds less than I do, was perfectly fine on a 4.2 the entire time! I added some downhaul, which made life a bit easier, but the real fun started when Nina called it a day, and I got to use the 3.7 she had rigged. Full power on 3.7 - that's something I see maybe twice a year!

Our friend Jonathen had picked today as his first day of cold weather windsurfing. While the air felt warm to us, it probably was 10 degrees warmer when he sailed the last time, several weeks ago. The water had definitely cooled off; the Nantucket sound buoy still gave readings around 45ºF, but it felt a few degrees colder than that. But Jon did not want to miss a 40 mph day, and he had his new Ianovated suit to try! So out he went, in what probably was the strongest wind, and definitely the coldest water temperature, he has ever windsurfed on. When he tried the tubes to warm his hands, a look of amazement came onto his face - "It really works". Nevertheless, the first few falls into the cold water came a bit as a shock to him. His session ended up being on the short side - but he stayed perfectly warm the entire time. He even sat around for quite a while in his suit to chat with Nina at the end of his session.

Just as everyone was getting ready to call it a day, Gary pulled into the parking lot. I decided to keep him company on the water for a while, and switched harness lines while he rigged. That involved de-rigging my 4.5 m sail, and taking two booms apart, so it kept me busy for a while. By the time we both were ready, the wind had dropped, and the 3.7s ended up a bit too small, so I called it a day after a few runs. Unlike Jonathen, Gary had sailed in cold weather a number of times before; but just like Jonathen, this was the first time he used an Ianovated suit. And just like Jon, he was amazed to discover how well the tubes work for warming your hands. It is pretty amusing to see these expressions of amazement. Even if have heard great things about the tube suit, and your mind believes that it will work, it is still astonishing when you feel it the first time. For me, this astonishment lasted for an entire winter season... but I am a slow learner :-)

In the end, it was a great day to be windsurfing, even though my hopes for a new speed strip did not pan out. It was nice to see a sizable group of windsurfers on the water on a rainy day at the end of November. I love sailing with windsurfers that sail better than I do, and today, there were two guys and one gal out there in this category. I also love that in our group of 6 windsurfers, a full two-thirds showed up in Ianovated suits. There's a lot more fun cold weather windsurfing ahead of us!

Warm in the cold

Overcast skies. Persistent drizzle. Temperatures in the low 40s (7ºC). I think fall has arrived!

In fall, we windsurf a lot. It was Sunday today, and windy, so we windsurfed. Driving to Duxbury through the rain and cold, I wondered if staying in front of the fireplace might not have been a better idea. I should have had more faith!

Duxbury looked good - not super-windy, but meter readings were around 25. Nina sailed her 4.5 in her semi-dry, no gloves, no hood. I wanted to be warm, so I used my tube suit (with the tubes), open palm mitts, and my new Gath visor helmet. Almost overkill - the water was still warm. So was I. Nina had to take a break after a few minutes to warm up her hands. I just blew through the tubes a few times. I like toasty hands a lot.

Sailing was interesting. Lots of kiters were in the bay, which is unusual. One of them explained to me that it was due to the very high tide - they sailed straight through the marsh, which apparently is a lot of fun. Not a thing to do on a windsurfer, though, so we stayed on the open water.

We had a nice obstacle course laid out for us. The high tide flushed out the dead reeds. Single stalks, up to 2-3 feet long, were not a big issue for our weed fins - unless you collected them before you had picked up speed. But apparently, dead reeds love company, and often form what I call "reed islands" that can be 6-8 feet across. Running into one of those at speed will slow you down big time, even with weed fins. I tried, just to confirm my suspicion. Confirmed. I was not going really fast, though, so no catapult.

Going around the reed islands was definitely a better idea. With the clouds and light drizzle, you'd typically have about 2 seconds from first seeing to hitting them, unless you changed course quickly. Fun. Maybe too much fun - I went back to the van and got my 21 cm MUF Delta fin. With a 55 degree rake angle and shallow depth, this fin sheds just about anything. Sailing was a lot more relaxed afterwards. Hitting a reed island would still cause a slowdown, but without any catapult danger.

The van still had all the small gear that we had put in recently for 35+ mph winds, so I sailed my 90 l slalom board - the big board stayed at home. So when the wind dropped a bit, I had a hard time to get planing. I did not really like schlogging the small board, so I kept the session short - barely longer than an hour. By then, the tide had started to go down, and the kite surfers went over to the ocean side.

So it was just a short session in light rain - but it was totally worth it. It reminded me that it is easy to stay perfectly comfortable and warm even when it gets colder outside and when the sun does not shine. Some of my windsurfing friends have started to get picky about the days they sail, sticking to the warmer days only. They don't have the right suits! I can't wait until Jon finally gets a few days off again so he can try his Ianovated suit. I really want to see the amazement in his face!

Tomorrow, I should get my second Ianovated suit. This one will be double nylon, and have a pee zipper - what a wonderful invention for older guys who like long windsurfing sessions! Since I'll have two Ianovated suits then, I'll be glad to let anyone try one of them. You just have to let me know, and come sail somewhere on Cape Cod!

Scary Nemo

Winterstorm Nemo is visiting us today and tomorrow, and the cute little guy is a bit scary (thanks to Rick Cronk for the image!). It is forecast to bring up to 30 inches (75 cm) of snow to the Boston area, together with hurricane-strength winds, coastal flooding, and power outages. Just like with Hurricane Sandy last fall, we again have two storms that are coming together to form a "superstorm". Here's the current radar image:

Well, Nor'Easters tend to bring some wind before the rain, and indeed, the forecast for this morning looked lovely:

The light red in the left image means wind in the mid-20s, the darker reds in the right image high 20s to low 30s (in mph). So - perfect wind for some flat water fun in the morning! Temperatures were forecast to be above freezing, tides were lined up right, and the snow was predicted to not start until after noon. Why would you not go windsurfing?

I admit that some windsurfers would not think of winter storm windsurfing as their idea of fun, and my lovely wife falls into this category. But my friend Hardie was in the area, and happy to join me when I proposed to sail a spot 10 minutes from his house. 

When we got to the water this morning, it looked harmless enough. Hardie had measured 24-28 mph winds on shore, and since that matched the forecast, I happily rigged my 5.8 m race sail for my 90 l slalom board. I probably should have known better, because a few things were off a bit: I was running a bit later than originally planned; the spot usually has a wind shadow near shore, so the wind on the water probably already was in the low 30s, going up; and the wind was a bit more southerly than forecast, which was the wrong direction for the speed strip I wanted to use. But windsurfers have to be optimists...

Hardie made it out onto the water before I did, and came back to report that he was "totally overpowered" on a 5.2 and his 90 l FSW board. But he had a big grin on his face, and went right back out. My 5.8 was a bit bigger, but race sails are made for lots of wind, right? That we had lots of wind became clear when I tried to get going, and the wind picked up the board a couple of times to turn it around in the air. Perhaps that was a sign, too, that I ignored. Well, I finally made it out, but before I could get settled in, I had a spinout, followed by a two minute swim to my gear. The water was just above freezing, and swimming with open palm mittens in water that cold is really no fun. After getting back to my gear, a break to warm up the hands some more was in order.

I gave the slalom gear one more try and sailed over to where the flat water was supposed to be. It did indeed get a bit flatter, but I had been hoping for "chitter-chatter" water; with the bit of south in the wind, the angles were wrong, and there were wind-driven small waves everywhere. The water level was getting pretty high, to, and there were lots of bundled of reeds in the water, promising sudden catapult stops. Time to rig down and switch to an easier board!

Hardie was rigging down to a 4.2, so I rigged my trusted Manic 4.5 and took exchanged the slalom board against my Tabou 3S 96. This combo was certainly a lot easier to sail! But while we had rigged down, the wind had picked up, and the gusts were going into "scary" territory. When Hardie called it a day after a couple of runs, so did I.

When I checked the wind meter readings later at home, they only showed averages around 35, and gusts in the low 40s. I have sailed this kind of wind quite a few times without major problems, although not too much recently. My GPS showed that I had sailed very slow today, and that Hardie had beaten me by a couple of knows on his FSW gear. I did not do a single dry jibe, nor did I try anything interesting. Even though I rigged two sails and sailed two boards, the session was very short. Without a doubt, I was a bit intimidated by the strong winds and low temperatures. But still, the session was a lot of fun, and I felt great afterwards. Except for my fingers during and shortly after the little swim, I was perfectly comfortable and warm the entire time. Now if only the Nor'Easters would come in a little less intense...

A little GoPro movie from today's sailing is below. As I am writing this, the movie is still uploading, and at a very slow pace. I guess everyone is on the internet or watching cable TV after the governor had issued a driving ban for Massachusetts (and before we all loose power).

She likes it, too!

We had a bit of snow on the ground this morning, but wind meter readings around 30 - what better day to test the Ianovated wetsuit again! We drove to Indian Neck Beach in Wellfleet Harbor in the morning. It's a beautiful area of Cape Cod. This little iPhone snapshot may give you an idea, although it certainly does not do the place justice:

The first time we had sailed there was about a year ago, also in near-freezing temperatures. Back then, I used cutout gloves plus mitten shells plus re-usable handwarmers to keep my fingers warm; Nina had used mittens and the handwarmers. Today, both of us went out with just open-palm mittens, and Ianovated wetsuits. Sail sizes for the day were 4.5 and 5.5.

Once again, the "tube suit" worked beautifully. Both of us stayed nicely warm, and we sailed for almost two hours.  I used the tubes a lot in the first few runs, and felt comfortable enough to go for a 5-mile roundtrip to the other side. That ended up being a small mistake - due to a few areas of wind shadows, it took me almost 20 minutes, and my fingertips ended up getting a bit too cold. As I have mentioned before, my fingers tend to get cold very quickly, and my doctor believes that I have Raynaud's disease. I needed to take a break on shore and shake the blood back into my hands, which hurt a bit - I definitely should have done this earlier. After that, my hands were fine for the rest of the session, and the only time I used the tubes was when my hands had gotten wet after bad jibes.

Nina, who has more "normal" hands, used the tubes only at the beginning, and her hands stayed toasty for the whole session afterwards. This is probably what most windsurfers who test the suit will experience. I'd love to test this theory by letting others try my wetsuit, but I have one little problem with it: I really do not want to go back to my older semidry and drysuits that do not have tubes! And Nina has similar thoughts about the size medium suit that was intended for testing...

Well, after two hours of windsurfing on a sunny day and lots of fun, I'm happy. I am still amazed how well the Ianovated wetsuit works - for the most part, it simply makes the cold disappear. I admit to sailing a tad defensively today, but we are already talking about a wave session on Sunday. Not sure if it will happen - Nina's cold has to get better, the snow/rain has to stop in the morning as the forecast predicts, and the wind has to come in as predicted. But even a couple of months ago, we would have not even considered going out for a wave session when temperatures are just above freezing. What a difference a suit makes!
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My apologies for sounding like one big commercial, but even though we have sailed through a couple of winters here, I never thought that winter windsurfing could be so much fun. 

No more cold hands: Ianovated wetsuit review

Keeping the hands warm in cold weather windsurfing is the critical issue for most windsurfers. Many of my friends who stop windsurfing sometime between October and December mention cold hands as the primary or even only reason (most of them have dry suits or very warm wetsuits). On the "Eastern and central USA" section of the iWindsurf forum, the "Which gloves are best" topic comes up every year when temperatures drop.

My lovely wife and I have found several solutions that have let us sail through the Cape Cod winter the last couple of years. She likes neoprene mittens, I prefer two-layer solutions like palmless gloves and nylon shells; but whatever we have used in the past, it has always made us sail conservatively: staying out of the water was way more important than trying fun stuff.

I believe that this is about to change! Several things have changed that make winter windsurfing easier: we finally got a van; we moved to Cape Cod, so that the drive to the best winter windsurfing spots is now only 40 minutes instead of 2 hours; and we have a jacuzzi and a sauna to warm up after a session. But the biggest difference will be the new wetsuit I recently received from Ianovated. I had an opportunity to test it in 38º F (4º C) weather two days ago, and it worked beautifully, keeping me and my hands nicely warm. Here's the full report.

The idea behind the suit

The idea behind the suit is nicely described on the Ianovated web site: breathe out into tubes which then go through your suit and into mittens or regular gloves. The warm air of your breath warms up your hands while you are holding your boom. This allows you to constantly blow into your hands to warm them up, without having to take breaks! After first reading about the suit, I had tested the idea with some tubing and a regular semi-dry neoprene suit. It worked well enough, so I ordered the Ianovated suit.

Getting the suit

Right after my test, I contacted Ian, the inventor of the suit. He offered me the same great deal that he offered on a German windsurf forum. He shipped the suit from the UK the next day (Monday), and I received the suit 3 days later (Thursday). I had asked him to also send me a second suit for anyone who wanted to try the suit, and he did! I received a large smooth skin suit that I use, and a medium double-nylon suit for anyone who wants to test in on Cape Cod. He even added some open palm mittens for the test suit.

First impressions

The first thing I noticed when unpacking the suit was that the neoprene felt quite thick. I sometimes use an Ion 5/4 semi-dry suit; the Ianovated suit has neoprene at least as thick, but appears to use the same material for the entire suit, including arms and legs. The legs, upper body, and arms are cut quite wide. That makes it easy to get the suit on, and leaves plenty of space for the tubing, but raised the question how warm it would be.

I used the suit for the first time the next day, but air temperatures that day were about 50º F (10º C), warm enough that my open palm mittens were perfectly fine, even without breathing through the tubes into the mittens. I noticed that my lower arms getting tired, but that was at least partially because I had to use a wave sail on a slalom board in gusty conditions, and used my hands much more than normally. Still, I had seen similar problems with other suits when I first got them, and placed a couple of plastic bottles into the arms of the suit over night to stretch out the neoprene. That has always worked so far, and worked again this time

Testing the suit in cold weather

Two days later, on December 23rd, I got the opportunity to really test the suit. The air temperature was about 39º F (4º C), with 25 mph winds:

Due to a somewhat different forecast, we arrived at Hardings Beach in Chatham a bit too late. We initially saw two of the locals (JE and PK) planing on 5.2 and 5.3 m sails, but by the time we had rigged, the wind had come down quite a bit. I re-rigged from 5.5 to 6.5, and went out on my Tabou 3S 96. That turned out to be the right choice - I was powered for about 40 minutes, until the wind dropped further and I had to call it a day. Here is a short video:

I wore a short sleeve neoprene shirt under the suit, mostly because I find this more comfortably when changing into and out of the suit. I started to use the tubing when carrying my gear to the water, and it warmed up my hands nicely. During the session, I breathed out through the tubes about half of the time, and just left the tubing dangle most of the rest of the time. With the given temperatures, I normally would have had to take a break after a couple of runs to warm up my hands - but with the Ianovated wetsuit, I did not need any breaks, since I simply could breathe onto my hands to warm them up. That worked very well, and my hands were comfortable the entire time. I did fall several times, and had to swim after my gear once. When getting back up on the board, my hands would be a bit cold from the swimming (the water temperature was about 44ºF, 7º C). I typically started to use the tubing once I was comfortably planing again. After a swim, there would be some water in the tubes that had to be blown out first - but that turned out to be a great thing, since the water warmed up very quickly, so my fingers would get a warm water rinse. Nice!

When watching the video above, keep in mind that I am mostly a flatwater sailor - and I mean really flat. I usually don't jump, but rather try to keep the board on the water, and I don't do waves. In the short session, I did several jumps that were decent for my standards and the marginal conditions. I also played around with the little waves a bit (at least when I did not have to concentrate on going upwind or staying on a plane). For me, this was a playful session - very different from a typical winter session! The fear of falling, which had been pretty noticeable in previous winter sessions, was mostly gone, since I knew that I would be able to warm up my hands easily when back on the board. The suit kept the rest of my body very warm, too, including my arms and legs. I did feel tiny amounts of water entering the suit, mostly through the seams. However, the amounts were so small that they never were any problem - they may even have helped a bit once they were warmed up. I has definitely warmer than I would have been in my Ion 5/4 semidry suit: when wearing the Ion, my arms sometimes get a bit chilly, and water that enters through the back zipper can also feel cold, despite the back flap and a neoprene shirt.

My other winter suit is a baggy dry suit, the Boost from O'Neill. The Boost usually keeps me warm, but I try to avoid high impact crashes, which can force water into the suit. Once inside, water can make the suit feel clammy and cold. In contrast, the Ianovated suit is a typical wetsuit, where any water that enters warms up very quickly, and is not a problem. Like any neoprene suit, the Ianovated suit is definitely much better suited for swimming to catch up with your gear after a fall than the baggy dry suit.

Summary: A great winter wetsuit!

After reading about the Ianovated wetsuit and my own tubing tests, I had high expectations for the suit, but it has clearly exceeded my expectations. Even without the tubing, I think this would be my favorite suit amongst the three suits I own, because it is very warm and easy to swim in. With the tubing, which works wonderfully to keep my hands warm, the Ianovated wetsuit is simple a stroke of genius. In 39º F (4º C) weather, I used the tubings only about half the time to keep my fingers warm - this leaves plenty of room for the air and water temperatures to drop even further (although I usually only go windsurfing when the air temperature is above freezing).

The only bad thing about the Ianovated wetsuit is that I did not discover it in October, when some of my friends were still sailing who now have stopped for the winter. Had they been able to try the suit when they started to think about stopping because of cold fingers, I am sure many of them would have bought the suit and extended their season. But anyone who still is sailing and wants to try the Ianovated wetsuit on Cape Cod, let me know! As I said, I have an extra size medium suit for testing, and I'll be glad to let anyone I know try my size large suit, too. If you don't know how to get in touch with me, ask JE, or send me (boardsurfr) a private message on the iWindsurf forum.
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Disclosure: I am not affiliated with or sponsored by Ianovated, nor will I receive anything from them if anyone decided to by a suit after reading this or testing a suit. But I do have to admit some self-interest: I would like to see more windsurfers sail through the winter, especially my friends who stop because of cold hands. The Ianovated worked so well that for the first time ever, I actually considered doing freestyle in the winter, something I have always shied away from since it involves frequent falling.

The cold hand problem has been solved

It's the time of the year where a lot of windsurfers in New England stop sailing, even if they own dry suits. The common reason: cold hands. A few extraordinary windsurfers like JE can sail with thick gloves, and still throw in a loop or shaka when they feel like it; but thick gloves kill the forearms of lesser windsurfers, like your's truly.

I have experimented with various gloves, mittens, and combinations, and found several solutions that work well. Around here, open-palm mittens work fine until about mid-December; but when air and water temperatures drop below 45 F (7 C), I need more warmth. I have blogged about several options that work,  but all of them have their draw backs, which make winter sessions shorter and less playful.

So when I read "The cold hand problem all the way down to 0°c / 32F has been solved" in a thread about "Gloves/mittens for winter sailing", it peaked my interest. I followed the link to www.ianovated.co.uk/, and liked what I saw: a suit with built-in tubing that enables you to blow warm air into open-palm mittens while sailing. But the suit is made in the UK and not cheap, so I just had to follow Ian's suggestion to try this by stuffing some tubing into my suit. I used 10 feet of clear 1/2 inch OD tubing and a T connector as the mouth piece, and took some silicon to make soft patches where the tubing enters the arms of the suit to minimize water entry. Here's the result:

Today's wind forecast looked marginal, but it predicted WSW wind and sun. In previous years, this often meant winds that were 5-10 mph over the forecast, but this year has been so bad that I did not want to get my hopes up. Well - the wind came! Around 11 am, meter readings for Kalmus and Chatham were around 20 mph, trending up a bit - oh the excitement! Bad old wind addict that I am, I left my lovely wife at home, since she had to deal with an electrician who double-checked the hookup of our new outdoor sauna. I hopped into the van and drove to Harding's Beach in Chatham to try the spot in WSW winds.

Once there, I noticed that the water state did not look that different from the last time I was there, when I was barely to rarely planing on my 7.0. However, the wind felt stronger, so I went out on my 5.5 and the 3S 95, but with the big old 32 cm weed fin in case the wind dropped. No need to worry, though - I was planing right away, and stayed nicely powered the entire time I was out. Air and water temperatures were around 45 F (7C), perfect for trying out Ian's tube idea. As soon as I was hooked in, I grabbed the mouth piece, and breathed out through it a few times. My fingers in the palmless mitts got warm right away - nice! I kept sailing for half an hour, using the tube to warm up my fingers every few minutes. Without the tube, I would have had to go in after a few minutes to shake the blood back down into my hands and warm up my fingers, but since I could blow warm air onto my fingers anytime I felt like it, I did not have to go in today! Having nicely warm fingers did wonders for my confidence, and I started jumping a bit, playing with waves, and simply having a blast. After 30 minutes, I went in to grab the GoPro for some movies, but discovered that I did not have it in the van. I got pretty hot during this short stop (in a 6/4 semi-dry neoprene suit, 2 mm neoprene shirt, 7 mm booties, and a 3 mm neoprene hood), so when I went back out, I took my fingertips out of the palmless mittens. I sailed for another 20 minutes, but then caught myself messing up and swimming around quite a bit. Since I was the only one on the water, and in view of the temperatures, I decided to keep the session short and call it a day.

Despite the short sail, I did take several opportunities to waterstart and swim around a bit. I did get quite a bit of water into the arms of the suit when water starting, and some also came in around the neck. More flexible tubing and better silicone pads probably could reduce this; even as it was, I'd definitely rather have a bit of water in the suit than cold hands (or thick gloves, glove-mitt shell combos, etc.). I'm not sure that would still be the case when the temperatures drop much further; but I am sure that Ian's tubing idea would still work very well. His idea to build tubing connectors into the suit is definitely a great one, because it will keep the suit as dry as any similar semidry or dry suit; the loose-fit upper body is also a great match to the tubing inside idea. I currently have both a very warm semi-dry neoprene suit and a baggy dry suit, but I am seriously tempted to get the Ianovated suit. After my tests, I believe that Ian has indeed solved the cold-hand problem.

For all my GPS-addicted friends, my tracks for the day are below. No bigs speeds today, though - the theme was wave-play rather than speed.