all frontside is flat some small wave and roller at hi tide.

in general backside is a no , only on west wind southern tip makes nice spot on rising tide, and we have gone behind maybe 1/2 mile around southern end.

but in general front stay flat with ramps at center sand bar, the pic above is frontside.

its a small island going north to St. Simons is quick couple tacks on the water , there are more frontside flats/ and shouls to ride there.

i have ridden from cumberland to little St. Simons its all same , just easy and fun at frontside sand bar

NW wind is kinda of zero here/and there.

could go on backside?, yes , but launch would be sketch , oyster beds and stuff...plus heavy current really to be avoided.

we have large diurnal tides 8/9ft. and on the ends of the island can be deadly heavy current at times,

most breeze is on shore, side shore on frontside, totally wide open fun spot

last year was the heaviest shark season EVER and yes the ends of the island are deep and shark breeding/nursey area.

i sessioned yesterday in similiar spot , out on a sandbar , i sit down on shallow sand bar spot for a break 3 ft shark (black tip ) swims right up to me , pretty common sight. they want the jellyfish which are earlier this year and super heavy.

its a bit shallow for foiling, high tide maybe, but by then wind peak has dropped, and generally blow out from full on session.

fun spot, come on down!

Apparently sharks like foils -- there have been several chases recorded. Some think the movement interests them, others that the shape is like a ray. Either way -- nope. Nope nope nope.

You know, I've kinda wondered about that. My problem is that I spend a whole lotta time in the water while I'm foiling. AND, my locals aren't the little guys. They're the 14 foot man in the grey suit.

i think vibration may attract, not sure . rays and skates are super common here and definitely see ray/skate association.

yes at this point , in the water alot as well.

there ws a 2500# tiger caught/tagged right off the island here couple weeks ago. also a tracked and "know local" 3600# tagged great white in and out of the sound past couple years..mary lee is the ID on ocearch, quite the traveller!

...and past three days has been blasting TT supersessions , alas phoil has been bumped for the moment, but seabreeze setups are on the way.

I'm going to OBX and hope to try a foil on a short mast. If that works on shallow it'll be the "door killer" for me. Except giving rides to my kids on the door.

very nice man, 5-10 hours there and you'll be foil master!

yesterday was the first day of no wind and a needed break!

its been too heavy for foiling here the past week or so. should get a few rides in next couple days.

cool G , have a good time...BTW I would be cautious with the shallows a short mast is what you want. maybe use your Lift if you go frontside, breaking it in shallow would be a sad day! get some guidance from local to stay out of super shallow spots...kinda assumed you would be using a demo set up there, an off shore day there really drains the backside and makes it even more shallow. you are going to make a TON of progress!

well progress has stalled on foil use ....but theres good news!

the sessions have been non-stop 9m supersessions, and in no way were foil friendly.

maybe score some foil practice in couple days.

Great your getting some good sessions in. No wind here for few days but been hitting the concrete parks early morning on the board. Really filling in the gaps well

right on, grateful for the breeze, grateful for projects to drive me through the gaps!

those folks in subway didn't even know a street-kite guru was in their midst,

Quote: Originally posted by PHREERIDER

right on, grateful for the breeze, grateful for projects to drive me through the gaps! those folks in subway didn't even know a street-kite guru was in their midst,

:D:D

My foil progress has stalled to. But, I have a pretty cool new toy to play with instead:





Pretty stoked on the new job! Last week of training!

Man that's deluxe!

Got back on the foil today. Pretty good day. Super mellow wind and waves today so MUCH easier learning day.
Started off kinda frustrating session but finished day with pretty consistent 100 yard foil rides in both directions.

lesson of the day:

Maintain Thy Airspeed, Lest The Ground Rise Up And Smite Thee.

Well, that's at least a pilots 1st commandment. But yes it's just as true for foil boarding!
I had such a fear of overspeeding that I kept going too slow. I'd engage the foil, it would fly for a couple of feet, then stall. Today I found the magic speed that the foil seems to love. So now, I was attaining that speed before engaging the foil. Once I felt the right speed, little back foot pressure, the immediately back to front. Worked like a charm.

Same. I'd ride around as slow as possible and would vent a lot. Gotta get used to the speed and controlling it. It was about that time that I discovered a wider stance is the ticket: you can lunge more and get more weight in the front, then drive upwind hard and hold the speed.

I've found that never being "locked in" is helpful: always be moving the board up and down a tiny bit, carving tiny S-turns.

I had two very light wind sessions this week. Almost perfectly flat water, made working on surface foot changes much easier. All was going well until I dropped then Speed3 21 and discovered the wind was so light I couldn't relaunch at all :D. Que the swim in . . . The next session was lighter again, but this time I avoided the far end of the beach and when in dropped the kite, I was in chest-deep water so I could just get it up. Then called it a day

Pretty wild to be riding at sprinting speed when the wind is only a couple of knots :o

my foil practice has stalled! plenty of sessions , just not good for practice so i think.

excellent points guys , definitely have felt "the running speed " effortless BUT fast!

if i use the smaller kite i'm sure most of my problems would be less.

a marginal TT day and switch to a smaller kite ...once i do it i feel it will be instant improvement. landboard just keeps calling.

Massive improvement today!!!
Straight up ridding constantly in both directions. Sooooo stoked! First day I can truely say was fun.
Lesson of the day:
Don't try to start up right in front of an approaching swell. Throws everything off at this stage.

I found today that the hardest thing for me today was getting the foil up to speed. I was a bit underpowered and kept floundering on my starts. I think maybe my board does not have enough volume for my abilities at this point. I'm not going to change anything for now because I'm nailing it and don't want any new variables.

But I will say:
Our G10 foil wings work killer!
Up to this point I had vague doubts in the back of my head saying "is it me or my rig that I made?"
No question: it was me. The wings are killer. No problems with stability, directional control, or speed. They even will recover if you cavitate them out of the surface. It's all rider imput.

Stoke!

Hell yeah man! Just takes time!

I already have enough positive rides, though short, that confirm solid build. I KNOW it's me.

It's a narrow point of balance and so sensitive. Conidtions selection and chronic "too much choice" is large hurdle for me . Great man ! Keep rocking it

Went out the day before yesterday with the short setting on the rear wing . . . I greatly prefer the longer setting. And riding in lighter wind!

great point KK, like a short skate board ..it gets squirrely pretty quick !

Hey Kami,
I might have a solution to your mast problem. I'm posting it here because I don't want the peanut gallery to see it. The reason is I got a proto type mast from the head of LF kiteboarding. I had a couple of conversations with him and he was adamant that the proto type he was sending me "would break" at the mast plate weld. They learned to reinforce the joint by putting the coller sleeve there. So, I took my mast to my buddy who owns a machine shop and asked him to put some sort of coller on it. He agreed that the weld would break if left un supported. But to reinforce it, He just pressed in four pieces of metal inside the mast. We didn't realize how thin the mast material was until it bulged out. I fully thought it wouldn't work. But it does. I'm pretty convinced that it won't break. I've run it into the ground numerous times.

I hope this can help your mast.

Thanks for that! How did he get the metal up in there?!

I just got an email from LF--they said not to weld the mast/collar as it'll weaken it. I had a suspicion it might but I know nothing about welding, so :D

Their advice was to tighten the bolt, but I'm paralyzed with fear at shearing off the bolts up in there.

They annoying thing is their collar/plate is $70 but the mast is almost $500. Compared with other brands that are $100 or so I'm eyeing up the Slingshot Hover Glide . . .

Oh yeah--don't feed Revhead any more LF pictures :megan:

sweet ! champion shot!

on mast plate i used 3 bolts 8M x 50mm, still felt it needs buttressing, which i may add,

crack an 8M , times 3! the AL would split/bend first !

welding the hollow thin extrusion just makes it brittle .

i have solid mast 6061, its weighty but solid , think its fine. the hollow mast on LF is not what i expected, esp. at connect point

Check out the mast adapters: http://americankiteboarding.com/products.asp?cat=Hydrofoil

I've been looking around different mast/plates but the issue seems to be the hole to mount the fuse

I'm going to shim the mast then get a Hover Glide and SS board...

My buddy just machined a few pieces of metal to fit the hollow slots and pounded them in there. But he machined them to fit so tight that they bulged the thin extrusion.
Like I say, it seems to be taking my abuse!
Nice shot with your 19 meter speed!

So he fit them then welded the strut?

That's the 21. People are calling BS on me at the kiteforum, but it was 4 to 6 knots when I launched and went riding. If you can get up on the board, get it moving and keep it moving, you can ride upwind. Drop the kite and you're swimming though :D

No. Actually. That weld to the base plate is the proto type of how they were initially welding the mast to the base plate. I'm not sure if yours is welded there also, but it doesn't really matter. The pieces of metal are just pounded in to transfer the load down the mast and relive that simple weld joint. The coller that LF has now is really doing the exact same but just externally rather than internally like mine.
As far as welding the pieces of metal, no need if they are tight.

Quote: Originally posted by Kamikuza

Ride the foil, not the board. You gotta get your head around that so you don't keep trying to edge the board :D

Such great advice! Making more progress. Fully riding upwind and now downwind, but no gybes. At my stage, Kami's advice of "ride the foil not the board" helped a ton!

New job starts on Tuesday! Pretty much locked down for the rest of summer so I'm stoked I made this progress now. Feels like I have a solid foundation when I come back to it.