nice progress man! very heavy week of kite action , today first day no kite since last monday. i got some foil action time in last week . upwind
foil after many slams! not very high but up and stable, some up and down still but not as much kinda pops up soon as i'm on top. the onshore winds
here just demand , get up! get out! after plowing the bottom countless times the homebrew foil still remains solid! plus been dragging ALL (TT, ATB
and foil) my junk on bike cart , so its ALL right there! ready to go . low hassle makes it happen.
first, the rear foot on the mast works great . IF you want NO foil action ...foot in strap now i can finally add more balance definitely huge step
for me. i think at first in the rear strap was crazy sensitive til i got more feel and control... just behind the mast but in the strap. no where
near as senstive as when i started. once that element balanced in for me , controling the up and down thing seemed to fade. still the beatings in
the progress continue. just separated by a fraction more time.
a side shore day would be easier but for now definitely stoked on gaining some skill!
Yo Buddy!
Fear not! You WILL foil!
I say this because I just had an EPIC day! I realized I've been riding way overpowered. Today was super light maybe 10-12 knots. I threw up a 10 meter
and it was perfect! So nice not yo fight the kite. I rode 3-4 miles down the beach and back.
I think I have roughly 10-15 sessions not total. Still falling but mainly when I get tired. No chance for anything remotely similar to gybe but I'm
riding swell and turning about 90 degrees.
Here's what I know:
I seriously did the back foot super far forward, but what actually helped a ton was to actually move my rear foot back! Then just commit to pressing
the front foot. This way I felt way more control over the direction of the board with the rear foot and still not porpusing because of front foot
pressure. I kinda think this is big. I'm not sure advice of rear foot forward is such good advice because you lose such control over the board.
This really helped me break through:
1. Moving the rear foot back.
2. Committing to front foot pressure.
3. Committing to a fair amount of speed before I eased up on the front foot pressure and began to foil.
Once I did those three things I seriously had a break through.
Now, I can stand up and pretty much immediately "hop" the foil up with almost no speed then use the height that I popped up to "push the board" back
down toward the water (think like the foil is ridding downhill) to gain speed.
Good luck bro! Be proud of our home made foils!
I'll only have a few days here and there for the next 4 months so I want to hear you rock it!
Kami: thanks a ton too! Let's see more videos! I'll need some stoke!
Now you're up and riding, you'll be working out the balance and you're going to be falling in strange ways. I've tweaked my ankle a little, and a
local guy hurt his badly, falling and being trapped in the rear strap.
Controlling the height is a vital skill, as is controlling the speed. Keep loose, and keep the foil moving--especially when the water is "rough". I
find the ocean to be more turbulent below the surface, so the board is always moving around and you need to be loose and ready to react.
Glad to hear the foil is holding up. Local buddy hit the bottom and lost his fuse and wings, as the mast sheared right on the connection point.
Expensive and new carbon hobbies
My wings are getting worn down, I need to think if a solution...
Moving the rear foot back some means you've spread your base out, so more stable front to rear, and when you "lunge" sideways to weight the front, you
get more of your weight over that foot *and* you're more stable.
With the foot back, on the LF wing set, you can also get more pitch control by pushing on the rear, which you can't do with the foot on the mast.
Might be different for different foils . . .
I'm on 38 sessions now This week was a 4-hour light wind ride at the ocean and
yesterday about 3 hours at the lake, switching between 3 different kites and from under- to over-powered. My favorite sessions have been on the 21 in
very little wind, with the surface of the lake almost flat . . . flying! I still prefer a slightly bigger kite, as I like to lean back against it and
load it all up, as opposed to standing up on the board and working the kite.
Jibing is a lot easer than it looks, changing feet a lot harder. Downloads are the best way to jibe but make the most catastrophic slams when speed
control fails. Took me ages to sort the feet changes out -- now I'd bet on successful touch-down foot swaps and come out slightly ahead
Yeah, I had no idea you could use one for regular surfing or pumping. Pretty cool being able to pump to the next wave. Those things look magical if
/ when you can master them.
Yeah, I had no idea you could use one for regular surfing or pumping. Pretty cool being able to pump to the next wave. Those things look magical if
/ when you can master them.
Agreed. Can't help but have safety on my mind today. Those things could do a number on other surfers in the lineup (or yourself). Paddling out and
getting pulled "over the falls" could prove quite the shark attracting event.
So are you foiling without rear strap or complete strapless?
How far back is you back foot position behind the mast?
Just without a rear. Lot of easier to water start, getting and holding the board in position, with a single strap.
Back foot tends to be . . . right in the middle of where the rear strap would be which is behind the mast. Of course all foils and riders are different, but I find with the rear foot further back, the advantages are a wider
base, more dynamic control over foil balance and directional control, and ease of popping and holding the foil up. The disadvantage is it's more
twitchy when you learning, but you'll overcome that with good technique very quickly. Assuming my technique is good
My technique might be good, but my judgement is really poor.
Was having fun with fast and powered gybes until I ran it right into the shoreline. Slammed into the bottom again, but from riding rather than
stalling and venting.
Unfortunately, the result was the same--bent fuselage and mast. It wasn't till I packed up that I noticed I'd cracked my board though
Due to the force on the wing, the tip of the mast was splayed out which allowed the fuselage to bend...
Hit the water so hard the board cracked too, which bugs me the most. Got some whiplash as well neck still stiff three days later!
I have the Slingshot Hover Glide foil only, but I'm afraid of their rail mounts on the boards as I've heard of a few breaking. Tried it with my board
but the lift is so strong and aggressive that I can't ride with the front strap...
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