Downwinder board

A little more volume but a completely new shape.

7'7" and 120 L, 23" wide.

According to the Armstrong site:

"The displacement hull design works wonders to increase paddling speed and help you get on foil, and the refined outline keeps things fun once you’re flying."

Combining it with the wing will be an interesting experience.

A kilometre on foil

I have settled for a time on this set up:

 SUP sky wind board

75 cm mast

Standard fuselage 

Naish 1800 front wing and 310 tailwind 

Duotone 4m SLS ALUULA wing with carbon boom, not standard, 3D printed ends on a carbon stick.

..and getting these speeds:

The 1800 front wing is fairly slow, but I don't need more speed.

Board upgrade

New board 106 litres 

6 foot 3 inches 

 

Official Video.

 

Introducing Sledding

My first experience with sledding was on Christmas day, hence the name.

I am at the stage of wingfoiling where I need to get as much air time as possible to learn how to get on, and stay on, the foil. I also need to conserve my energy. Falling in often is not an option.

So, I line up two points on my local coast where I can travel between them mostly on a broad reach. A 6kms straight line run can turn into a 10 or 12kms run when you zig-zag enough.
Southerly winds around here make the swell rise and northerlies tend to knock it flat. 

You will get wind waves but you do not want so much that you are in a wind shadow at the bottom of the wave/swell.

I have a bit of a go at standing up but mostly I stay in the kneeling position. Gain speed first and then shuffle back on the board.

Open ocean is a fun place to be and while choppy weather looks intimidating when you are moving mostly down wind (broad reaching) it smooths out for you. 

A couple of things to watch out for:

• If you own a Duotone Foil wing with a boom then put a pool noodle on all the exposed extension part of the boom. At some point you will need it to stop the end of the boom from sinking.
• Find launch and landing sites where the waves and the wind will be kind to you.
• Keep in mind places along the way where you can land if needed.
• Areas where weed, ripped from the seabed, is accumulating in the shore break is to be avoided.
• If your leashes are old or damaged get new ones.
• Work out how long you can kneel for and set your distance accordingly. Your legs will go numb after a time then you will need to stop and dangle them in the water to recover.
• While you are sailing watch out for the front tip of the wing touching down. Pull the wing upwind as soon as this happens.

Also, I am working on an item that I call "elbow patches", stick-on rubber patches to go on the wing about a meter from the wing tips.

My deck is completely covered in traction grip and these patches on my wing should allow the wing to rest on the front deck of the board.

Another trick when running (going straight down wind) is to rest the Duotone boom into the traction grip at the front of the board. You are unlikely to be foiling when doing this but it is a useful self-rescue position. Steering in this position is a matter of moving the wing around from side to side. 

Sometimes you can teach yourself, or you can get someone to teach you properly like

James Casey on YouTube

Frothing friends

Illawarra Foiling

An extra dimension has been added to my activities by being joined to others doing this in my area via a mobile messaging app.

Through the WhatsApp group I am reminded each day of the potential of that day. The stoke is kept with notifications to my phone of location reports and general froth.

Fully Slick

This is Long Reef in cross-offshore conditions.

Wingfoil Kook shows how

This bloke at the beginning is where I am up to.

I call it chop-slapping, you are on the foil but touching the tops of the chop. If the chop is small and regular it is quite comfortable.

See also this site:

seabreeze.com.au/forums/Wind-Wings/Wingsurfing/Wing-foiling-videos

Wingfoil Learning another thing

I have to report another change of direction.

I was going to wait until I mastered windfoiling before I spent more money on gear, but then I have an ambition to get out on the ocean on the swells.

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So we have these iterations on this blog:

• SUP foiling standing up (broke a thumb)
  
• Crossover foiling - kneeling (difficulty pumping)
  
• Windfoiling - sailboard - (problems getting out beyond the surf)
  
  NOW
  
  
• Wingfoiling - will let you know how that goes..

Foil bits

Not a lot of progress on riding these things, but I am getting good at buying them. supwindfoil.blogspot.com/2019/09/  

The thing that I recently discovered was that a fuselage that comes with a Deep Tuttle setup has the wing further forward than a fuselage for a US Box. This fact has me experimenting with what is the right setup for me if I stay on my knees. Knee board foiling, anyone?

Surf Launch and Landing

Here is an edited version of a forum discussion on Seabreeze (March 2020):
https://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Foiling/Surf-Launch-and-Landing

Some bloke from the east coast of the US said this:
I "have a long distance to traverse where the surf is powerful fully closed out white water and the water is too shallow for the foil!".

A response from someone in the mostly Australian audience was:

"Bring an anchor and float out with the board/foil, leave the sail onshore. Moor the board and go back for the sail.
Use a mechanical u-joint and euro pin". - to join the two together in the water with the least amount of fuss

To which I responded -
"The problem with your method is you have to carry an anchor on my upside-down foil board through breaking surf. This will ding the board.
Instead, next time I am going to try this:"
Then I set out the way I would do it.

Days later I got to try that method and this is what should have happened (you will have to read the forum for the problems I had):

1. Take the anchor, rope and float out beyond the breaking waves. I walked them as far as I could, then swam a tiny bit; dropped the anchor, then carried the float as far as I could parallel to the beach until the anchor engaged.
2. Bodysurf in and carry/swim the sail/rig out and tie it to the float.
   I had attached a fender (blue float) to the in-haul part of the boom (use a caribiner). This aids floation of the rig and should stop it from getting caught up in rips and currents.
3. Bodysurf in and bring the board out upside-down.
   Then the tricky bit; joining the two. I found out that I have a euro pin - did not know the name of it before this.

After you have finished sailing and are on the way in, first get to the float - do not underestimate how difficult that may be.

Note that the chain goes to the other end of the anchor - there is a cable tie holding the chain to the end of the anchor - if/when the anchor jams pulling it hard will break the tie and the anchor is then pulled out backward.

Once at the float:

1. Clip the board to the float and swim/carry the rig in, then
2. Come back to the board - You will need the board's flotation to retrieve the anchor.
3. Kneeling on the board pull yourself along up the rope. Don't pull the anchor all the way up to the board.
4. Get it into shallower water (say waist deep) and leave it there,
5. Take the board and the foil in through the surf.
6. Then go back and get the anchor.

Aluminum Mast 85 cm

Buying bits and trying stuff.
The latest purchase is a tall mast for the foil.

www.naishfoils.com/products
All masts are available as separate accessories without screws, available separately, to accommodate different skill levels and sports.
Currently I am using a 70 cm foil mast and the XLarge wing for surfing and the 85 cm mast and the Large (WS1) wing for windfoiling.

Staying on my knees

After breaking my thumb (Easter 2019), I was wary when surfoiling of standing up after take-off.

I have resolved to do all my surf riding kneeling, to focus on using the foil to get lots of speed across the wave, pointing higher than is possible on a normal board.

Once I get more time wind foiling I will review the no-standing policy.

Windfoiling Gybe lesson

The instructions that go with this video are on the Windfoil page:

windfoilzone.com/../5-keys-to-close-your-first-foiling-jibes

Finally an explanation

For months I have been doing something wrong with my windfoiling.

This site and Wyatt Miller have the explanation of what I should focus on to solve these problems:

gleiten.tv/index.php/video/action/story/v/3288/s/64/page/436

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My list of takeaways from this is:

1. crank upwind in gusty overpowering conditions - resist the habit of sheeting off in the gusts;
2. get your body weight forward, by default and use the front leg to balance the pitch;
3. do not hang out the side of the board, stand straight up;
4. use lots of room to slowly gybe the board, hold off flipping the sail;
5. don't worry about being too far downwind, getting back up is easy;
6. move harness lines forward and don't get too concerned if you don't hook in.

HOVER Crossover 120

Back in February I upgraded to a Naish Hover board - back to the future?

Yes, I should have mentioned it earlier.

Anyway, reading this site today I noticed some things:
naishusa.com/p/2020-hover-crossover-120

Thing one:
SUP-foiling (in forward position) + windsurf-foiling (in back-most position)

I have been doing both from the middle position, mostly without much success.

Thing two:
They say "this board is a great choice for beginner foilers, while those more experienced can position the foil further back for greater manoeuvrability."

So maybe I was right to have it in the middle position, the last thing I need at the moment is "greater manoeuvrability".

Also
From the specs Crossover-SUP/Windsurf Foiling 120
It is 120 litres
length 7’6”/228.6 cm
width 30”/76.2 cm
Fins: comes with FCS 4.5 + 3.5 Quad
Sail range 3.4 to 6.0 sq metres

I am using it with the 5.4 sq metre sail in the picture above and a 4.2 sq metre sail called a Chopper.

Instead of the quad fins that came with the board I am using the following fin setup to sailboard without the foil.

Look closely and see how having four bolts in the front of the plate allows me to have the fin further back than the US boxes would otherwise allow.

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Did I mention that I am very close to getting this working for me?
Any day now..

All I have to do with the Windfoiling is unlearn 40 years of sailboarding and sheet on, not off when I come up on the foil.

All I have to do with the SUPing is get to my feet from the kneeling position before the board comes up on the foil. Had some fun rides staying on my knees but I want to "take this to the next level".

Any day now..

Windfoil Zone

Watch the whole collection from Sam Ross's Flight School. These were recommended by this site
windfoilzone.com

Tutorials: Videos showing how to get started for beginners, improving techniques for moderate foilers, and for the more advanced there are opportunities to see new tricks.

Blog: News, interviews, tutorials, reviews.

Directory: All the places where you can rent and/or learn how to windfoil
[but nothing anywhere in the Pacific or Indian Oceans at this date - December 2018]

Online Store:
Their selection of products from trusted brands.

Another Saturday

A week or two ago I had another tow behind a boat to get and idea of what to do when on the foil and the board starts to feel very vague.

Today's Saturday had south wind, quite gusty and it had been blowing for days.
We do not have anywhere that you can sail smooth water in those conditions.

There was a bit of a stuff-up with recording this session on my watch but the foiling bit was the bottom of the two lines.
I was not going flat out, just easing it up gently and getting some airtime before the next bit of chop hit the board. Recovering from these splashes - it was good practice to do that, but very draining.

In the end I gained some confidence that I can now windfoil, I know where the feet go on the board (I ride without straps - relying on rubber booties on a rubber deck).

That said I am aware that I need more practice in smooth surface conditions. The NE wind does allow this at a spot just north of where I sailed today.

At the moment it looks like the combination of windfoiling and riding waves is way beyond me. Maybe a Gerroa session would fix that.

Saturday

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Slowly getting there. Wind was enough to get the foil flying in the water without lifting the board clear of the surface.

Another board and a bigger foil

If at first you don't succeed - buy more gear.

Here is a photo of another board that I converted to having a foil.
Southpoint Bonga Perkins design 9'5" by about 28" wide, wide point forward.

All this stuff at the bottom is a record of riding it for the first time, SUP foil style (on-the-knees to take off).

10 waves in 2 hours was a reflection of the long period of parts of the small swell.

[I doubt I will be using the orange board again.]

Windsurf Wave Foiling

I so want to do this by November 2018 or February 2019 at the latest..