Afternoon Parawing Session - 6/24/2026

The wind line was further off shore... signs that the wind had a lot of north in it.

There were some good sized waves still coming through. 

No.34 with the Cabrinha setup - Apex 78cm mast, Prestige 905 and the Union 180 Rear Stabilizer.  I wanted to try the 180 with the 905 to see if this setup was more balanced (compared to the 160).

Prayot and Kalani were there when I parked.  Roland came out later.  There was a debate about which size PW to take out.  I opted for the BRM S3 4.2, while Prayot took all three of his out.

The wind was not as strong as the forecast said it would be.  And it was way up and down (where the forecast called for steadier winds).

The flavor of the day was to ride out, catch a wave and retract the parawing.

We all had some bomber waves - overhead in the breaking area.  I had a few waves that went on for really long rides.  One of these I miraculously was able to redeploy in light wind and rode back to the outside.

If the wind had materialized as forecasted, this would have been epic.  It was still a great session, but getting a no stress, good wave riding day at WPB would be nice sometimes.

The peaks were definitely the long rides.  Flying along pretty much prone foiling on waves you would have never been able to catch paddling in -

Hopefully the wind fills in solid -

PF:8/W:3/PW:62/FD:52/S:20

Evening Foil Drive Session - 6/23/2026

Rain clouds moved in - so the wind was marginalized.

That's what Foil Drives are for!

There were still some bigger waves - but it has definitely come down.

I opted for the Cabrinha Whippit 850/180 monobloc rear stab setup today.

Despite the rain and the wind induced chop, I had some great rides.

One thing I will add to the Silk - Whippit comparison, the tubercles on the Silk offer "grip".  There were some waves today where I felt I was "slipping" when pushing the foil hard through a turn if there was chop.  Not every turn, but cranking under a developing hook mostly.

I never had that happen with the Silks.

Norm came out and he was on the Silk 1050.  Roland passed today (even though he was hanging in the parking lot again).

22 rides in 1.25 hours - pretty ridiculous!

I did fall a bunch the second half of the session.  With the clouds overhead, I lost the ability to discern wave from flats and I'd lose it.

The rest of the week should be perfect for parawinging!

PF:8/W:3/PW:61/FD:52/S:20

Afternoon Parawing Session - 6/22/2026

The forecast was calling for the trades to fill back in.  And on the drive home after work, there were signs the wind was blowing.

This is just as I got to the parking lot - nice texture on the water.  The wind line was a bit further out than normal, and the waves were about chest high.

AFS Enduro 1100/Mako Carve Pro Medium, Short fuselage, 80 cm mast all bolted on to No.34

BRM S3 5.3 was the engine of choice.

As usual - the wind shifted around as I paddled out.

Prayot came out after and had his Vayu 6m.  He had a few points where he was down - but he was having a much better session than I was. 

I did not get skunked - and I used the time that I was up on foil to get the mechanics of takeoff, riding and transitioning back down.

The wind had a hard north component and that made for difficult retracting.  I tried twice but it wasn't worth it.  The botched redeploys added insult to injury.

The wind strength explains a lot.

And with the larger waves still breaking outside - it made me think today would have been a good day to burn a battery on Foil Drive.  I'll keep a closer eye on the conditions tomorrow.

I don't mean to sound down on today's session - it was nice to be out on the water.  The time up on foil was a bonus.

PF:8/W:3/PW:61/FD:51/S:20

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 6/21/2026

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there - and also Happy Summer Solstice 2026 - the sun starts it's journey back south after today.

The conditions were similar to yesterday - really fun surf (not thrilling or dangerous) in the overhead size range.  There was a little more wind on the water - so there was a little chop.

Cabrinha Whippit 850 with the Union 180 Rear Stabilizer - turns out this setup worked perfectly!  Just goes to show you that in a world where foils seem to be converging, there are still some unique offerings out there - I went into the Cabrinha line thinking the sizing aspects would be similar to the other foils I had been using.  But I never thought I'd be prone foiling on a 905 front foil or be using a 180 rear stabilizer on the higher end of Foil Drive-ing.  I'm glad I got into this system!

I went out with the foil in the position I had last used the Whippit in.  I took two waves and noticed I had slightly more back foot pressure than I wanted.  I moved the mast up a 1/4" and the foil performed perfectly!!!

With the 180 stab, the Whippit now balances the system weight (including my 190 pound ass) so nicely.

The Whippit is smoother and more pitch stable than the Silk.  The Silk can carve a few notches harder than the Whippit, and it can rip through whitewater without blinking an eye.  The Silk also demands more focus in order to deliver the higher performance. Despite having the same surface area and similar aspect ratios, these are different animals.

Both foils drew similar lines in similar conditions - 

According to the max speed recordings from yesterday and today, the Whippit is faster by over a mile per hour - and that was with the choppier conditions today (so there is likely more potential speed to be had).  I would not have come to this conclusion without having used the 180 rear stabilizer and finding the window where this foil works for me - no more twitchiness, no more fighting to get on foil, just something intuitive and fun with the right amount of lift.

Like I've said with the Prestige - I am not going to be getting rid of the AFS foils.  Those are incredible fun and definitely take me closer to the edge of what is possible.  The Cabrinha Union foils are just plain fun!

20 or so rides - I know I did miss a few (the wave was traveling too fast).  This weekend has been awesome for riding overhead plus, super long waves -

PF:8/W:3/PW:60/FD:51/S:20

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 6/20/2026

Dawn patrolled WP this morning.  I didn't bother going to the shoreline to look it over - I just assumed it was going to be wonky and head high.

I was wrong - it was nice and clean outside.  And there were several energetic sets still coming through (it was better earlier).

Kalani, Noel, Dennis, Paul and Jill were all out on Foil Drive.  Prayot was out testing the Manta 700 something F4 on DW SUP foil.  Norm and Stu were out at PVs on FD.  And the Lift eFoil dude was out also.

I totally forgot MWR was holding an All Military surf contest - that squeezed the non-contest out in front of the cabins...  Good thing I was way outside.  

I wanted to confirm I had the AFS Silk 850/Usurf 135 in the right spot.

The surf was really good - I had some really long rides where I could carve hard up and down the entire over head wave.  It was actually pretty ridiculous how good it was -

These red lines were really long rides - 

The Silk 850/Usurf 135 had confidence inspiring grip - I love coming up on a peaking section and hooking a tight turn under it - epic fun!!!

18 rides -

Today was one of the better days I've had in quite some time - low stress, really good waves.

EPIC!

I received one of the two rear stabilizers I recently ordered - the Cabrinha Union 180 monobloc.  I originally ordered this stabilizer to get the Prestige 905 lined up for super easy prone foiling.  But I bolted it on to the Whippit 850 - and I'm gonna see if it gets the Whippit dialed in for me.

PF:8/W:3/PW:60/FD:50/S:20

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 6/19/2026

Dawn patrolled at Hickam again.

Was slightly smaller than yesterday - but there was less warble.

Tide was around +0.6' so no issues.

I swapped out to the AFS Silk 850/USurf 135 - this session reconfirmed this is the hardest turning/carving foil out there!!!!

I'm calling today's sessions to be two separate ones.

First session was at Seconds.

I had the foil lined up on the S850 marks, but there was a tad bit more back foot pressure than I prefer.

The waves I rode had so many hooking turns as peaks stood up in front of me.  And I'd blast off in front of whitewater sections - SO MUCH FUN!!!!

Eleven rides the first outing.  And check the top speed -

I went in to change out the battery.  I also adjusted the foil forward a notch.

The second session was out at Firsts.

Waves were a notch smaller over here compared to Seconds, but there were more people out at Seconds.

More hooking turns and ducking in front of the breaking waves.

The foil position was perfect!!!  I could drive the foil anywhere I wanted with the utmost confidence -

Eleven waves again -

Super fun session!

PF:8/W:3/PW:60/FD:49/S:20

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 6/18/2026

Got in a dawn patrol at Hickam.  I was originally going to surf as Prayot was launching the boat.  But I also brought the Foil Drive setup from yesterday - and when testing the flukey remote, it completely died (would not transmit).  Ryan and Bill both offered up their spare remotes, and it seemed like a better choice to test my system to make sure it was the failing remote and not something else that was causing all the issues lately.

There was a decent south swell still pushing waves in.  And it was cleaner (but still had a funky warble to it) than White Plains.

Same setup as yesterday - wanted to confirm the mast position for the Whippit was dialed in.  I think it can actually go forward a notch still.

My first few rides felt off - still trying to get used to this foil.  It was squirrely, and then when I tried to do a hard turn the stabilizer would slip out.  And the warble in the water didn't help - I breached more than usual.

But eventually I started just going with the flow and I started to get accustomed to how this foil wanted to turn.

Early on the waves were bigger.  As the tide filled in, it started to bog the waves down.

I caught eleven waves in an hour - not bad.

Tomorrow I'm going to bring the Silk 850 or the Enduro 900 and see if it was the warble or the foil that was limiting my hard turning today.

PF:8/W:3/PW:60/FD:47/S:20

Evening Foil Drive Session - 6/17/2026

Went out to Foil Drive to test the remote.  Surf was energetic, but the chop was pretty intense.  Largely from the onshore wind that was blowing.

Nice higher tide.

Cabrinha Whippit 850/Union 160 Rear Stabilizer bolted on to the Cedrus Evolution Surf and No.40

I wanted to get the Whippit mast position dialed in on this board.

I rode the foil in the Silk 850 position for a few waves.  Then I adjusted it forward as it seemed like it needed a little more lift.

With the adjustment, the foil worked a lot better.

This foil is smoother than the Silk 850, but it needs more energy from the wave and with the 160 rear stabilizer, it doesn't seem to have the same grip as the Silk.

This was a short session really to get things dialed in and make sure the remote was working - and towards the end of the session the remote actually started acting funny again.  I called it and headed in so I wouldn't lose signal completely and have to paddle in from outside.

Eleven rides in a short session.  With the chop I fell a bunch - but there were a few really good rides!

Questionable remote makes for a distraction while foiling...

PF:8/W:3/PW:60/FD:46/S:20