Pictures from the Beach

La and Noe came with Marlon and me to the beach!  And La brought her DLSR so I got a shot of me up on the foil in the surf.

She also got plenty of shots of me eating it - for some reason I was off... I'd either not get up on foil, or I would get up and breach (truth be told, I am in the process of breaching in this picture).  There is a fine line between not foiling (because of too much weight up front) and breaching (not enough weight up front).  I'm beginning to wonder if it is time for me to rig up the shorter board (5'2").

La also took a bunch of pictures of Marlon surfing - but that is the next post (and I'm going to make him post from his computer).

Mahalo La for being the photog!!!!

Marlon's Board - Step 2

Skinning the blank.

I got him on the planer also (so it is not all me building this board)!

More Foiling

Since my last foiling post, I've been out three times.  The first was last Thursday - and I done messed up bad.  I was in such a rush to get out to the water, that I bolted on the fuselage upside down.

Yup - I felt pretty stupid, and needless to say I was getting thrown off the board.  Not having a set of tools in the truck meant this session was just exercise.

The next session was Saturday evening.  The waves were big enough to ride a shortboard - and anytime there is a good pocket in the wave, foiling should take a back seat to regular surfing.  I did get a few decent longer rides - but most of the session was getting into situations where I had too much speed and lift.

And we come to yesterday evening.  The waves were fuller and the wind was light.  The first wave I caught I was up and riding for quite some distance and even making conscious turns.  Foiling is pretty much flying.  From that point on I alternated good ride - bad ride.  The bad rides were instances where the foil breached, I lost lift and instantly came crashing down.  Only in one case did I get bucked off (and that was really because of a bad takeoff).

I really like the wing shape and tail configuration of the Slingshot FSurf - I am starting to wonder if the weight of the whole setup is driving the trend to come off foil.  If I had a full carbon ultralight setup with the same surface area, would that foil stay up longer all other things equal???

Up and Foiling

I was able to get an afternoon session in with the foil.  I did not change anything - used the same setup as last time.  Paddled out and was able to get up on foil for seven of ten rides.  I still ate it a few times - and badly.  One was a foil breach (not enough front foot pressure), another was bad foot placement when trying to stand up, and the last was a bad run when trying to turn.  All that said - today was a monumental session - getting up on foil was finally predictable and manageable.  

I think I'm going to go out again tomorrow ;)

Easy Dinner

Made this a few nights ago -

Spicy Ahi Poke on Giant Furikake Shrimp Chips - Oh So Ono!

Saturday Evening Session (3/16/19)

Marlon and I hit the beach again late this afternoon.  Waist high on the sets and a 0 tide, this is probably the lowest tide I'd feel comfortable foiling on a 24" mast.  I took the Slingshot Infinity 76 out again, and altering only one variable, I had the mast centered forward of the box midpoint.  I was able to get up consistently, didn't get thrown off (because of too much lift), and got some of the longest rides I've had to date on a surf foil.  Five or so rides in the hour of daylight that we had.

Marlon had to use his hybrid shortboard (dinged La's longboard last session and I have not had the time to fix it).  He got several ride and also the chance to try out a new rash guard/insulated top he got recently.

So after 3 months and several tries, I think I can say that I can manage the very basics of foil surfing.  I have a ton more to learn (like turning without falling off, and controlling the pitch of the foil more), but at least I can stand up and get the board to lift out of the water and not get thrown around!!!

Bracketing

Today I used the foil located just aft of center.

The waves were actually sizable - I could have rode the shortboard (and actually thought about bring out the Greedy Beaver - but like I said a few posts back - I really want to learn to prone foil).  Made taking off a little sketchy, but today was the first time I got consistent controllable rides.  I had a couple of rides where the foil did not lift - I'm thinking of moving the foil forward just a hair to get lift consistently (without the bucking bronco effect).

I started to feel a "shifting" in the foil - I thought it was the plate connection - so I decided to paddle in.  When I got back to the van, I took the foil off and checked the bolts - it was the plate to mast connection.  Lesson learned here is to tighten all bolts before heading out.  Second lesson learned is to actually listen to the designer/manufacturer and disassemble the foil after every use.  No corrosion - but why leave things to chance.

Nukin' at Diamond Head

I dropped off Marlon at music practice today and stopped off at the lookout at Diamond Head to checkout what the wind and surf were doing.  It was pretty nuclear - there were some guys getting a few waves, but it was a lone windsurfer who was ruling the place!

Definitely made me want to rig up!

Back in Town!!!

Our favorite cream puff place is back in our vicinity!!!

These are so delicious!!!

Starting Marlon's Longboard

Pretty timely as he accidently dinged the longboard he was using (I can fix that).  He did not want to make a mistake on this board so he asked me to do the first couple of steps - using the jigsaw to cut out the template and use the planer to skin the board top and bottom.  Yesterday before heading out to get him to a penguin suit concert, I was able to make a couple of adjustments to the shaping racks (still need to make another adjustment -

that is another post) and get the template cut out.

I'm happy with how the trimming turned out.  Cuts smooth as butter!

Too Far Back

I took Marlon to surf Friday evening.  I brought the foilboard again (I really want to nail this thing), and from the Thursday experience I thought I'd jam the foil the complete opposite way.

With the foil pedestal all the way back, there was a lot less lift.  The rides were way more stable, but on a couple I didn't even lift above the water.  On the ride I did have, I could feel there was a lot less "full throttle bucking" and more of a glide.  I need to get back out with the foil mid box - I have a good feeling about this!

One more note in general - the positioning of the pedestal should be a function of the lift generating capability of the wings - more lift from the wings for a given speed of travel (and payload weight), the further back you can place the wings.  Keeping the sport static (windsurf foiling, prone foiling), speed of travel constant, and rider weight the same - the smaller the foil wing the further forward you can mount it.

Honestly - 20+ years ago when I first learned to windsurf, I was enthralled by it because of the sail and the adjustments you could make to get more or less out of it.  I was frustrated because the wind was mostly just below the strength I needed to get out and sail - and then kiting came along and opened up that wind.  Kiting is still really fun - but it doesn't have that element of balancing of forces - you just measure the wind and put up the kite you think you can hold down.  Foiling is giving me back the goal of being able to understand adjustments and now there is no wind range threshold to meet.  I'm hooked!

First Session on the Slingshot Infinity 76 FSurf

There was finally some waves breaking at the beach - and even though the wind was up (windsurf foiling) - I decided to go surf foiling instead.  I got up several times, but each ended in a severe bucking.  The board even got airborne a couple of times (yikes).

Looking at this design, there is actually some really good design points - especially with regards to the rear wing.  The shim looks like it will take the brunt of any bottom hits - instead of the rear wing tip.

After I was drying off at the truck, I realized that perhaps I need to bolt the pedestal on towards the way back of the board.  This front wing has enough surface area to lift me easily - I just need more control now.  Compared to the foil I built, this wing is about 25% larger (by eyeball estimate).  I can definitely feel the response in the lift it delivers.

Yup - I'll jam this all the way back the next time I go out.  That should reduce the bucking.

Marlon Getting Ready to Shape

Learning how to use the different tools is a big step in learning to shape.  He sliced foam using the jigsaw and mowed using the planer.

It takes practice and more practice to get comfortable with these so they become assets and not liabilities.  Every journey starts with a first step...

WIndsurf Foiling 3/32019

I finally went Windsurf Foiling again - just about two months since the last time I went out (and cracked the nose of the board).  I brought the Naish Lift 5.7 and 4.7, with 400 and 370 mast respectively.  I also brought the Maliko 200.  The wind was blowing stiff at the beginning of my session (1615) but rapidly dropped.  Initially the 4.7 lifted, but after a couple of runs I figured I should change out the sails.  Here's the wet 5.7

The 5.7 is a beast - lots of power.  It took a little bit to get used to the pull.  But true to the advertisements, you can dump the power when needed (duh - all sails are like that).  I was up on the foil a lot, but the earlier flights were not smooth and controlled - too much wind and too much lift from the foil.  I could tell when I was headed for a breach and a few times the mast got away from me (headed for the nose).  I checked the nose after each crash - the high density foam nose guard and the light weight mast seem to be doing the trick.  As the sun continued setting, the wind smoothed out and at just under 12 mph the 5.7 and the Maliko worked perfectly together - I got two runs with perfect control and stability.  I even tried pushing a jibe (failing in a blaze of glory).  Have I mentioned I love this truck?

I am going to rig up the Slingshot FSurf Foil with the 78cm fuselage and see if pushing the wing forward makes a discernable difference in stability.  I'm thinking it will since that is why Slingshot is selling the FSurf with the longer fuselage and calling it the FWind.  Should be able to test that setup out this week (the wind is forecasted to hold).

The other configuration I want to test out is the 5.7 and the Iwa - that might be a way to eliminate the need to fight the setup.  Stay tuned!

Nutcracker???

Hoping this will be the thing that cracks the windsurfing nut for La and the kids - this eliminates the rig weight factor from learning and keeps all the sail handling.

We'll see -

Getting Back on the Horse

It has been a while since I have gone windsurf foiling - since before my trip to Virginia Beach/San Diego back in January.  The wind forecast called for marginal conditions so I packed up the Hypernut, some sails and the Maliko 200 in case I had some time after running a bunch of errands.  After running said errands (mostly getting more materials to build a deck in our backyard), I did get a chance to checkout the sailing spot.

Really glassy and really flat.  Nice for paddling and flyfishing - but the opposite for windsurf foiling and surfing.  Tomorrow is supposed to be better (more wind) so I'll try again.  Since I was over there with a bunch of equipment, I figured I'd at least rig up the sails, take some measurements and record the optimal outhaul and downhaul lengths.

I need to get wet...

Getting Ready for Number 2

Thinking about making a second foil -

Larger front wing (since I can only get the first one to rise above 50% of the time), and shorter mast (total of 24" inclusive of mounting plate and fuselage) so I don't hit the bottom.  For comparison I've got this wing on top of a Slingshot Infinity 76cm front wing (got this through a deal with an old friend).

The feedback on this foil setup has been positive.  The dimensions of the modified kit components are very similar to this one - but while I'm building up the kit, I'll be using this one in the surf.  Looking forward to comparing them all!