Armstrong Front Foil Profiles

Since I posted the chop shop HS1550, I figured I would pull out the other wings and take a look at the thickness of each.  The first picture is centered on the HS1250

This next picture is centered on the HS1550 - a little thicker.

And this last one is of the CF1600 - super thick compared to the other two.

CF1600 - HS1550 - HS1250

I really enjoy using the HS1250.  It's been a while since I used the CF1600, but from the thickness profile, I'm thinking there will be a lot of excess lift (and more drag).  I think I need to retry the HS1550 again - seems to be a good balance between drag and lift - and looking at what Kalani was doing with the Chopped Up HS1550, I won't lie I've been thinking about chopping something else....

Adding Footstraps to the Wing Foiling Board

After taking careful note of where my feet end up while winging, it was time to add footstraps.  Instead of using inserts routed and glassed in to the board, I opted to use the NSI Stick-on inserts.  I started with the front two

I pull tested each one to make sure it was holding, and had to reset one of the middle inserts.  I also trimmed the corners of the front two.

Tonight I set the rear inserts.  I need to pick up another strap for the rear - I'll get another Armstrong since they can be kneeled on.  Friday looks to be the next day that the wind will be up - these should be set in nicely by then (resist the urge to go out immediately after installing these - at least that is what the instructions say).

Dawn Patrol - 11/29/2020

 Marlon and I went dawn patrolling this morning.  I brought the wide 4'10" and the HS1850 setup.  The waves were waist high at best, tide was draining and the wind was offshore.

I was able to get the chop shop HS1550 back to Kalani - who subsequently went to work slashing up all the waves that did manage to break.

Dennis brought out his efoil as Marlon and I were packing up (it got way too crowded for the number of waves available). 

I got several rides - but towards the end it was congested - couldn't get a wave to myself.

Wing Foiling Session - 11/28/2020

 The reason I was working on the projects/testing earlier in the day was so I could wait for the wind to swing around.  This morning through the early afternoon, the wind was light and blowing from the North.  After lunch the wind picked up strength and came more from the North East.  Knowing the winds are going to back off until next Friday, I felt compelled to try out both the repaired board and one of the Ensis wings.  You can see how big this wing is from the picture below.  It didn't feel too different handling wise from the Echo 6.0M - they are both big wings chord-wise.

The wind was on the light side, but earlier on it was a little more consistent.  Of all the sessions I've had so far, this one had the most and the longest lulls.  That's fine - more training for smaller boards and shlogging conditions.  Winging has definitely been making me use muscles I didn't know I had.

I was able to turn the wing on my outbound tacks, but I definitely had to look to grab the back handle once through the turn.  That was a significant difference from the Echo where I could tack blind (not looking for the grab point after the turn).

It felt like the Ensis 6.0M took less effort to get up on foil compared to the Echo 6.0M.  Not by much but enough to be noticeable.  I even got in a few wet (board on the surface) jibes in today.  Practice-practice-practice...

This is going to be a fun wing to use!  Can't wait for strong wind days to mix with some swell.  Thanks to Marlon for being so patient and for taking the awesome pictures!

Repairs and Mods All Done

This morning we all slept in late.  I was pretty exhausted from working Black Friday, so Marlon and I skipped out on the beach this morning.  After I got up, I finished up a few things I had ongoing.

I finished up sealing Kalani's chop shop HS1550.

Looks too good to give back...

Then I finished sanding down the repairs on the Wing Foiling board.  Back in business.  Because of this issue, I think I'm going to go ahead and shape another Wing Foiling board so I've got a back up.

I finished tweaking a couple more rear stabilizers 

I also worked with Noe on swapping the lights on the trailer for the Laser - I'll post pictures of this later.

And a few other things - anyways the big projects were the first two.  So now I can clean up my garage again (and take in more projects...)

Pressure Testing a Couple of New Wings

Based on the demo wing I used on Wednesday, I decided to pick up a couple of new wings yesterday - these are Ensis Wings.  I got the 6M and the 5.2M.

Here is the 6.0

And here is the 5.2M

The wing span is nearly the same on these two wings - the extra size on the 6.0 comes in the chord length.

0.8M doesn't seem like a lot, but the difference in wind strength required to get up on foil is pretty substantial.  They both survived the initial bladder twist and pressure holding test.  Anyone interested in a slightly used 6.0M Echo Duotone?

Evening Session - 11/27/2020

I had to work today - Black Friday.... needless to say it was taxing.  Marlon and I hit the beach and I got to wash the week off in the surf.  Before I got in the water, I talked with Kalani about his new board - a Quatro Wing Drifter 5'6".  Looked really nice and user friendly.

I brought out the skinny 4'10", the GL180 and the No.9 rear stabilizer.  First two waves were throw aways - but I quick recalibrated and picked up several long rides after.  With the waves around waist high, I was in milk it mode.  I pumped back out a few times, but I was more concerned about the shallow depth beneath the board on the inside - so I usually opted to bail instead of burning energy on a pump that might actually cause damage to the foil.

I had some good waves this afternoon - glad to have gone out and enjoyed the evening surf! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! Repair Day

We did not surf/foil today.  Marlon did some homework and played games with Noe.  I decided I'd use today to repair stuff and do some comparisons.

I'll post pictures of this later, but I repaired the Go Foil pedestal tail, the GL210, the wing foiling board, several of the G10 tail wings, and the HS1550 that Kalani asked me to cut down.

Among all that, I pumped up the Duotone Echo 6.0 and the Ensis 5.2 to compare sizes.  I also compared the Echo 5.0 that I'm borrowing.  There doesn't seem to be too much difference between the Echo 6.0 and the Ensis 5.2 - check out these pictures -

Comparing the 5.2 I rode on Wednesday to my Echo 6.0, it had similar pull.  I felt the Echo was easier to adjust angle-wise because you can twist the boom - can't do that with handles.  The Echo also tacked easier - the dihedral helps on this I think.  One measurement you can't seem to find on any wing is the boom/strut length.  Here are a couple of pictures of the Ensis 5.2 and the Echo 6.0 

The Ensis did get up on foil faster than the bigger Echo when I got hit with a puff - which was puzzling to me.  Perhaps the gusset helps "cup" the wind better.  If I could get that kind of power out of the 5.2, a 6.0 Ensis should have more power than the Echo.  

I also went ahead and placed the Echo 6.0 and 5.0 together for comparison.

There seems to be a more noticeable difference in size here.  I've had the 6.0 out in gusts past 25 (but not much), and I've had the 5.0 out in gusts past 35 (maybe 40) and I could still foil by holding the wing in the 12 o'clock neutral position.

So I really like the Echo with the boom, but until I can get it to flag while I'm on a wave (which it really doesn't want to do while I'm single handing it), I think I'll be adding the Ensis 5.2 and 6.0 to the quiver.

Wing Foiling Session - 11/25/2020

I've been trying to determine what wings to get - I currently have a 6.0 Duotone Echo and I really like the ease of use of the boom.  But what I don't like is fact that flagging is not automatic.  Last week when I caught a wave and tried to dump the wing power, I had to use both hands - a little awkward.

I am using this demo Ensis 5.2 wing to see what else is out there (thanks Jeff!!!).  I was really interested in the V1 version of this wing when I was looking for a first wing - but it wasn't in stock anywhere.  With winter setting in here in the Northern Hemisphere, wings are starting to become available.  I'm glad I got the Echo, but I do want to ride waves so the Ensis seems like the next step forward.

This wing had almost the same power as the Echo 6.0.  The handles were almost as easy to use as a boom - but there are no hard parts to worry about.  On my first run, I got up pretty quickly once a gust hit.  According to the iwindsurf.com report, there was a burst of wind that held over 20mph with higher gusts.  And there were lulls down below 15mph.  I was able to tack the wing - but it isn't as easy as the Echo (which has more dihedral).  I got further on my inbound jibes so this wing won't slow my learning curve down.

This is Harris trying out the wing.  He normally uses a Slingshot 5.4 V2.  He said this one felt weird to him.  Coming from a different wing, I felt that way too, but considering this is a smaller wing than the Echo 6.0, this wing may be in my future...

Here's the runs I had - obviously I drifted down during the lulls, and got back up wind on the gusts.  Seeing as my board needs to be repaired (and tomorrow is Thanksgiving), I'll keep my eye on the wind, but I'll likely prone foil and fix the board.

Nightmare Scenario - 11/25/2020

Foil and Wingboard jumped out of the back of my truck today while I was driving on the freeway.

Got super lucky that only one of the two bungees broke - if the load broke totally free, someone could have gotten really hurt (thank goodness).  There are some scratches and yet another ding on the tailgate - but again considering what could have gone wrong, this is good.

There was some damage to the top nose area - I'll just grind down the high points, fill with epoxy, add a top coat then sand to 400.  The innegra survived being dragged around on the freeway... can't get a better endorsement than that.

The tail of the foil got a little bent up - the pedestal mount rear bolt hole mainly.  I'll sand down the tip that got damaged, seal it with epoxy and be done.  And yes - I was at the beach and I did go out (after I taped up the scratches).  Its a good thing I fix dings... uuuuuuuggggggghhhhhhhhhh.  

I'll most likely use a heat gun  to take off the front deck pads, drop in some footstrap inserts, add a little cap sheet, drill holes and rubber cement the deck pad back on.  Might as well since I'll be grinding on the board.  

And I'll close this off by once again giving thanks that this incident wasn't worse.