Wing Foiling Session - 2/28/2021

The forecasts were all converging - the winds this afternoon were going to be nuking!  I got an earlier than normal afternoon start.  When I was setting up, the wind was blowing, but not anything out of the ordinary.  I pumped up the 5.2 and bolted on the HS1850/Chopped 300.

Plenty of power on the 5.2 - I made a beeline straight for Firsts.  When I got out there, the first of several long gusts came through - water surface turned to smoke with all the spray coming off.  I just moved my hands further up on the wing handles to depower the wing.  When the gusts would ease, the wind was perfect for the 5.2 - but I think even a 4 would have been too big to keep surfing during the blasts.  I got to ride some waves in between gusts - super fun!!!  With all the is going on (include me riding goofy foot on a foil on a breaking wave), you just have to trust your gear and surf.  With the chopped 300 rear stabilizer, I have not been breaching - good for times like this.  I spent 50 minute out at the break - my arms were noodles (4.5 would have been better today) and headed back in.  I got in more transition practice with while trekking upwind to get to the launch.  I'm having a bunch of fun on my outbound tacks - feels good to carve through the turn, transition the wing, then quickly change foot position - I'm even getting a few without coming down off foil.  There were still some strong gusts coming through - you can see the wind line in the photo below - but all the gnarly action started to back down after 4pm.

I was out from 2:30 to 4pm - you can see the gusts were topping 30mph

The 14mph peaks were where I was catching waves.  So much fun today (although I should have pumped up the 4.5 - tomorrow the forecast is similar...)!!!!

Noe Charging

And this is Noe and one of her sailing partners ripping on a 420!

This is pretty darn cool!  Not as cool as wing foiling - but pretty darn close.

Wing Foiling Session - 2/27/2021

And after all the errands were run, I got to go winging.  The reports were saying 20+ with gusts into the 30s - by the time I got rigged up the conditions were roughly the same (but slightly weaker).  Not wanting to repeat yesterday's experience, I bolted on the HS1850 - I had to use the 232 rear stabilizer because the chopped 300 was on the prone setup.

This is the first time I had the 232 so I guessed (further up than the 300 setting) and gave it a go.  There were some waves on the outside - so I figured I'd see what it was like.  There was plenty of wind to get out to the break - and I caught a few waves.  I was set up for a chest high wave - the drop was intimidating mainly because of the excess power I had in the wing that I couldn't seem to dump.  The other reason was I still had some back foot pressure (foil not far enough forward).  I figured it would be best to get the foil adjusted and not get hurt because I had to manage too many variables.

In case the chart below (and the others like it that I have been posting lately) doesn't really make sense, these are graphical displays of the runs I make.  If I was moving at speed and foiled through my transitions, the graph would be the same level and there wouldn't be any black in between - you can see that in the third block in.  So this first part of the session was pretty good - up on foil more than not (compare this to yesterday's graph.....)

And this was after I moved the foil forward.  There was still some back foot pressure, but less than before.  I'm still going to have to bump it forward a hair next time I go out.  During this part of the session, I mainly practiced my transitions.  I am pretty much jumping right back on foil from my outside tacks.  I do not drop when I jibe.  My inside tacks are a bit more frustrating - I seem to be getting hung up on carve the nose of the board through the wind.  I can get the board halfway, and even transition the wing, but maybe push through one out of every 10.

A few of the black bands were lulls, but a few were me contemplating going in, or jamming back out in the gusts.  On most of these runs, you can see the sliver of black space in the middle of the runs - that is me transitioning.  Pretty cool huh?!?

The winds are supposed to be really strong again tomorrow - I might inflate the 4.5 and stay on the 1850 (but might also try the 1550...)

Dawn Patrol - 2/27/2021

Hit the dawn patrol this morning.  The surf was belly to chest, the tide was high at 1.5', and the wind was present (but not strong enough to wing).  The parking lot was only 1/3 full...

I saw Marlon riding several waves.  I brought the wide 4'10" and had the HS1550 with the chopped 300 on.  Coming off my first wave, the cuff section of my leash broke (the plastic portion cracked - no fixing this one).  I did catch a few more, but I had to pick and choose so I wouldn't lose the board.  The rides were mostly lefts - hard to ride into the building winds.

There was also a lot of energy hanging out in the top couple of feet of water - all the turbulence from the wind chop was making for hard takeoffs and stable rides.  Regardless of the challenges, it was nice getting to paddle.

Wing Foiling Session - 2/26/2021

With yesterday's wild rides still on my mind, I kept my eye on the wind all day.  It was blowing, but not as hard as yesterday.  When I got to the beach, I figured it was blowing hard enough to use the 5.2

I also wanted to see if the mast setting with the HS1250 was going to work again today.

Well - those plans were laid to waste - you can see the wind was either up and strong (luring me to go further out) or flat out dead (less than 10 mph).  That made for a long shlogging session.

I did get up on foil several times - the HS1250 just needs a bit more forward speed than the HS1850.  I think I would have had much more fun on the 6.0 and 1850.

And this is the most telling chart - you can see when I was up and riding, and when I was trying to just stay upright.

Wing Foiling Session - 2/25/2021

Hit Hickam again after work (its too easy - really wouldn't do anything else anyways).  The wind was crazy nuclear - white caps everywhere... smoke on the water crazy windy.  Jeff and Rob came over from the other side of the island.  And Jeff let me try out his 4.5 (which came in real handy since it was pretty crazy out there).  Jeff tried Rob's PPC wings - they look like good wings (but the Ensis look like they have more grunt).

I was out between 4:15 and 6-ish - check out the nuclear winds...

I started out with the Ensis 4.5 and the HS1850.  With the big front wing, I was able to get up on foil really quick - and the 4.5 was nicely powered with the blasting winds.  I made a beeline to get to Firsts - but it was super choppy, super gusty and I was picking up too much energy with the 1850.  I rode a shoulder and headed back in.  I also didn't want to put a hole in the borrowed wing.  I ended up working the inside - which was way more manageable.  

I got a top speed of 13.1mph on this outing - partially because it was blowing so hard, I was fighting to keep control.  There were some lulls, and that was probably when I was going faster (retaining control).

I headed in and figured I should try the HS1250.

You can see the break in the middle of this session - I went in and made a second adjustment to the mast (bumped it a hair further up from the first push up from the 1850 position).  The first runs I was not getting up quick.  It wasn't until I got to the middle of the bay where the wind line was established where I would pop up.  On the outside I was popping tacks like they were nothing - and I would make inbound tacks a lot easier than with the 1850.  I went ahead, headed in and nudged the foil forward - and what a difference that made.  Up nearly as quickly as the 1850 and it felt perfectly balanced.  I hit 17.1 mph on the second runs.  Going to have to use the 1250 more now.

Towards the end of the second session, the wind picked up again and there was a bunch of swirling.  By then my arms were done - super fun and challenging today!!!  Ken, Gary and Sonny were also out.  Big wind days are rare and to be cherished!

Wing Foiling Session - 2/24/2021

I hit Hickam after work.  The wind had been blowing all day - and it was holding through the time period where I could be out (3:30 to 5:45) unlike normal where it backs off.  I wanted to try out another footstrap setup today - pretty much where I put my feet when I ride strapless.

I also tried out the chopped Uni 300 rear stabilizer.

You can definitely see the reduction in the vertical surface area. 

With this placement, my rear foot is just in front of the mast.

Plenty of wind today, and there was even surf on the outside - but today I was focusing on the footstraps and transitions (as there are ever so slight differences in how the boards turn).  The 6.0 was a bit big for the gusts, but also a hair small when the lulls persisted - glad I rigged this one today instead of the 5.2 (maybe the rest of the week I'll be using the smaller wing).

This chart speaks volumes - lots of wind for sure; plenty of runs - but the real message is the HS1850 is probably getting speed limited (and capping out at around 15mph).  With the stronger wind filling in the latter half of this week, I'll bolt on the HS1250 to see if I can get a higher max speed.

I was getting complete tacks on the outbound runs.  I got my outbound jibes completed also.  I only got one inbound tack - for some reason I wasn't able to connect the dots and I'd get stuck mid tack.  More practice... but practice that seems like endless fun!!!

Wing Foiling Session - 2/23/2021

Again my better judgement, I went wing foiling this afternoon after work.  The wind had been blowing all day, but as usual, it tapered off once I got there.  Truthfully, it was good light wind training with the new board - to see what the small changes in shape and rocker do differently that the wider board.

I was out from 4 to 5:30ish - you can see from the graph that it was a declining wind strength session.  I had the same setup as the last two sessions so it did make for a nice comparison (Ensis 6.0, HS1850, 300 rear stab, 85cm mast, NWFB).  I did not bolt on the chop shop 300 - maybe next time.

I think the fuller nose rocker makes this board takeoff on flatwater slower than the first board (whose steeper rocker would lend itself to coming up faster as the board gains speed).  This is an incremental difference, not night and day.  There is definitely less swing weight, and this new board likes to pull into turns more lively than the wider board.  I'm already pulling off my outbound tacks and coming out on foil (almost).  The NWFB also "bounces" off touchdowns better (this is where the nose rocker and volume helps).

The wind slacking did lead to a bunch of schlogging - but you can see in the plot above where the holes were located and where I was having fun.  In the track below you can see that I was able to hold my line for the most part (excellent schlogging skills).

Even with the lulls - this was still a fun session and I got to explore the lower end of the board's range.  The rest of the week is supposed to be howling winds!!!  No more schlogging  for the next several days!!!

Last Sanding on the Cut Down Uni 300 Rear Stabilizer

Yesterday I sanded down one tip that was about a 1/16th taller than the other.  Making sure the foil was distributed and complimentary to the untouched areas, I ended up barely exposing some core material again.  I ended up using some JB Weld and patched up the over trimmed area.

Tonight I lightly sanded the cured JB Weld and felt much better about the results.  I took the posca to the tip to dress up the sanded edge. And after several inspections, I finished with a coat of spray matte acrylic.

If the wind holds, I'm going to try this stabilizer out wing foiling (the tides are too low for prone foiling)

Wing Foiling Session - 2/21/2021

The wind didn't come up on this side of the island until around 10am.  I wanted to stay close so I went to Hickam around 11am.  The wind was up and down, but there was enough for me to test out the NWFB.  

I nailed three tacks on the outbound legs today.  You can see them on the GPS track below (look for the loops)

I took the foot straps off so I could validate the locations.  They were pretty much spot on - but that is also the same place I'd put my feet when starting.  Keeping my feet in the foot straps before up on foil limits my mobility - so pumping becomes awkward and if the wind shifts, I've lost it more than a few times.  I think I actually prefer foiling without straps - but I do want to start jumping....  Either way, the next time I put straps on, I'll try out the offset position - I might also try the foot hooks I have.

Taking the Bite Off

Also rounded out the edges of this cutdown P18W.  Seeing as how I've been noticing changes in my own weight, the weather conditions and what's going on with the water surface all influence how the GL180 has been working beneath my feet - I figured I should mix these two rear stabilizers back into the rotation. 

You can see the lines where I was initially planning on cutting - but I decided that if I'm going to shrink this rear stabilizer, I should do it one small cut at a time.

The "rounder" edges are there to make sure I don't get anymore cool scars.

Patagonia Honolulu - Rell Sunn

We stopped by the new Patagonia Honolulu today.  Turns out the building is pretty much dedicated to Rell Sunn.  From one of her surfboards and books from her library, to some of her furniture, the Patagonia folks did a wonderful job creating a reflection of Rell.

This picture is huge - takes up a large portion of the makai wall.

They also had some items from the Hokulea

Make sure to stop by if you are in the area!!!