Wing Foiling Session - 9/28/2021

Yesterday held an awesome surprise - the wind was up!  The tide was a little on the low side, as were the waves - but the wind... perfect 5.2 conditions!

I setup the Go Foil NL160 on the 32.5" mast.  I used the Ensis 5.2 and the Wide Wing Foiling Board (and will be doing so until I fix the NWFB track boxes).

The wind was so good - I pulled up wind almost to hau bush again - then downwinded back to Towers, then Two Cots and back to the launch - on foil almost the entire session!!!  I could never do that with the Armstrong equipment.

I thought I was going faster... Next time the wind is this good (Friday?) I might use the GL140 to see if I can break the 20mph barrier.

The waves were mostly small - but I did get a few of the bigger waves.  They didn't stand up for very long.  Still a fun session (especially enjoyable when you don't break any gear).

Another Shop Carrying Foils

Post from this weekend.  I took the kids to check out some surf shops on the Windward side.  We hit Hawaiian Watersports and HIC Kailua.  HIC just finished a pretty significant renovation - and the best part is they now carry foiling gear!!!

They carry Naish, Amundson, and Go Foil.  Pretty cool!!!

Wing Foiling Session - 9/26/2021

Today was a big day.  Hickam had really good wind and I had decided to run some trials on the Go Foils (to see if the performance is better than the Armstrongs) - perfect conditions for starting this test.  I committed to multiple runs while altering only one variable and making notes on what was going on.

While packing, I was bolting on the 32.5" Go Foil mast and noticed the front of the boxes on the NWFB had busted.  No doubt from the prior incident here at Hickam (that run just keeps dishing out bad news... hopefully that was the last - and I'm going to have to dig the current boxes out to properly fix the board - ughhhhhhhh).  Good thing I still have the Wide Wing Foiling Board (WWFB).

The wind had a lot of east in it.  The tide was deep enough to not have to worry about grounding anywhere. I started out with the Ensis 5.2 and the GL180.

Surprisingly I nailed the mast positioning on the first try.  And the GL180 performed well - transitions were decent - had tripped a couple of times, but early on - later in the session I was nailing everything.  Nice tracks (I love easterly winds!!!).  

You can see the trips (botched transitions) below.  It felt like I was up on foil significantly more than when I was on the Armstrong.  This is actually consistent with what I've observed with Eli and Derek - they hardly touch down the entire session.

Next run saw the GL180 replaced with the NL160.  This is where things got really exciting!  The NL160 does almost everything better than the GL180 (except gliding - but turns were visceral and I literally would hang in the pocket next to the breaking section of the wave - I had my best three waves at Firsts today!!!).  This front foil can wing surf better than any other foil I've used to date - I could turn really well with the HS1550 - but I could not run down waves like I could with the NL160, and the NL turns better.  I broke the 20mph barrier on the foil to boot.  

I went in again to mix it up again.  With the wind as strong as it was, I wanted to see if the 4.5 could produce good rides with the NL160.  I was not disappointed - 3 mph slower, and the wing would do flips occasionally while luffed - but not having to handle a larger wing was nice.  I got fewer epic wave rides this run - but I think that was more due the changing conditions as opposed to the smaller wing.

My verdict - if I had to choose one today, I'd keep the Go Foil over the Armstrong - it just works better with the conditions I find a majority of the time.  I will need to test the GL210 and the PNL185 in lighter winds before I can start selling off the Armstrong foils.

The rear stabilizer was singing the whole session.  I normal don't go as fast as I did today while prone foiling.  Also I don't stay up on foil as long so I hadn't noticed this before.

I did not move the mast from this setting - I'll mark it and use normal M8 25mm bolts now.

If you are guilty of knocking Go Foil, you really should try the NL series (or even the GL) - these are game changers!!!

Garage Works - EOM September

Lots of activity in the garage on this last weekend of September.  I redid the template on the 4'8" wing board blank - wider hips now and I went ahead and committed by cutting the template out.  Next step for this is skinning bottom and top, trimming down the nose volume, then dialing in the shape.

But before I do anymore work on that board, I need to work on fixing Ken's wing board.  What I had thought was an air bubble under the deck pad, was actually a full on delamination.  And there are two of them.  I prepared one for filling already - will need to lift the deck pad by the handle and do a big fill there as well.

And to top that off, Tim dinged the nose of his Amundson custom today and already dropped that off for fixing.

Knowing I am going to experiment on the Go Foils, I wanted to get some bottom mount rear stabilizers made.  I'm re-templating the one Dennis had previously asked for (but never picked up) to be another 15".  I got the holes drilled in to the two on the right - and I took off a bunch of bulk on the middle on.  Going to perform the bulk removal/taper down to the tips operation on a few of the top mount stabilizers as well.

I helped Marlon dial in his new longboard template.

Here is the re-foiled rear stabilizer (not quite finished yet - I took this picture mid-process).  It took about an hour to get the bulk off and get the surface sanded down to 220.

And here's Marlon cutting out his new longboard from the raw blank.  He opted to use the manual saw for the bulk removal.

And then used the surform to get the edges smoothed out and even.

I might have to reconfigure the garage to handle the volume of boards going in and out....

Dawn Patrol - 9/25/2021

Marlon and I hit the dawn patrol today.  The reports predicted 1' to 2' and the wind was supposed to be down.  The tide was supposed to be full.  The tide and wind reports were correct - the swell was bigger than predicted - chest high on the sets.  I should have put on the NL160... instead I had the PNL185.  The tide - swell combo had the inside breaking pretty fast (pitching lips) and the outside wasn't exactly pushing enough to takeoff.

Marlon brought his longboard and was catching a bunch (when doesn't he).

I had the watch on cycle mode again - it is way easier to discern real rides from just paddling attempts.  Pretty much just look for the red lines.  I moved the mast back more after the first ride.  The PNL185 surprisingly has a lot of lift.  I am noticing with the large span higher aspect ratio foils, there seems to be a twitchiness to the ride until you get your balance setup.  The lower aspect ratio foils balance out way faster.  In the end, it really is just a matter of getting used to what you have under your feet.

I got some speed on the last wave - caught it on the outside and rode it all the way in to the shower.

Here's where the mast ended up.  The NL160 was actually aligned right where the GL180 was.  These three foils have a lot of over lap - but purpose wise I'd use them for different applications.  PNL185 for waist and smaller waves; NL160 for head high waves where I want to turn a lot; GL180 for going longer distances on chest high waves.

I'm going to start using the Go Foil for winging - I've been thinking about the lack of wind I had yesterday and how Eli was able to keep on going.  He was on Go Foil...

Wing Foiling Session - 9/24/2021

This afternoon the signs indicated marginal winds.  But after yesterday's session (and the strong winds that materialized from the same marginal signs) I thought I should set up to wing.

HS1850 on the 95cm mast, chopped 300 rear stabilizer and the Ensis 6.0

Marlon came out to practice some more with the drone.  It was perfect flying conditions for him, but what started out as marginal quickly dropped to the impossible range

Eli can conjure up his own wind so he was cruising the whole time.  Roland and I are not nearly as good as Eli is, so we got stranded when the wind stopped.

You can see the large amount of "blue", or me drifting around in the image below.

It is hard to call this marginal wind...

And to boot, there was more north in this wind than there was east.  On the runs I did get, I kept trying to pinch upwind - but alas it was not to be.  I ended up having to swim a good deal in and at the last second was able to ride to the lone cottage.

Roland was closer in when the wind died - he paddled the gap and was in well before I was.

I really should have listened to my gut and prone foiled.  It would have been much less work.  Tomorrow on the dawn patrol - going to go prone surf foiling.

Evening Session - 9/23/2021

I decided to prone foil today.  And I decided to use the GoFoil with the 4'8".  I checked the surf and figured I should use a smaller (but not too small) front foil - I settled for the NL160.

Roland, Eli and Paul were there getting set up when I arrived.  I was thinking there would not be enough wind, but sure enough once they got out the wind picked up.  And it kept getting stronger as the rain clouds blew through.

I tried to focus on prone foiling and tweaking the mast position.  I caught probably eight waves - and I moved the mast a few times.  The ones I did catch (higher tide so the waves were not cooperating - not to mention the strong wind) were fun and yielded long rides.  On one adjustment, I clearly had it too far forward - tons of front foot pressure required to keep it in check.  After that I pushed it back - I thought to the 160 line... maybe it drifted on its own -

Oddly enough, this is where it felt most intuitive under foot.  And low and behold it was where the mast started out today (I had the GL180 on earlier).

Wing Foiling Session - 9/22/2021

With the 85cm mast out of commission, I broke out the 95cm mast.  I used the 60cm original fuselage with the +1 titanium shim.  The same foils went on - the HS1550v1 and the chopped down 300 rear stabilizer.  The wind seemed slightly stronger than yesterday and from the beach, the waves out at Firsts and Seconds looked more developed.

I'm jumping ahead, but after I shimmed the front of the mast base, this seemed to be a great setting for this foil combo.

When I got to the beach, Jim and Harris were already out.  I assembled the foil/board, carried it to the beach and figured using the 5.2 would be the best bet.

I used the electric pump again (4th time using it - trying to see how many inflate cycles I get out of a single charge)

I actually made two outings.  The first was to make sure the foil was properly set - and seeing as I was real close, I went ahead and headed out to Firsts.  The waves seemed cleaner, bigger and more organized today.  The tide was still high so that did slow the action down a bit.  I was able to get several waves where the face had some vertical to it and I luffed the wing.  Riding this way has always been harder for me at Firsts - but with the practice at WPB, it is getting easier over here.

I did head in because I noticed the board was riding nose down.  I grabbed the shims from the truck and got them bolted on.  The shims seemed to somewhat correct the attitude issue, but just a hair short of perfect.  I may try using the other shim from Wizard Hat.

I seemed to be going faster the second half of the session.  I think with the longer mast, the additional drag slowed me down considerably.  Pumping and taking off were also more difficult compared to the 85cm mast.  That said - I did not breach or pop the tail once.  The extra 4" of height also made it seem like I didn't have to think about the foil's position relative to the surface - I was there just to ride the wave.

I think as I use this mast more, it'll become a better experience.  I have used it in the past - but with the HS1850.  I'm going to try this mast with the HS1250 on a windy day - would be interesting to see the difference.

Wing Foiling Session - 9/21/2021

Roland and I hit Hickam this afternoon.  Perfect 5.2 wind (see graph below) and a high tide to make launching even easier than normal.  Lastly there was a south swell starting to show.  I had a great session until my last run - tried to jump, botched it and ended up jacking up the mast and the fuselage.  I don't really know how I bent these parts (no broken bones and just a scratch on my foot), but I did.

I wasn't sure at first, but this titanium core fuselage is definitely bent and the back of the mast cracked open.

Roland also had a great session until the last run.  All session he was trying out his new Naish S26 board.  He even went in to swap out his foils and adjust the mast.  On his last run, he blew out the stitches on the front wing handle - he was just trying out some tacks.

Anyways - enough about paying taxes.  I made a beeline out to Firsts and rode for over an hour.

Here is a little bit more detail on the wave riding session

I knew I was not maxing out today - only hit 17.5mph according to the watch.

If I go tomorrow, it'll be with the 95cm mast and the old 60cm fuselage.  Hopefully I'm done paying taxes....