Wing Foiling Session - 4/30/2022

Large part of the Hickam Harbor crew came out today - including Tim and Kalani.  Kalani wanted to get his new board (yes the one that has been "curing" in my autoclave/"garage" for the past year) in the water.  Tim declared that if he didn't get up on foil today, his gear would likely end up on Craigslist.  And I wanted to try out the Takuma RS 6.1 wing.

The wind was supposed to be down in the morning, but the forecasters were WRONG AGAIN - the wind was all over the place - sometimes not even strong enough to get up on the 6.1 with gusts into the high 20's/low 30's.

I have been having better luck with the Takuma fuselages being discipline specific now (the "shaky" one is now the prone foiling fuselage; and the less issue plagued one is the winging fuselage), so I decided to test whether the 1210 would come loose while winging.  And as you can see - I brought out the strapped wing board...

I also bolted on the 17" rear stabilizer I just got from www.Foilparts.com

The wind was way up and down - so much for light wind testing the RS 6.1

I actually got three sessions in today.  First one was in the lower of the winds today.  The RS is not like the OR and Reedins - it is closer to what the Ensis V2 felt like.  I initially had a hard time going upwind with this wing - if I pinched too hard, it would backwind, and it would be slow to recover (I would have to really pull with my backhand to get the luff to pop back out).  I also seemed to have needed to move my hands to the back of both handle bars in order to fly the wing.

I figured I had a decent feel for the wing and had gotten some transitions in - I headed straight out to Firsts.  Jim was out there with his Alien wing 6.0.  The waves were small, but rather clean.  I caught a few and then went it to check on Tim and Kalani.  

Kalani was having a hard time dialing in the foil - it has been almost a year since he was last out.  Tim had drifted down to the reef where I fish (and did the walk of shame back to the launch) - but he said he did get up on foil three times during that run.

I took a break - the RS is a demanding wing (but to be fair - I should probably have been on the 4.5 or 4.2).  I headed out for another run.  Even though the wind was stronger, I tried to use the same coping skills I figured out on the first run and it worked - the RS was a bit easier to manage and I was getting upwind (just not as closed hauled as the OR or SWX could get).  I also hadn't felt my hands go numb while winging - but the handles were stretching my hands - just like a windsurf boom.  WOndering if I'm going to need to use gloves while flying this wing.

Almost broke 20mph with the 1210.

I didn't record the last run, but Kalani asked me to take his board out to see if I could ride it (so he could tell if it was him, the foil or the board).  He had on his HPS 880.  I got up and foiling right away - that board I made is pretty awesome!  That didn't make him feel better, but a year can be a long time.

The 1210 held- except for the last screw which had loosened just a tad - way better than having to limp in on a loose foil.

I think I'm going to like the RS wing - but it is significantly different than what I have been foiling with so I'll have to make some adjustments.

W:34/F:43/S:12

Wing Foiling Session - 4/29/2022

The wind was questionable this afternoon.  The forecast had changed from dead to something - but I still wasn't confident in the wind.  I opted not to bring the Takuma RS 6.1 - but brought nearly everything else.

Based on the conditions I saw when I got to the beach, I settled on the SWX 5.2 and the Kujira 980.  I added more loctite - this outing was to be another test session (to see if the screws would give way - spoiler - they held just fine)

There were whitecaps when I was setting up (without the truck I have to dissemble the foil to transport it) - but by the time I was launching, the wind had back off.  Then when I made it outside the breakers, it pretty much died.  Eventually the gusts pulled through and I was able to get up on foil and start riding.

Roland was out on his 3.6m2 Spin (and a Hyper 190 foil) - and even with the lighter winds he was able to pull off some jumps.

I got stuck twice in wind drop offs.  I didn't want to push my luck - so I headed in.  Derek was just finishing setting up when I had finished showering.  He proceeded to rip everything up! 

You can see the low wind runs (sucked).  I had some fun unbreaking walls that I got to ride.

Take note of the three dips...

And compare that to the schlogging drop offs I had below.

Marlon is getting really good with his drones!  If you are looking for an aerial photographer, give him a shout!

Great day!

W:33/F:43/S:12

Pressure Testing the Takuma RS 6.1

Got paid for a custom board and immediately turned the funds around for this!!!  My new 6m wing - the Takuma RS.  The WPB winging crew was around so while I was pressure testing the bladders, they were there checking out the design features of this wing - the tafetta Xply trailing edge, the wing tip battens, the carbon handles, independent bladders, large leading edge and how the wing held wind.

Sized up to the Alien Wing 5.0

I told Roland I have a helmet so now I'm ready to start learning to jump.

I have a feeling this is going to be a really good wing.

Evening Session - 4/28/2022

There was some wind this afternoon - and I had thought about winging, but I figured I'd keep things simple and prone.  Plus I wanted to test the 1440 on the shitty fuselage.  I didn't use anymore loctite - just recycled what was on there (good news - it held tight the whole session).

Marlon opted out, but came along to drone.  He was stoked because Eli, Paul and Derek were out winging.

Waves were maybe waist high - and the wind made it a little tough to pump after going right.

Going left though - felt like I could go forever with very little use of energy.

Eli and Derek were ripping (as usual).

Super fun session and reassuring to know that using the shitty fuselage for prone was good to go. 

W:32/F:43/S:12

 

Kalani Picked Up His Wing Board

Kalani came over this evening.  He brought over the deck pad he found at Blue Planet and we did some trimming and setting to get the board all finished.

Happy camper!  

This was a long journey getting to this point.  We're making plans to bring this out on Sunday!!!

Evening Session - 4/26/2022

I took the day off from work today to get a bunch of errands done - passport pictures, turning in truck to the body shop, rental car, passport applications for Noe and myself, and some other things.  I finished right around the time that I would normally hit the beach.

There was some significant energy still coming in from the south - so I decided to rig up the 4'8" prone foiling board, the 75cm PC mast and the Kujira 980.  I was still a little worried about the front foil screws not holding - but with the swell being close to overhead, it was time to throw caution to the wind...

Perfect front foil placement for the 980.

I caught plenty of epic waves over in front of the cabins - overhead takeoffs , a quick line up and then afterburners lit for the racetrack run!!!  By the time I was getting tired and had my fair share, it seemed that the swell was also starting to back down.

And I found Roland - he was riding the inside and filming with his GoPro.

I'm glad I didn't have any equipment faults!

W:32/F:42/S:12

Wing Foiling Session - 4/25/2022

Last day with the truck (and its tremendous conveniences) before I have to drop it off at the body shop to get my self-inflicted wounds (smashed in rear quarter panel) fixed up.  Body shop guy said 2 weeks + or -.  Oh well - time to practice my "I can get it in there" routine.

Setup the same gear as the past several sessions - but swapped out the wide wing board for the narrow.  On the front foil, I wanted to try one last thing (suggestion from Prayot to use loctite on the screws) before drilling out the existing screw holes and placing in M6 helicoils.  I used the NWFB because I figured I should start getting used to winging with footstraps again as a prelude to learning to jump this season.

BLUF - the loctite made it better - only loosened up towards the end of the session, but it didn't stop the wiggling.  Time to do some surgery...

No surprise here - 1/4" back from the 1095 placement.

The waves were definitely bigger - Harris had a few waves that were overhead while he was up on foil.  I caught a few good ones, but they were as big as the ones Harris caught.  I just had some hesitancy pushing the 1210 really hard.

There was a pretty big school of halalu moving around the harbor.  I ran through it a few times and I could feel the fish bumping into the foil and the mast.  I didn't see the bigger things that chase the bait balls.

The wind was pretty hard to read - it kept swinging back and forth from the East then more North.

The black space was where the foil loosened up and the wind shifted.  And that is why I've been so fixated on correcting this deficiency.

Fun session despite the issues.

W:32/F:41/S:12

Noe Checking Out Some I-14s

In between concert rehearsal and the actual concert, Noe headed over to her yacht club and got some first-hand exposure to the International 14 boat.  She really likes hanging out on the trapeze!

This show and tell was being put on in advance of a race later in the day.

There was a couple of containers in the front parking lot - so some of these boats probably came from the Mainland.

I really like the idea on this boat - super technical and you can adjust everything.  But wing foiling is way more dynamic and so easy to transport (and you can launch anywhere).

Wing Foiling Session - 4/23/2022

I got a second session in yesterday - winging over at Hickam!  I rigged the same gear I've been winging with lately - 5.2 SWX, Kujira 1210, 85cm PC mast, WWFB.  I had redone the male ferrule shimming to try and stop the front foil wiggle and I wanted to test it out.

I did forget my watch again so I only have wind speed data.

Harris had just walked down to the beach as I drove up.  The wind looked a little light so I rigged bigger and as I wrote earlier, I wanted to see if I could get the front foil screws to keep tight.  As I was getting to the water, I saw Harris and another guy were down because the wind had fallen off.  I was questioning even going out, but Jim said it'll come back up (and had been up and down - like is normal at Hickam).

I went out and got lucky with an early gust.  I made a beeline for Firsts and there were some fun sized waves.  The wind stayed above 5.2 winging levels after that. There was one surfer out there that didn't see it as a problem "sharing" with a submerged flying ginzu knife.  I noticed the foil had gotten loose after riding a few waves, and Harris had wanted to go in a size up his wing from the 4.0 to the 5.0.

I went back to the truck to grab some teflon tape, and headed back out after everything was tightened up.  Back out to Firsts - rode a bunch more - and the same result, loose foil screws.  I had a wrench in my pocket so I tightened up the screws and headed back in.

Glad I got in when I did - the wind dropped soon after I got in.  The last thing I did before paddling the last few feet was to try and get the foil to skim the surface.  I felt the sliding - and I think this will be way easier with footstraps on - but I did sense something different.  This really helps to kill speed instantly.

Fun session!

I'm going to pull the fuselage out of service for now.  I'm going to try and install helicoils and see if that will solve the issue.

W:31/F:41/S:12

Dawn Patrol - 4/23/2022

Marlon and I dawn patrolled yesterday morning.  Waves were bigger - chest to head high on the sets.  Definitely one of the first south swells of the year!  

Tide was really low... but I went ahead and prone foiled (4'8", 75cm PC mast, Kujira 1210 front foil).  With the size of the swell, I was able to stay in deeper water to catch and ride the waves.

You can see which board Marlon chose - and he had his new hatchet fin.  I saw him catch several waves.

I caught a few good rides, but spent most of the morning eating it on steep/pitchy takeoffs.  In fact, Marlon commented when we were back at the house how he and his crew were watching me takeoff, but I didn't make it and the board/foil took off for low earth orbit then come back with a big splashdown.  Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't win (I probably should have rigged the 4'6" with the 980).

W:30/F:41/S:12