Wing Foiling Session - 6/30/2022

Hit Hickam again after work.  Similar conditions to yesterday - except that it was steadier outside, the waves were bigger and cleaner, and the inside was swirlier.

I used the same setup as yesterday (but I was hoping it would have been windier and I could use the 3.6 and the ART899 - maybe tomorrow).

I wish I had brought a GoPro - the wave riding today was all time!!!  The wind direction helped me line up some great rides and I didn't feel like I was fighting the wind to stay aligned.  The bigger rides were overhead while I was up high on the foil.  This was one of the best days I've had out at Firsts!!!

Harris was out and riding all across the waves - up and down, using the entire face.  

Kalani was still staying on the inside, trying to build up his endurance.  Looks like he doesn't need any help...

Jim was also on the inside, as were a couple of other guys I didn't recognize (Spin Wing/SAB Foil, and F One Wing)

This session was definitely in the top 5 I've had - what a huge difference riding waves are when all the conditions line up - easterly winds, high tide to slightly dampen the waves from pitching lip, good swell that has a little more open period - there really aren't words to describe the feeling of catching one from outside the runway jetty, dodging the whitewater and using the rolling energy to fly.

We were out from 3 to 4:30 - good winds for the SWX 4.2

Didn't break any records, but got into the low 20s a few times!

So much fun!!!

W:57/F:61/S:17

Wing Foiling Session - 6/29/2022

The wind was way up today - I brought my gear and headed out after work.  I pumped up the Reedin SWX 4.2 and setup the ART999/420HA.

I brought Kalani out and Harris was finished setting up when we showed up.

By the time I was launching, Harris was already out at Firsts.  I made my way out, taking my time and getting a couple of jibes in to shake off the rust (it's been a few days since I was winging).

Waves were head high and the sets were pretty tightly packed.  But it was the wind that stole the show - at times it was nuking and switching direction simultaneously.  When the wind rotated more from the North, I would have a hard time staying with the waves.  I also would get blown off the waves if I tried to jibe too tightly onto them.  I could have used the SW1 3.6

Kalani used his SW2 5.2 for the first time.

There was a steep drop in the wind right around 5pm - I had already gone in by that time so all was good.

You can see the wind swinging in this low resolution report.  The wind actually seemed much stronger than the graph shows.

I tried something new today regarding the tracking.  I used the Garmin GPS watch, and I also used the Stava app on my phone.  The recognizable set is from the Garmin.

I hit 21.1 mph in the latter half of the session.  It was hard maintaining speed because of the chop and the changing wind direction - but BAM!  Not bad!

Here's my Stava track and speed chart.

The data corroborates well between the two devices.

The wind is supposed to be similar tomorrow.  I'll try to run the ART899 and the 380HA tomorrow and see what top speed I can generate.

W:56/F:61/S:17

Garage Works - 6/28/2022

I'm pretty much finished with all the repairs - the patches on two of the four spots I addressed yesterday came off when I removed the peel ply.  This afternoon I applied patches again, but used saranwrap instead of peel ply.

I also got Roland's surfboard all sanded down (but used solareez to fill a couple of other open dings - I have to sand those down and then the surfboard is done).  And I got his wing board all painted up as well.

And finally I worked on fine tuning the shape of the new wing board.  I feel much better about the shape now - had to spend a bunch of time sanding the starboard front quarter to get it close to symmetric with the port side.  I also got ambitious and outlined the foot strap insert slots - and even tried to rout one open - but with the sun going down, it was getting hard for me to see the alignment of the router bit.  I figured I should wait for sunlight.

I'll get the inserts epoxied in and a fill slurry to level out the area immediately around the inserts.  After that, I'll laminate the top deck - innegra nose to tail, and heel patches (to see if I can avoid the d-cell planks and the weight that brings, but without losing strength - I'll have deck pads on the board anyways).  I'll still have to install the handle on the bottom deck before I can laminate the bottom deck on - in a nutshell I still have a bunch of work to do on this board.  I'm thinking I have a couple more weekends to go.

Garage Works - 6/27/2022

And this was today.  I sanded the excess resin from Kalani's wing board and Roland's wing board and surfboard.  Then I added more fill coat to Roland's surfboard.

On the wing boards, I added some 2 ounce fiberglass to make sure there are no more leaks.  You can see the four spots I addressed weeping.  Some light sanding tomorrow, followed by clear coat and this should be done.

And here's Roland's tail repair.

Cover patch on this one too on top of the milled fiber fill.  After some light sanding , I'll spray paint this and call it done.

Once these are done, I can go wing (just in time - the wind is supposed to really turn on starting Wednesday).

Garage Works - 6/26/2022

This was yesterday - epoxied in the d-cell reinforcement blocks for the foot straps.  I placed innegra in the bottom of the slots since there really isn't a weight penalty.

Then I hooked up the vacuum to Roland's wing board to pull out whatever water was stuck inside.

I sanded down the repair work on Roland's surfboard.

I also added fill to Kalani's wing board to close off the spots that were weeping water.

There are alot of projects in this picture (two prone foil boards that need to be cut out of the blank, No.25, Roland's wing foiling board and surfboard, Kalani's wing board, Eddy's wing board...)

Garage Works - Ding Repairs Galore and Inserts on No.25

Apparently, the Honouliuli Waste Water Treatment Plant started passing unprocessed waste water (i.e., raw sewage) out its outfall because one of the components in its operations is not working.  There are signs posted all along the SW shoreline of Oahu warning of high fecal coliform and E.coli levels along the shoreline.

I did go on the dawn patrol, but ended up talking story to Dennis, Scott, Andrew and Kalani.  Andrew went out (he was SUP foiling) when he saw Matt out (and dominating).  And Dennis also headed out (SUP foiling).  I opted out (even though I went out yesterday evening) - I didn't need to deal with a bunch of diarrhea bouts.

Marlon and I headed home and ended up working in the garage for most of the day.  I was working on No.25 - getting the insert slots cut in, when Roland asked if he could drop off his boards for repairs.  He brought over his mid-length that had a bad delamination and nose ding.  Here's the delaminated area cleaned up. 

And here it is all sealed back up.  I need to sand it down and probably will add a couple more fills, but this is more than halfway done already.

I even got the nose ding repaired already - but same thing - need to sand it and then add a couple more fill coats.

He also brought over his wingboard.  It had a crack in the starboard rear corner.  Here it is opened up and in the sun to get the water out.

And I drilled open Kalani's board to drain some water that had gotten in through four pinholes.  It was better the find these now instead of later.

Marlon brought down a couple of boards that needed repairs and we worked on those at the same time.

These pictures are out of order since I was working on this board before Roland came over.  I did get the slots opened up for the footstrap reinforcement inserts.

And I also rebuilt the foil track block.  I cleared the foam at the areas where the ends of the mast tracks will sit.  Then I epoxied in the divynicell blocks.

Once the blocks cured in place, I went ahead and routed out the new slot ends.  I even went ahead and epoxied in the tracks.

Tomorrow I'll epoxy in the footstrap insert reinforcement blocks, rout out the insert slots and epoxy those in.  If I get to that point, I will cut out the top deck fabric - innegra cover sheet, innegra heel patches (not sure I'll have time to do the actual lamination - got to attend to the repair jobs - the wind comes back on Tuesday).

It feels good to get ahead on a bunch of projects!

Evening Session - 6/24/2022

Setup the ART1099 with the 400P rear stabilizer on the Crazy Short fuselage.  Used the 68(72) cm Project Cedrus mast.  I had the 3-bolt Axis fuselage adapter on (which offsets the fuselage 1/4" forward of the 4-bolt adapter).

Here is where I ended up placing the mast - it was set perfectly!

And Marlon was able to catch my first wave using this front foil - 

This foil has a ton of glide - I think I only pumped going down the line to trim, and pumping back out was the easiest I've had while prone foiling (easier than the ART999, the Kujira 1440, GoFoil M200, GoFoil GL210, and all the rest).  I caught three on this first session - I can tell this foil is going to be a game changer!!! 

W:55/F:61/S:17

Wing Foiling Session -6/23/2022

There was some wind today - it was blowing around while I was at work, but sure thing - it dropped off as I was walking to the water.  Definitely not as strong as yesterday - but good enough for the big wing.

Same foil setup (ART999), just changed out to the big wing (Takuma RS 6.1).

Kalani came out also - I let him try out the 400P rear stabilizer.

The wind had some north in it - and when it was light, it was swirling in - but despite the challenges, it was still fun. And seeing just how good the ART 999 is at keeping on foil in relatively smooth water - what a pleasure!!!

The wind was lighter than the graph shows...

And even in this light wind, I did break 20 mph!  Every time with the ART 999!

W:55/F:60/S:17

Wing Foiling Session - 6/22/2022

The wind was not forecasted to be up today - but that didn't stop the wind from coming up.  I picked Kalani up and we headed to Hickam for a post work session.

I opted for the SWX 5.2 and the ART999/420HA.  I did bring the 899 and 380HA (and could have used it at a point - more on this shortly).

When I got in the water, there was texture on the surface from the wind so I felt good about the equipment selection.  I got up on foil and headed out to Firsts.  It was clean, side offshore winds that were fairly consistent.  I was able to catch some fun rides, but the tide was starting to drown out the swell.

I guess I rode more waves than I recall -

After 40 minutes outside, the wind started to falter and I headed in - but then the wind really picked up and I transitioned to speed riding mode (and had contemplated going in and switching out to the ART899/380HA, but figured I was better off just riding).

Was really good wind for the 5.2!

I milked 22.4 mph out of the setup today!

The other thing I did was to practice transitions - focusing on dry tacking on the outside, and trying to get the inside jibes around cleanly.  I was able to apply what I had been looking at on Youtube and bam!  I was knocking out my inbound tacks!!!

Now I need to finish the new board that I have on the rack so I can start teaching myself to jump.

W:54/F:60/S:17

Wing Foiling Session - Summer Solstice 2022

I picked up Kalani and we headed to Hickam.  He uses ikitesurf.com for forecasts and they were saying it would be good from 2 to 4pm today (using the Kalaeloa location).  They were correct (relatively speaking)!

We pulled up and just like always, it looked wind on the drive over to the parking lot.  When I checked it out at the beach, Jim was out on his 6.0 - which meant I needed to pump up the 6.1.  I decided to counter the big wing with a medium sized front foil.  I bolted on the Kujira 1210 and the 14" stabilizer.

This confirms what I've been feeling - this setup rides a "hair" nose down (I think one shim plate should correct that - if it even needs correcting - I've been riding this shim free for a long time now).

The RS is a really good light wind wing - lots of low end to get started (but gives up the high attack angles to get upwind - in fact it can backwind pretty badly if you are too careless with it), it moves quickly through a transition (so much so that I spin it during a jibe because it gets over to the other side much faster than a conventional jibe), and it is just really fun to use.

I spent a lot of time working on glide and efficiency going through transitions.  I was getting totally dry tacks on the outward runs, and spinning the wing (like I had discussed earlier) through jibes on both legs.

I did take a jaunt out to Firsts.  I caught three fun waves and figured I should go back in with the shifty wind strength.

I was out from 2:15 to just about 4pm - and I was fortunate enough to hit the launch just as the wind died off.

I was able to coax the 1210 to over 20.8mph (and covered 17.4 miles).  So despite the gray, cloudy skies - this was actually a pretty good session!  Bonus - today was also the Summer Solstice - so the sun starts its journey southward again and we settle into summer.  As long as the wind and waves keep coming, I'm happy!

W:53/F:60/S:17