Trades finally came back!!!
And the tide was supposed to be low all day - so I hit Hickam.
Lots of people cycling through today -
I brought No.25 so Miles could try it out (he wants to order a custom)
I brought Kalani on -
Jim, Harris, Zach, Naomi, Grant, Matt, Ken, and...
This guy!
Besides the low tide (and saving myself for a long paddle out at WPB), I went to Hickam to get a couple of foils dialed in on No.40
First up was the Enduro 900 - which I have already been using on this board - but mainly with the Foil Drive, so the positioning is way different (has to carry more weight).
Hickam is almost always shifty and gusty - so I wanted to save myself some trouble and I pumped up the North Nova Pro 5.0
This first run, I did my normal warm ups (tacks and jibes both directions) - the foil performed exactly like I thought it would. On wing, I got to look over at the foil running in the water and while doing some 'S' turns, I could get the tips out without losing any stability.
Then I took it out in the small surf at Firsts. Surfed just like it did on Foil Drive (but why wouldn't it).
I think I need to move the mast just a notch back to get the foot pressure balanced (it feels a tad bit front foot heavy).
Not the fastest this foil has gone - but with the lack of waves, it was wind alone.
Speaking of wind, here's what was blowing through.
I went in and switched out the foil to the Ultra HA 750/HA38
I had a lot of fun on this foil.
I've used this foil before when the AFS demo was at Kailua, and when Prayot let me use his.
I got the positioning right at the first setting. This foil is surprisingly easy to get up on foil - granted there was a good amount of wind, but there were lulls also.
This second run, the waves got even smaller - so I didn't spend a lot of time out at Firsts - but I did get a bunch of speed runs in.
I thought I got this foil up to a faster speed - but obviously I didn't. Where this foil did surprise me the most was at the low end of its range. I could keep the foil up in the lulls with a little input from pumping. The reviews of this foil note the tubercles helping with low speed lift.
Between the Ultra HA 750 and the Pure Race 560, the Race went faster - less surface area means less drag and the smaller span likely factors in as well.
It's good to get on wing again!!!
W:23/FD:53/PW:1/S:4