Foil Drive Session - 7/28/2026

I thought this afternoon would have been closer to what conditions were present yesterday afternoon -

If did not shape up to be that way - smaller, less frequent waves and stronger winds.  In fact Norm, Derek and myself kept thinking we could be using the wind to foil. 

Based on conditions solely, I would have set up the Enduro 900/Mako 130.

But wanting to compare the Silk 850 against the Cabrinha Whippit 850, the Silk it was.

Out the gate, the Silk has more grip (drive?) and releases just when I want it to.  I can lean into this foil coming out of a bottom turn and I know it will hold position while driving through the turn.

There were some good waves still to be had - but it is hard to say if the higher speed on the Whippit yesterday was from the waves or the foil.

This is 3 mph slower - but again, would this be a higher number if the surf was bigger.

16 rides again!

Tomorrow the remnants of Hurricane Fausto pass to the north of the island chain.  I'm gonna take a rest day tomorrow and work on No.44

PF:9/W:3/PW:86/FD:57/S:20

Foil Drive Session - 7/27/2026

The wind looked promising - but I opted for the safer bet (Foil Drive).  Originally Stu was asking if I wanted to go to Kailua (nope, the traffic back would suck).  Then Norm and I were gonna do the WP-PV run on parawing.  But the wind was already breaking down.

So Foil Drive it is!

And Roland was anointing his new Foil Drive board!  Amundson 4'1"  

I setup the Whippit 850/Union 180 Rear Stab/Apex 78cm mast all bolted on to No.40

This setup flows through the water smoother and turns like a greased pig.

The wind was side-off shore so the waves were relatively clean.  It looked to be doable for parawing, but Foil Drive-ing was a blast!  Top speed almost 22mph!

The swell was still pushing through - nice rides to be had and you didn't have to wait too long.  The runs to the right of the takeoff spot had peak bashes galore -

While the runs to the left had super long walls.

16 rides - the Whippit is fun!!!

Tomorrow I'll set up the AFS Silk 850/USurf 135...

Another direct back to back comparison!

PF:9/W:3/PW:86/FD:56/S:20

Parawing Session - 7/26/2026

Hit Kailua again this morning - the south shore is still pumping and without stable, non-swirly wind, it is worth the drive over.

Wind was lighter than yesterday - for a bit, until a squall blew through (and dumped a lot of rain).

I headed out as the squall was settling -

BRM S3 4.2 - nicely powered!  Cabrinha Prestige 905/Union 160 rear stabilizer on the Apex mast all bolted on to No.34

I actually did two sessions -

First was riding the squall's tail end

Short but really nice session -

You can see the wind coming in from the NE

The 4.2 turns so nicely - and I rode it out until the end of the squall -

I drifted in and was going to pack up and head out - but I ended up talking to a bunch of people and the wind built back up.

I took the 5.3 out and was again nicely powered.

I have been trying to develop a more standardized method of retracting and packing the big parawing.  I did get better redeployments.

The waves weren't so energetic that I was able to ride long distances without the parawing.  Was good practice for drifting the S3.

Did botch a redeploy and had to wait a bit to takeoff again.

It has been nice riding more stable (magnitude and direction) wind for a change.

We will see what Fausto brings over the next few days -

PF:9/W:3/PW:86/FD:55/S:20

Parawing Session - 7/25/2026

Hit Kailua this morning - I specifically wanted to see if the wind was shifting direction over here (like it has been on the south shore)

5 meter wind - chest high waves at Jump City

It's always a good sign when the Iwa are flying

No.34 with the AFS 80cm UHM mast, Enduro 1100/HA40 powered by the BRM S3 5.3

Speaking of BRM - demo day at Kailua.

Good, strong wind coming from mostly one direction.

I made 90% of my jibes and when I was down, getting up was not difficult.

I tried a few tacks, but it seems like I need to work on keeping the board under me so I don't get stripped off at the apex.

There were some waves coming through, but they were on the smaller side.  I did get a few long retracted rides.

I tried to be more methodical with getting the parawing put together so I could ride without it tangling on me, and that seemed to help with the redeploy.

You can see the rides I came out of powered, and the ones where I dropped off foil (blue tails).

This wind was just on the other side of perfectly powered.  I think if I had a 4.7, that would have been enough to get up, and wouldn't have needed to be depowered so much while riding.

I think during the gusts the 4.2 would have worked nicely, but getting up would have been harder.

It's been a while since I've had a speed chart like this (way more up than down, and when down short recovery time).

Fun session!!!

PF:9/W:3/PW:84/FD:55/S:20

Parawing Session - 7/24/2026

 

Left my watch at home this morning, and didn't feel like taking pictures today -

So this is the only frame of reference for today's session.

Lots of wind again - but it didn't have any ass to it.  Just a lot of swirly blow that didn't easily produce any tow.

All the same gear as yesterday - but I switched out the rear stabilizer to the Tweaker 390/160 with the blue shim (standard 2 degree setting).

I got up, made some runs, got some clean outside tacks and down loop jibes on both approaches.

And there were a few times I was getting overpowered in the gusts.  I figured it would be a good time to test out the Flysurfer POW 2.5

It wasn't.  No ass in the wind (at least when I had the 2.5 up).

Well - at least I got out.  The rest of the south shore is getting hammered.

Tomorrow BRM is having a demo session at Kailua!

PF:9/W:3/PW:83/FD:55/S:20

Parawing Session - 7/23/2026

It was blowing at Hickam - but it was up and down.

The waves were gear smashing size (breaking over the runway revetment) - so I just stayed inside. 

The other lunch bunch said they were overpowered on 4.2 wings

I used the Flysurfer POW V2 4.0 for power and No.34 with the Cabrinha Prestige 905/160 rear stabilizer (78cm Apex mast).

Along with the up and downs with wind strength, it was also a bit shifty (typical - not as wide swinging as it has been). 

The down loops are great on this parawing.  The tacks in lighter wind are also good - but that wasn't the case today.  I tried tacking a few times but got slammed on the way out of the transition.

And getting up with this parawing is still eluding me....

If I go tomorrow (at lunch), I'll use the BRM S3 4.2 to see if it is different or if it is still difficult (which means it is the wind).

I'm guessing the S3 will be easier to get up with (because it has a massive sweet spot).

On foil already, the Flysurfer is pure magic.  I think I could have been on the Flysurfer POW 2.5 (which maybe that is the parawing I should use tomorrow instead of the BRM) 

These down periods are lulls below the start up threshold of the POW V2 4.0

It is really nice to have an option to just chillax when the entire south shore is getting body slammed (the last time I went out at PVs in conditions like this - it was one of those days when I started praying to get back to shore...)

PF:9/W:3/PW:82/FD:55/S:20

Garage Works - 7/22/2026

Took a rest day from the beach today.  Chilled out and watch He-Man with La.

Then when it cooled down outside, I hit the garage and got the rough shaping done on No.44

Trying to keep volume on this one

And also trying to get some more tail rocker incorporated into this one.

I am also likely to add sandwich parts to where I would place my knees to build in some more durability.

I'll likely dial in the shape over the next couple of days, then route out the slot for the track block and open up the top for the polyurethane block and the lowered deck for the divynicell sheets (sandwich) over the weekend.

Foil Drive Session - 7/21/2026

Wind was supposed to be down and surf was supposed to be up - but it was opposite.

Same gear as yesterday

Waves were breaking steeper yesterday -

The chop seemed to be a little more/bigger today

But when the right wave came through - it was still good fun!

Sixteen rides with a few missed waves

I think the wind is supposed to come back tomorrow -

PF:9/W:3/PW:81/FD:55/S:20

Foil Drive Session - 7/20/2026

The south swell showed up today!

Waves at the middle break were overhead. 

I setup No.40 with the Evolution Surf mast, the AFS Silk 850/Usurf 135.

I used the black props to have the best chance to pick up the waves.

I started the session out at Fenceline, catching waves and riding to the left.  And throughout the session I kept hopping left until I was out in front of the Cabins.

I picked up a few well overhead waves - and the Silk 850 kept me in the pocket the entire time!!!  V1 for me!

The last wave I picked up from way on the outside - I was able to ride it all the way in -

21.7mph on the Silk 850 - definitely some energy in the waves (386kJ on surfline).

16 rides today - and I came in at 45% battery.

Depending on the wind, I'll either Foil Drive again, or I may surf.

PF:9/W:3/PW:81/FD:54/S:20