Wing Foiling Session - 4/23/2024

The wind/waves/tide were awesome today!!!

Koa, Kalani, Prayot, Roland and Duke (and one other who I didn't know) were all out.

I had to give the Ezzys back today - probably a good thing because using this wing back-to-back after the Ezzy 5.0 gave me a clear perspective on the differences between the two.  The North is quieter for sure - zero flutter.  And as far as I can tell, it pulls just as hard upwind.  I feel like the Ezzy is faster - but I had the SK8 950 out today and not the Eagle 890.  I feel like the North gets up faster (a little more low end).  Once up it has the same wide range as the Ezzy.

And tacking with this wing is about the same as the Ezzy - but the handles on the North are much nicer.

The surf was bigger today - and I caught several bombers!  This session was so good!!!

I forgot my watch today so I brought my phone out.

I got in a bunch of heelside tacks again - with the North it seemed a little slower - but that might have been the wind direction.  The wing actually felt like it wanted to be in my right hand while flagging - but there was a bit of north in the wind.

It seemed stronger than this (again this is Hickam's chart) - more along the lines of the gusts on a consistent basis.

I can't forget my watch again... the Strava charts are harder to derive the same information.

Awesome session today!

W:52/FD:26/F:4/S:9

Wing Foiling Session - 4/22/2024

I needed to redirect from winging Hickam to help with family requirements this afternoon - but I think it actually worked out for the best!

I setup everything the same as yesterday -

And it was EPIC!!!

The Ezzy Flight 5.0 is an incredibly versatile wing.  As long as there was a gust to get up, this wing would pull.

I nailed so many tacks (heelside) dropping straight onto waves... so perfect!!!  Hard to tell if it is the wing, the foil, me, or any combination of the above.

I'm going to have to pull the Norths into the rotation so I can see what they can do in comparison to these Ezzys.

Roland and Duke were also out enjoying the conditions.

I made fun spaghetti!

This chart was from Hickam - but the Kalaeloa meter showed similar.  

My speed looks like it was based more off the gusts.

I'm going to stop here as there are no real words that can capture how fun this session was.

W:51/FD:26/F:4/S:9

Wing Foiling Session - 4/21/2024

I got in a second water session this afternoon - winging over at Hickam.

Solid wind, but the waves were on the small side.

I brought the North Mode Pros - 4.8 and 5.5, but decided to continue using the Ezzy 5.0 as I only have this wing on loan for a few more days (and I'll likely keep using it in the upcoming week as the wind is supposed to be just like today through Friday). 

And with the strong winds, I decided to setup the Eagle 890/DW190 - perfect for today!

Today's stats have me wondering is it the wing, the foil, or me?  Definitely a notch up in the stats -

Pacific Yacht Club/MWR was holding a regatta inside the harbor, so I made a beeline out to Firsts.  With the high tide, I went straight through.  And the first approach I made to the waves, I busted out a tack into a drop on one of only a few breaking waves I rode today.  Bill saw the whole things and said it was awesome!

I did migrate over to Seconds - but the waves weren't really breaking there either.  The tide was just too high for the swell energy.

After a bit I headed in and did my speed runs (I hit 24mph with the 890... again - what was the difference here?  I'm thinking there is special sauce in the Ezzy 5.0)

In these gusts the Ezzy was really well behaved.  There was one backwinding - but probably my fault.

And in the lulls, as long as I didn't go down (which did happen twice), the Ezzy used whatever wind was present and converted it to forward motion.

24mph!!!  I bet if I had the Eagle 690 I would have broken the 25mph ceiling... tomorrow -

W:50/FD:26/F:4/S:9

Dawn Patrol - 4/21/2024

Nice waves on the dawn patrol this morning.

Same as yesterday, except for the 3-blade prop and the wingscrews.

I actually hit bottom twice while trying to get out - I see filling and sanding in my future...

Other than that, I have a great session.  It was nice and clean and the rides were really long.

Lots of carving to stay in the pocket.  Other times it was running to take advantage of the long walls.

Dennis was there early, but didn't come out until later.  Marvin also showed up.  By then I was halfway through my battery and my session.

25 waves today.  SO MUCH FUN!!!

W:49/FD:26/F:4/S:9

Garage Works - 4/20/2024 (part 2)

La and I ran some errands and I picked up this cool bucket - that is 1" too short to place the Foil Drive in straight.  That means I'll still have to dismantle the unit/mast to soak it in fresh water post session.  It's still a really cool bucket!

And I had ordered a set of M7/M8 wingscrews for the Foil Drive board.  The straight M8 set I had gotten previously did not fit properly because the port rear bolt had an ever so slight angle to it.  These have a touch of wiggle room and it all fits perfect now!  Which is great so I can start to try out different foil sets!

Worth every penny!

And Prayot paid Jeff a visit, and he picked up some stuff I was needing - the 3-blade propeller kit for the Foil Drive and a n Axis Skinny rear stabilizer.

And here is the 3-blade propeller all assembled.

Going to try this stuff on the dawn patrol tomorrow!!!

Garage Works - 4/20/2024 (part 1)

I spent a bunch of time in and out of the garage getting No.36 dialed in.  I chased several high points leftover from the rough shaping.  Then I used 180 grit to do the fine sanding over the whole board.

These pictures are not of the board as it stands now - I played with several iterations of where the inserts would go.

The back footstrap inserts will end up going where the polyurethane fill block will go so I won't have to use the divynicell - that'll help save a little weight.

Instead I ended up pushing the d-cell blocks out towards the starboard rail for my strong stance (regular foot) - should be able to jump this one, but I'll have to experiment with what feels better.

I'll cut out the hole for the track block and the footstrap insert blocks tomorrow.

This one is definitely looking more like a mashup of No.34 (front end and rear deck) and No.32 (rear half of the board).

I'll try and get these inserts epoxied into place this week.

Dawn Patrol - 4/20/2024

Marlon and I hit the dawn patrol this morning.  He brought his longboard and I brought the Foil Drive.  Kaylani also came and she brought her longboard.

I saw them split one wave as I was making my way through the lineup - pretty cool.

I setup the Spitfire 960 and the 375P on No.33 - perfect for today's conditions.  So perfect in fact that I got in 7.28 miles in just under 2 hours.

Kalani, Dennis and Marvin were also out on Foil Drives.  Rick, Regan, the guy with the KT Ginzu prone board, and Dean were also out on the inside.

The waves were really easy to pick up today - what wind there was came from side off so there was nice shape, which made powering on to them simple.

22 waves in just about 2 hours.  Most of them were really long and full-on carving turns trying to stay in the powered part of the wave.

So much fun!!!!

W:49/FD:25/F:4/S:9

Wing Foiling Session - 4/19/2024

After my bounce trip to Kauai, I saw two wingers out at Hickam while my plane was landing.  Kalani had already asked what was going on and I said winging Hickam - 

There was wind - more than yesterday.  

Matt had already been out on No.35.  He said it worked great.  He already could get up using smaller wings - this board made it even easier.

He said Jesse took it out also and said it gets up out of the water fast.

Kalani took the Ezzy Flight 5.5 out (but didn't even get up on foil - I let him know before taking it out that it doesn't have the low end of the SW2s.

I took the Ezzy Flight 5.0 out.  I placed both wings on top of each other and here is where the difference lies - 

Donnel texted me earlier and wanted me to tell him if the trailing edge had a flutter in it.  When the gusts came through, this area would flutter noticeably.  When the wind was normal and the wing was being used in its lower range, there was no flapping/fluttering.

I took out the same board and foil as yesterday to keep things comparative.

Not bad stats at all.  Since we got out later than normal, we were time limited.

The Ezzy 5.0 is not as good as the 4.0 - but it is way better than the 5.5.

I was able to get two toe-side tacks in without even blinking an eye.  Not sure if it was the Eagle 1090 or the wing - but I'll take it either way.

On the heelside tacks, recovering the wing was really easy - the back handle was just there where I needed it to be as it rotated through the tack.

This wing also pulled hard up wind and was really fast for its size (but again - just not as good as the 4.0).

I went up to Firsts and grabbed some waves.  Luffing the wing it behaved similar to the 4.0 - it stayed where you put it, not wanting to walk away at all.  I flagged it on several waves and the same performance was had each time.

The wind did seem better than what is on the graph below - but this was the general trend.

Towards the end of the session I made some speed runs - the results are pretty impressive considering the wind and that I was riding the Eagle 1090.

Sunday afternoon looks to be another good wind day - but I may try to use the F One Strike V4 that Prayot is demoing.

W:49/FD:24/F:4/S:9

Wing Foiling Session - 4/18/2024

The wind was forecasted to be in the light wind range of wing foiling this afternoon.

Harris came out after calling the airport report.

And I was able to pick up the Ezzy wings I'm borrowing from Donnel - so I wanted to see where the bottom end was on this design.

And to give myself the best chance of getting on foil, I setup No.34 with the F One Eagle 1090

And despite all that, the wind turned pretty darn light once Harris and I hit the water 

I did get some runs in but it was light during the lulls

I think today would have been a better Foil Drive day

Harris did make it outside and he rode some really nice waves.  I did not want to chance it with the light wind and a borrowed wing that I was taking out for the first time.  The Ezzy 5.5 was not the same brilliant wing that the 4.0 is.  It felt heavy in hand and it has a really small sweet spot power wise.  I did not get to test the luffing or overpowered flying (since there wasn't much wind) - but it did not have a whole lot of low end (which was expected).  Also - Donnel's choice of harness line (fixed windsurfing harness line) is not my preference - too easily got hit in the face with the line.

If I was pulling out one of my personal wings, it would probably have been the North Mode Pro 6.8

Despite all that was said - it was a day out in the water so it was good!!!

I got a bounce trip for work tomorrow - when I get back I'm going to try and hit it again with the 5.0

W:48/FD:24/F:4/S:9