Wing Foiling Session - 1/27/2023

The wind was up enough today to go winging!!!  And Noe was available - it was good conditions for a training day!

I set her up with the 4'7" board (which at 22" wide would be easier for her to paddle back if needed), the Go Foil 27.5" mast, the GL210 (pushed back in the tracks), and the Ensis V2 4.5.

I used the Triton T1 for the first time (with the WWFB and the Takuma RS6.1).

This was the original spot where I installed the foil.  By the end of the session it was jammed as far forward as I could put it (and I think I needed more - this is a good excuse to build a new wing board with extended tracks....).

I suggested to Noe that she should paddle upwind before starting so she could have some ground to lose while trying to get up.

I had no idea what this foil was going to feel like.  I figured with the 6.1 I would have plenty of power.  The track below shows I had a slow start, but I did get up when I got into the wind lane.

This foil is way different than anything I've ever ridden.  I would get to speeds where I thought I should have gotten up on foil, but I'd still be on the surface.  I'd have to move way back on the board with both feet pretty much right over the foil and keep my feet really close together.

Some of the other characteristics of this foil - you need a lot of power to ride this.  There is no glide so as you are turning you need to get powered back up quickly.  But it does turn on a dime.

I would get up and get my feet situated, but I never felt like I could climb upwind (because I'd lose board speed and drop off foil).  So I ended up pushed up against the Second's reef.

Noe had held her line way upwind for quite some time.  Kalani was keeping an eye on her as I drifted unrecoverably downwind.  But eventually she drifted to where I was.  He said the she was having trouble with the wing size (too big as it was dragging her downwind) and she needed to work on where to put her feet.  At this point I told them we should paddle to the bail out point (where we go fishing on the flat).

While we were setting up the paddle in, I saw that Noe had stopped, was sitting up on her board and was staring at a big black moving shape in the water not far from her.  After a quick double check, I told her it was a big manta and that they only eat arms.

We eventually got to shore and I did the walk of shame back to the truck to go pick Noe back up.

Reviewing lessons learned, In this wind speed (15 to 20), at Noe's weight, she should be using a 3.5, which means 12 to 17 would be the 4.5, and anything above 20 will be the 2.5.

The other lesson learned is she should have her foil a little smaller and more forward (the GL210 was mounted 1" back from where I mounted the 1095 - 3/4" might have been better since Kalani saw her porpoising).

I did not hit 51.7 mph.  Combing through the data I saw 17.4.  Interesting day.  I can see why the T1 is a good kitefoiling foil.  But more and more people are winging with it.  I think if I build a board with longer tracks further forward, I'll be able to use this foil in average conditions.  I'm thinking 4'6.5"x25"x3.5" (~70 liters).....

W:5/F:6/S:8

Volume Determination Tank

Kalani asked if I could estimate the volume of the board I made for him.  I told him bring the board over and I can setup the dunk tank.

Archimedes Principle in full use here - submerge the board, measure the rise in water column height, then run the math.

His board measured out at 86 liters.

The 4'7" Wing Foiling Board (pictured above) came in at 70 liters.

The 4'11" Wing Foiling Board came in at 82 liters.

The 4'8" Prone Foiling Board came in at 50 liters.

These are not out of line with what you would have thought the volumes would be.

Wing Foiling Session - 4/3/2022

Today the winds were even stronger than yesterday.  I brought the 4'8" Wing Foiling Board and had all three straps on - wanted to try jumping today.  Because of that I also brought the one piece GoFoil 32.5" mast.  With the wind ripping through, I was glad I brought the 3.6 (which still felt big at times).

Ryan, Arvin and Bill were out before me.

Marvin said he was going out - I left a 4.5 in the truck for him to use.

I set out with the NL160 on the board.

It has been a long time since the wind was this strong!

I had to come back in early to move the footstraps up.  Then I came in to move the mast back.  I actually never got to the point where I felt balanced on this board with the NL160 - same issue I had when I prone foiled this foil last (a "teetering" at the start when getting up on foil, then it flattened out when coming up to speed).

Despite the balancing issue, I did get some flying in.  I even got a couple of jumps in where I could feel I had cleared the water.  But it felt bunny-hoppish and not like a boost.

I went in and switched out the NL160 for the GL140.  I'm not sure I actually ever used this foil for winging... might be a first.

The balance on this foil felt better, but still felt like I had to put way too much front foot pressure on the board.  I think both foils needed to come back more - I think I'll try that prone foiling next (faster way to do it???).  I was able to get tons of powered jibes in.  Even duck jibes at speed - turning is so much fun!

Marvin went out.  He got up on foil two times, and then held his line while on his knees on the way back in - until the really strong gusts hit.  He had to paddle against the wind to get back.

Once we were both in and back at the parking lot to derig, Harris showed up.  I told him I didn't go outside today because the wind was ripping the tops off the waves.  By this time (2pm) the wind was starting to return to normal trade strength - but I was done.

Pretty much out of control - but the best day in a long time!

W:22/F:33/S:10

Wing Foiling Session - 2/23/2022

Today had the best winds in months!!!  I didn't trust the forecast entirely, so I rigged the same gear as yesterday (ORA5.0, Kujira 1095, 4'8" WFB, 85/89cm PC Mast) - perfect conditions!!!  My dad came out (he is on island visiting) and took a couple of videos - I took a frame grab and I'm the winger on the right, up against the tree.

This was probably the strongest winds I've had the 1095 out in - the great glide I've experienced while prone foiling this foil is still present while winging.  So much so that I was able to easily complete two toe-side to heel-side tacks on the in-bound runs, where normally I could get around, but I'd drop off foil and couldn't really call it a completed tack.  I'll keep practicing this and it should become second nature soon enough.

Lots of orange!  I still had a few time bands where I was sitting around waiting for a gust, but for the most part I was up on foil way more than not.

I was out from 2 to 3:30 - nice strong winds!!!  I did not get out to Firsts, but I was content with continuing to get to know my gear better.  This is especially true in regards to transitions on foil with the new board.

Jim, Brantly and another guy were out when I pulled up.  Another guy who has been showing up also came out and at the end of my session Bill and Harris rigged up.  Looks like they still got some good wind.

I hung out with my dad after my session.  We were sitting on the bench nearest the water watching planes takeoff and land.  I left the wing at the shower wall and my board on the picnic table next to the plumeria tree while we were waiting for La to get back from Art Nelson.

The guys thought I left my wing and had taken off.  I saw Jim walking my wing back to the parking lot, and Harris deflated it.  Harris even called my phone (which La had in the truck) and was saying I was MIA.  

The things that happen at Hickam!

W:10/F:18/S:8

Wing Foiling Session - 2/22/2022

The wind was blowing at my house and my phone started buzzing with texts from the other airheads - "there are whitecaps at Hickam".  When I pulled up to the parking lot at 3pm, there were whitecaps, but by the time I was launching it had "mysteriously" dropped out.

This board surprises me every time I take it out!

The number of red lines and the lack of blue lines when correlated to the speed chart are telling - I was stuck in no go mode for a long time.  When it was up, it was on - and when it was down, there was nothing to do but chill.

Again you can see the correlation between the wind graph and my speed chart (so cool)!

Nice peak speed!!! Although I think it was a misread - or maybe I was getting catapulted or something like that.

W:9/F:18/S:8

Wing Foiling Session - 2/17/2022

La and I went on a lunch date to celebrate our 21st Wedding Anniversary!!!  Greek food, donuts and time in her second garden (RBM), and I got to wing foil over at Hickam!!!  When I pulled up, Jim was packing up - he said there were too many holes in the wind.  Since I wasn't going to pick up La until past 5, I figured I'll just rig and get wet.  Same setup as yesterday.  I reset the front footstraps and took the rear one off for now (I'll learn to jump - just not now while the wind is marginal).

The wind filled in around 3:30 and except for a few deep lulls, it was enough to get up and go. You can see the lulls in the chart below (blue lines).  Harris showed up and he had a Slingshot Slingwing V3 6.5m wing in tow (still didn't get his 5.0 bladder resolved).  There was a lot of north in the wind - but we headed out to Firsts.  

After the lull on the outside, I checked the time and decided I should head in to not be late in picking up La.  I hit another lull to the west of the marina and had to wait that out before getting to make it back in.  The other thing you can see in these combined charts is the wind shift - early on there was more North, and at the end it had shifted more to the East.

I've said this before and I'll say it again - it is so cool when the speed graph corresponds directly with the wind speed graph.  Again - you can see the lulls clearly.

Another super fun session!!!  The forecasts are all calling for a drop in wind activity through next Tuesday - that's a good thing since my sister and her family and our dad will be out here for the next week starting Saturday evening.

W:8/F:16/S:8

Wing Foiling Session - 2/16/2022

And as luck would have it, there was a small window where the wind picked up enough for me to wing.  I got to the parking lot at Hickam by 1:30 and rigged up and in the water by 2.

When I drove up, the wind was actually dead.  But recently I've been paying more attention to the Surfline forecast and it has been better than the rest at predicting wind.  They said 3pm it should be 17mph.  I went ahead and bolted on the Kujira 1210 that I used in the dawn patrol since the wind was questionable, especially since I had the 4'8" Wing Board (I wanted to dial in the footstrap positions).

When I got into the water, I could see the wind starting to fill in and then everything in the universe was right.

This board is magic and despite it's propensity to sink if I don't have forward momentum, it gets off the water faster than any board I've ever used (flat tail and square rails).  After a few runs to get my bearings and to knock out some transitions, I went ahead and made my way out to Firsts (which I haven't actually done in quite some time).  

The wind was stronger out there so I only went down three times in 45 minutes.  I was able to ride several waves and I tacked and jibed without issue.  So much fun!!!

I went back in and adjusted the footstraps (pulled them back a notch) and headed back out to make sure they were set.  I had a couple more runs and called it good.

One of the other things I did this session was switch out the wing leash.  I had the Dakine bodyboarding one on previously, but put on the second Kaohi 5' double coil.  I do like these better.  If they get twisted, all you have to do is stretch it out and it resets.  It also gets around the harness line easier also.

These little strings are part of the bladder replacement repair job I got done at Airtime Kites.  The past two sessions were perfect and having a fully inflated wing that you can count on is a huge part of that!

W:7/F:15/S:8

Wing Foiling Session and the Anointment of No.23

The wind was forecasted to be at doable levels today.  I've been waiting for this for over a week - and the weather was definitely up and down.  But - for a window from 1pm to 3pm, the wind came through for me and I got to properly anoint No.23.

This is a flat transome/tail, square railed wing foiling board.  I wanted to try this for two reasons - Dwight Fisher has been building these for quite some time and has raved about how these rails compliment the latest high aspect ratio front foils.  Second - the first boards I built were inspired by the description on the FCD Surfboards website of their prone foilboards - they took what were the fastest human powered boards (prone paddleboards) and used elements (square rail, flat bottoms) to make their first generation foil boards.

I happy to report this board delivered tremendous results.  I was able to get this board up off the water much faster than any other board I've used so far - a few pumps and up I go.  Water releases from the tail so fast...

I'm definitely building all my future foil boards like this.

I got to do a side by side comparison with Harris's Flying Dutchman - pretty similar lines.

The major difference was the tail and the rails.

It felt good to be able to get jibes in on the first session.  I was a little concerned when I tried starting the board in light wind - I sank to my waist.  This is definitely a board for stronger wind days, but it is good to know what the bottom end is.

The wind when it was up was perfect for the Reedin SWX 5.2

It's always cool to see how my speed mirrors the peaks on the wind chart.  It's also cool to see my top speed go over 20mph.

And I now know where to place the footstraps.  Oddly enough, from looking down while I was riding, my left foot (going strong side) is forward just a notch than my right foot (riding switch).  My left foot is beneath the third hole on the top insert, while my right foot goes behind the fourth hole.  While riding regular foot, my right foot is behind the fourth hole on the front insert.

This is some sick gear!!!

There is nothing more satisfying than seeing your family do wonderful things - but a close second is making a board and having it exceed your expectations!

Fun day to start a connection with a new board!

W:5/F:13/S:4

Garage Works - 1/30/2022

The wind did not pickup to the point where it would have been fun to wing - so after running errands today, I came home and knocked out some projects in the garage.  

First I took the deck pad sections I had templated and cut out from raw EVA foam sheeting, and used the bench sander to chamfer the edges.  Then I stuck them on the new wing board.  I didn't take pictures of this because Noe was the only other person home and she was taking a nap.  There are pictures of the board below, but it is underneath the other project I was working on today.

Prayot was having issues with his 5.2 wing.  I swapped out the center strut bladder and all is good (kinda - there is a slow leak in the main bladder somewhere also...). 

I also fixed the 5.2 bladder and an extra 6.0 strut bladder so he can use them as spares.

Did you see the deck pads on the new wing board?

I also trimmed some of the lifting grip deck on the skinny 4'10" and changed out the rear deck pad.  I had gotten a new wide Creatures of Leisure one at the Kailua HIC today.  

I also mowed the lawn, weeded part of the back lawn and cleaned up the garage.  Funny what you can get done when the wind is down.

No.23 is Actually Finished

Lots of sanding, filling, sanding, filling, sanding - you get the picture.

But eventually you get to a point where you can't chase every pinhole.  Here's the board after wetsanding.

Number 23 - this is a really short (for me) wing board.  This should still have some volume - but it is smaller than the other two wing foiling boards I've been using.  Soon I'm going to set up the volume pool to get the volumes on all the boards I have.

And here's the board after the first clear coat.

The type of resin I used for the fill coats has a purple hue to it in the sun - but it looks like regular resin under artificial lighting - the is the first board I used it on - I like it!

After this picture, I did chase a couple more issues I found - an air pocket in the tail and some low spots around the handle.  But those are all good now and I finished drilling out the vent, putting on the final clear coat, and even getting the deck pads on - Number 23 is DONE!!!  I'll post again when I take pictures in the sunlight.

Now I just need some wind to try it out.... which lately has been challenging....