Wing Foiling Session - 9/22/2021

With the 85cm mast out of commission, I broke out the 95cm mast.  I used the 60cm original fuselage with the +1 titanium shim.  The same foils went on - the HS1550v1 and the chopped down 300 rear stabilizer.  The wind seemed slightly stronger than yesterday and from the beach, the waves out at Firsts and Seconds looked more developed.

I'm jumping ahead, but after I shimmed the front of the mast base, this seemed to be a great setting for this foil combo.

When I got to the beach, Jim and Harris were already out.  I assembled the foil/board, carried it to the beach and figured using the 5.2 would be the best bet.

I used the electric pump again (4th time using it - trying to see how many inflate cycles I get out of a single charge)

I actually made two outings.  The first was to make sure the foil was properly set - and seeing as I was real close, I went ahead and headed out to Firsts.  The waves seemed cleaner, bigger and more organized today.  The tide was still high so that did slow the action down a bit.  I was able to get several waves where the face had some vertical to it and I luffed the wing.  Riding this way has always been harder for me at Firsts - but with the practice at WPB, it is getting easier over here.

I did head in because I noticed the board was riding nose down.  I grabbed the shims from the truck and got them bolted on.  The shims seemed to somewhat correct the attitude issue, but just a hair short of perfect.  I may try using the other shim from Wizard Hat.

I seemed to be going faster the second half of the session.  I think with the longer mast, the additional drag slowed me down considerably.  Pumping and taking off were also more difficult compared to the 85cm mast.  That said - I did not breach or pop the tail once.  The extra 4" of height also made it seem like I didn't have to think about the foil's position relative to the surface - I was there just to ride the wave.

I think as I use this mast more, it'll become a better experience.  I have used it in the past - but with the HS1850.  I'm going to try this mast with the HS1250 on a windy day - would be interesting to see the difference.

Wing Foiling Session - 7/15/2021

Wind was blowing most of the day - all the parts except when I got out.  I got to the beach at 4, quickly setup (thanks to the new electric pump, I was able to set up the foil while I put the foil and board together).  It looked good as I was driving up, and everyone had come in right before I got there to take a break (as the wind was pretty strong).  I pumped up the 5.2 and setup the HA1125/232/95cm mast.

The foil/board setup was not seamless today.  The wind was strong, but it kept coming from different directions, so it was hard to get a lock on where I should be going or where to draw power.

You can see the wind was up - and that at times it was more from the North - then more from the East.  I headed back in to swap out the HA1125 for the HS1250.  It took forever from me to get back - the HA1125 wasn't allowing me to build up speed (it really doesn't like to be pumped up like the HS series - needs the wind to pull you up).

I did manage to get in - and I did the swap and I did get back out.  You can see the last quarter of the session log I was mostly up and connecting transitions.  I'm not sure if it was the 95cm mast... I've used it in the past and had really fun sessions - maybe with the chop and the more northerly wind it just wasn't lining up.

Overall I'd say it was worth getting out on the water - even though I was struggling for most of it.  Tomorrow the winds are supposed to be stronger and it keeps up through the weekend.

Wing Foiling Session - 6/17/2021

Hit Hickam after work.  The wind at the launch was light - if the runway wind sock weren't out there parallel to the horizon, one would have packed up and gone home.  Ken came in when the big group was setting up - he said an hour before (so 2:30pm) it was really strong, but was coming down fast.

I set up the same gear as Tuesday - Ensis 6.0, HS1850/Chopped 300/95cm mast/60cm fuselage, Narrow Wing Foiling Board.

Harris made a beeline for Firsts, so I followed.  Mark and his friend were out there already.  Firsts was breaking nicely and I got some good rides.  After a bit, I saw Prayot and Roland making their way out to through the channel to get in on the wave action.  Roland was holding his line, but Prayot started to drift downwind.  I went over to check on him a few times (you can see my tracks over at Seconds).  It didn't help that the wind seemed to have a bunch of holes in it.  Prayot had to paddle in from outside Seconds... that is a really long paddle.  Roland and I had made it in despite a long lull.

Was out from around 3:30 to around 5:30.  Wind was definitely declining.

I got in 11.85 nm and hit a top speed of 14.6 kt - most likely on the good wave rides.

If the wind were steadier, I could have used the HS1250 and logged some higher speeds - just waiting for the right day (but it is hard to give up the insurance policy that is the HS1850).

Wing Foiling Session - 6/15/2021

I was near home doing a site visit at one of our locations over this way - so I decided to launch at WPB.  The waves the surfers were riding were chest high on the sets.  The tide was filling in so I wasn't hesitant to bolt together the Armstrong (same setup as Sunday - 95cm mast, HS1850 front foil, Chopped 300 rear stabilizer with a +1 shim on a 60cm fuselage).  The wind was marginal - but just decided to go out anyways.  Roland and Prayot also went out.  Had to paddle out a ways to get to the wind line, but launched from Fenceline so the waves weren't breaking as bad as the other side.

We were out from 4:30 to 6pm.  You can see the wind was on the lighter side, but I've always suspected the anemometer connected to this site is reading way further inland.  There was decent wind on the outside.

This is the second time I've had this setup bolted on - the 95cm mast totally makes a difference in riding in choppy bumpy conditions.  I am always trying to make sure I don't breach the tail - and before even with the 85cm mast, I would have popped the tail in conditions like today.  This mast allowed the foils to stay submerged even when I was taking huge drops on the far outside waves.  

The HS1850 was perfect for getting up quick - and for staying on foil during the transitions.  But when up and riding, I was having a hard time keeping up with the waves and in managing the extra speed when dropping in from the top of the bigger waves.  I jibed into a couple and got to lull the wing while riding regular footed.  As the waves backed down (transiting over deeper channels) I had to quickly pulling in the wing and get going under wing power again.  My max speed was 16.2 kt (18.6 mph).  You can see from the blue-black distribution that I had some really long runs and several transitions while staying up on foil.

Using wind power to move around, you kinda forget to look how far out you are.  I would make the long runs to make sure I was gaining ground.  I was far enough upwind that I felt I could give up ground riding waves wherever they took me on the way in. 

Riding at WPB is definitely more "wild"  - a lot more to think about and manage compared to Hickam.  This is likely to be the last time I wing for several days - the wind is forecasted to go pretty light (which is great for prone foiling).  Hopefully when the trades fill back in, they will be strong enough to bolt on the HS1250 on this setup - with that front foil I should be able to move faster and still get up on foil fairly quickly.

As a note, Prayot came in down wind at a place where the shore break was stronger - he ended up wrapping his wing around a chunk of reef and one of the bladders popped.  Roland was riding. but wasn't gaining ground (he won't ride weak side/heel side headed back in).

I had a great time and didn't wash in at Campgrounds!!!

Wing Foiling Session - 6/13/2021

By the time we got the winging equipment set up, the wind seemed to have come down a bit.  But the wind sock at the runway was still straight out and the flag at Hickam Harbor was flapping, so we went out anyways.

We were out from 10:30 to 12:30 - you can see this was mostly a light wind session. 

I made another change and rigged up the 95cm mast - I had a blast with the extra height (makes me think I should get the 100cm).

I noticed I had the footstraps set too far forward for today's setup.  The footstraps were setup for the Go Foil GL210 on the 29.5" + 3" adaptor that I had out last time.  I'll have to document the positions for the different foils.  Probably has to do with the shifting center of lift - I think the Go Foil COL is further forward, so the straps need to be further up as well - and the opposite is true for the Armstrong.

I got up to 13.2 kts - considering it was light this was pretty good.  I also was staying up on foil during most of the transitions.  Towards the front half of the session, I went from a heelside outbound run, into a toeside jibe and shortly after tacked back onto heelside.  I did that twice - and although it wasn't pretty, I did get a new transition under my belt.  This tack was easier than a pure heelside (weak side) to heelside tack on the inbound runs.  Going to have to put some effort into dialing this in.

Super fun light wind session!