Foil Drive-ing 6/10/2026

We are in between swells at the moment.  This weekend is supposed to be big again.  But for the meantime, there were chest high waves on the sets, a decent mid tide and low wind for the pau hana session today.

And it was a perfect day to dial in the Cabrinha Whippit/Tweaker 390 + 140 rear stabilizer.

Foil Drive Max onboard No.43

I used the wing bolts to make sure I could get the mast position dialed in.

I adjusted the foil to go further forward after each of the first three waves.  I got it in a spot where it felt comfortable, but through all the rides I noted I was really using my rear foot and the setup was pretty pitch sensitive.

Tomorrow I will likely swap out the rear stabilizer for the Union 160 - seeing if that reduces the pitch sensitivity.

What I loved about this foil was how well it carved.  And I'm not sure if it was designed this way, but with the rear foot bias, this foil felt way more like surfing a shortboard than any other foil I've used.  The Silk 850 carves even harder, but it feels distinctly like foiling.  I feel like I can push the Silk 850 harder, and that it is more balanced - but this reinforces my decision to get the Cabrinha Union based foils - they are different than their contemporaries - and because of that they do not really overlap. 

The Foil Drive itself felt a little sluggish today.  Not sure if it was the chop or the unit settings, but something was off.

It may have been the full-bodied motor mount (maybe I was feeling the drag???).

This is definitely a better way to get to know a new foil (unlike the last "wing" outing I had).

As I mentioned earlier, I'll move to try the 160 monobloc rear stab next - but I definitely want to try the other shims on the modular 140 rear stab also.

If you look closely at some of the tracks below, you can see some pretty curvy shortboard surfing lines -

18 rides (with a few others where I didn't pick up the wave).

Prayot and Duke paddled out on their DW SUP foil boards. Kalani and Roland chilled in the parking lot discussing the boom box build, and then ground handling the PW Derek loaned/gave Roland.

Fun session!!!

PF:8/W:3/PW:60/FD:42/S:18

Wing Foiling Session - 6/3/2026

It seemed like the trades were filling back in - but it was kinda up and down (mostly down).  And with the big surf rolling in, I had originally thought PVs would have been a safer bet (not having to paddle through breaking surf).

My mistake was overestimating the wind strength and putting on a foil I have not yet gotten wet (Cabrinha Whippit 850/Tweaker 390/140)

Norm made wiser calls on wing and foil size (and he had a great session).

I on the other hand spent my session trying to make it back to dry land in one piece.

I did get on foil early on.  The foil felt squirrely so I stopped to move it forward.

If you stopped, the longshore current would grab you and drag you down the coast pretty fast.  By the time I figured that out, I was already in front of the Coast Guard Admin Building.

I tried paddling back, but got disheartened seeing despite my best efforts I was still getting dragged out and over.

Just to my right was double overhead pitching waves (which I had intended on staying on the inside to avoid).  To my left was a shallow reef (but lucky for me it was a full high tide).

I was drifting towards Bunkers when a gust blew through.  I had stopped recording so the track below was filled in by me.

I rode that gust as far I as could looking for a filled in area of wind - if I botched the jibe.... who knows how I would have gotten back to shore.

I made the first jibe and was trying to pull further upwind.  I saw I was back at the Admin Building, so I opted to jibe and head back out.  The wind was better so I took the line further out to gain more ground.

I made my outside jibe and headed back in - I made it to the first breaking line and a wave stood up in front of me.  And I got backwinded.  At least by this point I was inside the first breaking line and the current was not as bad.

I took a few whitewater walls to help push me even further in.

I got to the flats and started paddling in hard.

It seemed like the wing was a large part of the problem - I could actually feel the wing pulling me back when the less than strong wind was blowing.  And it is nothing but pure drag when paddling.  I felt like I was working triple duty and barely moving.

The peaks above 15 were where I was able to get up on foil.  

So now I know this foil needs a lot more wind than the Prestige does.  I am going to try it out next on Foil Drive (where I think it will excel).

I still like winging - but it's sessions like this where I question my judgement.  It would have been way less stress on Foil Drive.

PF:8/W:3/PW:55/FD:41/S:18