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

Evening Foil Drive Session - 6/23/2026

Rain clouds moved in - so the wind was marginalized.

That's what Foil Drives are for!

There were still some bigger waves - but it has definitely come down.

I opted for the Cabrinha Whippit 850/180 monobloc rear stab setup today.

Despite the rain and the wind induced chop, I had some great rides.

One thing I will add to the Silk - Whippit comparison, the tubercles on the Silk offer "grip".  There were some waves today where I felt I was "slipping" when pushing the foil hard through a turn if there was chop.  Not every turn, but cranking under a developing hook mostly.

I never had that happen with the Silks.

Norm came out and he was on the Silk 1050.  Roland passed today (even though he was hanging in the parking lot again).

22 rides in 1.25 hours - pretty ridiculous!

I did fall a bunch the second half of the session.  With the clouds overhead, I lost the ability to discern wave from flats and I'd lose it.

The rest of the week should be perfect for parawinging!

PF:8/W:3/PW:61/FD:52/S:20

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 6/21/2026

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there - and also Happy Summer Solstice 2026 - the sun starts it's journey back south after today.

The conditions were similar to yesterday - really fun surf (not thrilling or dangerous) in the overhead size range.  There was a little more wind on the water - so there was a little chop.

Cabrinha Whippit 850 with the Union 180 Rear Stabilizer - turns out this setup worked perfectly!  Just goes to show you that in a world where foils seem to be converging, there are still some unique offerings out there - I went into the Cabrinha line thinking the sizing aspects would be similar to the other foils I had been using.  But I never thought I'd be prone foiling on a 905 front foil or be using a 180 rear stabilizer on the higher end of Foil Drive-ing.  I'm glad I got into this system!

I went out with the foil in the position I had last used the Whippit in.  I took two waves and noticed I had slightly more back foot pressure than I wanted.  I moved the mast up a 1/4" and the foil performed perfectly!!!

With the 180 stab, the Whippit now balances the system weight (including my 190 pound ass) so nicely.

The Whippit is smoother and more pitch stable than the Silk.  The Silk can carve a few notches harder than the Whippit, and it can rip through whitewater without blinking an eye.  The Silk also demands more focus in order to deliver the higher performance. Despite having the same surface area and similar aspect ratios, these are different animals.

Both foils drew similar lines in similar conditions - 

According to the max speed recordings from yesterday and today, the Whippit is faster by over a mile per hour - and that was with the choppier conditions today (so there is likely more potential speed to be had).  I would not have come to this conclusion without having used the 180 rear stabilizer and finding the window where this foil works for me - no more twitchiness, no more fighting to get on foil, just something intuitive and fun with the right amount of lift.

Like I've said with the Prestige - I am not going to be getting rid of the AFS foils.  Those are incredible fun and definitely take me closer to the edge of what is possible.  The Cabrinha Union foils are just plain fun!

20 or so rides - I know I did miss a few (the wave was traveling too fast).  This weekend has been awesome for riding overhead plus, super long waves -

PF:8/W:3/PW:60/FD:51/S:20

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 6/18/2026

Got in a dawn patrol at Hickam.  I was originally going to surf as Prayot was launching the boat.  But I also brought the Foil Drive setup from yesterday - and when testing the flukey remote, it completely died (would not transmit).  Ryan and Bill both offered up their spare remotes, and it seemed like a better choice to test my system to make sure it was the failing remote and not something else that was causing all the issues lately.

There was a decent south swell still pushing waves in.  And it was cleaner (but still had a funky warble to it) than White Plains.

Same setup as yesterday - wanted to confirm the mast position for the Whippit was dialed in.  I think it can actually go forward a notch still.

My first few rides felt off - still trying to get used to this foil.  It was squirrely, and then when I tried to do a hard turn the stabilizer would slip out.  And the warble in the water didn't help - I breached more than usual.

But eventually I started just going with the flow and I started to get accustomed to how this foil wanted to turn.

Early on the waves were bigger.  As the tide filled in, it started to bog the waves down.

I caught eleven waves in an hour - not bad.

Tomorrow I'm going to bring the Silk 850 or the Enduro 900 and see if it was the warble or the foil that was limiting my hard turning today.

PF:8/W:3/PW:60/FD:47/S:20

Evening Foil Drive Session - 6/17/2026

Went out to Foil Drive to test the remote.  Surf was energetic, but the chop was pretty intense.  Largely from the onshore wind that was blowing.

Nice higher tide.

Cabrinha Whippit 850/Union 160 Rear Stabilizer bolted on to the Cedrus Evolution Surf and No.40

I wanted to get the Whippit mast position dialed in on this board.

I rode the foil in the Silk 850 position for a few waves.  Then I adjusted it forward as it seemed like it needed a little more lift.

With the adjustment, the foil worked a lot better.

This foil is smoother than the Silk 850, but it needs more energy from the wave and with the 160 rear stabilizer, it doesn't seem to have the same grip as the Silk.

This was a short session really to get things dialed in and make sure the remote was working - and towards the end of the session the remote actually started acting funny again.  I called it and headed in so I wouldn't lose signal completely and have to paddle in from outside.

Eleven rides in a short session.  With the chop I fell a bunch - but there were a few really good rides!

Questionable remote makes for a distraction while foiling...

PF:8/W:3/PW:60/FD:46/S:20

Foil Drive-ing Evening Session - 6/11/2026

Waves were smaller today - size where I'd normal bring out the AFS Enduro 900, but today was a testing day.

Second run of the Cabrinha Whippit 850 on Foil Drive.

I swapped out the Tweaker rear fuselage/modular 140 rear stabilizer for the Union 160 monobloc.

Everything else was the same from yesterday.

And from the first wave - the rear foot bias was nearly gone (just an ever so slight bit more back foot pressure required - way less than yesterday).

Which means the 140 was too small for my weight and the conditions.

Not bad stats considering I was using the original Max battery.

The Whippit was easier to use today and that made carving ridiculously fun.

The whole system still felt bogged down - I'm still guessing it is the full motor mount.

I missed more today compared to yesterday.  Waves that I thought I could catch would run under me and leave me behind.

But I did catch 22 of them.

So the next logical step would be to put the Tweaker back on and start shimming the 140 to see where I gives enough down pressure to replicate the lift generated with the 160 attached.

But if the waves are small again tomorrow, I may just bolt on the AFS Enduro 900.

Prayot was out SUP foiling and Roland was out Foil Drive-ing.  Kalani, Stu and Roland went out earlier in the day.

Always fun to test hypothesis!!!

PF:8/W:3/PW:60/FD:43/S:18

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