Wing Foiling Session - 3/7/2025

La and I were going back into town in the evening so we could meet up with a 1st cousin of mine - so I got an early winging session in.

The wind was pretty gusty and a lot of North in it.  The tide was low (that time of year) and the waves were on the small side.

I figured I'd try out the Eagle 890 on No.40 and get the balance point defined.  The results were not what I expected - it lined up behind the SK8 950...

I didn't think I'd need a bigger wing - but the wind was super up and down.  I had several points where I had to wait for a gust to get back up on foil, and multiple points where I was holding on for dear life (but the Mode Pro 4.8 lives for that).

The first two 5 mile laps were pretty long - subject to the off foil stints.  My last one was decent at 22 minutes.

There were some waves to ride and a lot of them stood up for some fun slashing and drops.  But it was smaller than it has been the past several days.  I've been focusing on timing of my tacks onto waves - with the long windless streak, I had gotten rusty on this.  Trying to line up the tack with a peaking wave, and tightening up that tack has been what I seek while out winging in waves.

12 to 28mph... good training for wing management.  In fact, I was able to pump up on to foil in wind that I normally wouldn't have thought I could get up in (maybe a benefit of No.40's bottom shape and volume distribution...)

Another weird thing was the top speed I got out of the equipment today - not as fast as I normally get out of the 890.  Pulling all the other weird things that were happening (foil kept coming back at me or I was bumping into it - multiple times), I'll just consider this session an anomaly.

More windy days ahead!

W:16/FD:39/PW:1/S:3

Wing Foiling Session - 12/25/2024

Yesterday the forecasts were calling for a spike of wind (in the wingable range) - so I passed on the dawn patrol (plus it was Christmas and I wanted to spend it with the family in the morning).

When I got to the beach, it was blowing - but onshore (so the whitecaps were a little deceiving).

I setup the North Nova Pro 5.0 (which seemed like it would be a little too much wing - but it was actually perfect), No.34 with the F One Eagle 890/DW190 on the Evolution Cedrus Wind Mast.

I had to paddle way out to get to water deep enough to flip the board over.  And even then I found myself in some shallow spots (and the Eagle touched down a few times - ugh).

The wind on the outside was strong - fueled by the heated land.  And it bent more eastward than SE.

The swell was small but it did offer push on the foil.  The whole session actually felt like a continuous downwinder.

I totally got the thermal at it's peak.

I was up on foil for a majority of the session - except for the gap towards the end.  You can see the drop in the wind towards the end of my session up above.  The earlier drops were me tripping on the foil while trying harder turns.

I only did a couple of tacks - with the wind direction I thought they would have been slower to execute (and would have me in the water more).

Eddy came along after I was in.  I told him it was dropping and might not be worth it since this was a thermal event.

Nice to get in a wing session when the forecast has us in a light wind period.

W:153/PW:2/FD:99/F:5/S:29

Wing Foiling Session - 12/23/2024

Winged Hickam today as I wanted to get No.39 dialed in.

The wind was pretty wild - nuking gusts, followed by lulls, and direction shifts - super challenging and fun!

I used the North Mode Pro 5.5 for the entire session.  Since the wind was all over the place, I figured I'd split the difference between the nuking gusts and the lightly blowing lulls.  This wing handled it all.

First up for testing was Marvin's AFS Silk 850 with my HA40 rear stabilizer.  I had to move the footstraps back from this position.

Starting, this board likes the weight a little more centered.

I got this setup to 20.7mph.  The Silk 850 is just so nice to foil - smooth, nice lift, and turns like an F22.

I came back in and swapped out the front foil with Prayot's AFS Enduro 900 (standard fuselage and HA40 rear stabilizer).

I got this setup to 21.63mph

I still felt I never got to a happy place with this foil (because it feels like it is going lift more than it is).

Even easier to run and the glide is just ridiculous - 

So much so that I got in a Goofy jibe on this foil.

And last for today was the F One Eagle 890.  I've got hours of time on this foil and it was a good benchmark for the two others (which I've foil a few times each - but not have had a chance to do a back-to-back comparison).

This foil never feels like it has too much lift - and from the GPS, it also was the fastest today - 22.9mph

I think I could have put up the North Mode Pro 4.8 with the wind the way it was.

The wind is forecasted to drop below wingable levels until the weekend.  Time to Foil Drive!!!

W:152/PW:2/FD:98/F:5/S:29

Wing Foiling Session - 12/11/2024

The wind was nuking again - and the tide was super low again as well.  I opted to hit Pavilions again.

The gusts seemed stronger today so I pumped up the North Mode Pro 4.8 - perfect wing for today's conditions.

And I setup No.36 with the Evolution Cedrus mast and the F One Eagle 890/DW190

The wind was indeed nuking - and it was more consistent.

So much so that I winged up to WPB.  I rode a few waves and then did a slow downwinder back to Pavilions (riding long waves the entire way - so much fun!!!).

The trip was pretty fast - 12 minutes.  While over at WPB, I got to wing along side Mark and Duke (Roland wasn't out yet).

Norm also winged upwind to WPB.  Super fun!!!

For the rest of the session I was riding between Campgrounds and Pavilions.  I even had some over head bombs!

The conditions west of WPB are more challenging - chop, converging current and lots of faster moving water.  Definitely makes you feel alive!

The wind was stronger than what is shown on the chart.

I almost got an hour on foil - then I tripped on some chop.  But for the most part, I was riding almost the whole session.

On the way home I stopped off at WPB to do a comparison of the conditions.  Definitely low tide...

W:148/PW:2/FD:89/F:5/S:29

Wing Foiling Session - 11/15/2024

The wind was up again - and even though gusty, the conditions seemed better than the day before (at least for me).

After the long-haul paddle in at dusk event at the previous session, I opted to go with a more powerful wing and the Eagle 890.  I also reset the foot straps on to No.36 (still need to adjust the port strap)

SW2 4.2 - it's been a while since I pumped that wing up.

Good stats - average speed down as I ended up taking a few breaks in the water.  The SW2 with the soft handles is a little rougher on the elbows...

Lots of waves today.  The low tide made for a long paddle out to get to deeper water - and landing was tricky, but I did get through the session without issue today.

The dense part of the chart below is where the outside wave bowls - you can dig hard on the bottom turn and bounce of the top of the wave nicely here.  Marlon took some drone footage - and the regulars were going off - we'll see what is on the videos.

Kalani had his foil take out the front of his wing (still repairable with tape - but it is bagged out).  Prayot ended up hitting the bottom with his AFS Pure 900 - just after he got the stabilizer to quiet down.

There were times I felt overpowered on the 4.2 - but I did not want a repeat of the previous session.  

No surprises here.  With the chop and turbulence, top speed was to be expected.

Fun session!!!

W:143/PW:2/FD:80/F:5/S:20

Wing Foiling Session - 10/20/2024, Part 2

And after helping La with some honey-dos, I went to get a second winging session in.

This is likely to be the last windy day for a week or so - best time to test out the third Ezzy wing.

Kalani, Prayot and Roland were all beaching when I was putting my gear together.

Straight strut Ezzy Flight 5.5m wing -

Also No.36 but this time setup with the F One Eagle 890/DW190 (the wind was much better this go around).

Really low tide this afternoon... I had to paddle out quite a bit before getting to flip the board/foil.

The wind was pretty steady this afternoon - would have actually been a good day to use the parawing - but today was wing testing.

The 5.5 has a good range - from light wind (as long as you don't have to start with the lower wind) all the way up to being overpowered - this wing handled it all well.

This version luffs well - but not as good as the 4.0m that I have.

I almost had a super long session without going down - I did mess up a jibe and got pretty tired - but I did recover back to foiling pretty quickly.

I didn't test them back to back, but I think the North Nova Pro 5.0 has the same power as this wing.

Super fun (solo) session!

W:129/PW:2/FD:74/F:5/S:19

Wing Foiling Session - 10/16/2024

Today was a better version of yesterday's session - the waves were bigger, spread out a little better and the wind was stronger and more consistent.

Mark was out when I got there - Eli went out after I launched, and Roland paddled out later.

The wind was ripping again - I opted for the Reedin SW2 4.2 and the same setup as yesterday (swapping out No.36 for No.32).

Phenomenal session!!!

Head high waves rolled through on the sets - super long rides carving up and down open faces

And the majority of the time up on foil - what more could you ask for???!!!

The forecast says the wind will slack for a few days - I could use the rest after the past couple of days!

W:127/PW:2/FD:73/F:4/S:19

Wing Foiling Session - 10/15/2024

Smoking conditions at the Plains today!!!

Nice high tide, decent wind swell coming through - and ripping winds!!!

No.36 with the F One Eagle 890/DW210 on the Evolution Cedrus Wind mast (I actually wish I had the Clydesdale out today).  Powered by the Ezzy Flight 4.0 -

Kalani, Eli, Zach, Duke, Derek, Prayot and Roland were all out today.  I was in the water first and had to leave after an hour and a half (date night with La).

Besides breaching several times from the intense chop in the short period (but still good sized) swell, this session was full of uncensored awesomeness!!!

With the direction more east than north, I didn't feel like I could consistently execute outbound tacks - but I did pull several inbound tacks.  Most of the transitions today were jibes (and due to the swell size and tight period, they weren't exactly easy to ail either).

Solid winds!  It has been some time since we've had wind this strong.

I may setup the Clydesdale tomorrow...

So much fun today!!!!

W:126/PW:2/FD:73/F:4/S:19