Evening Foil Drive Session - 8/8/2025

Today was the first showing of this big south swell.  It was big -

I setup No.41 with the same setup as I have been using but swapped out the Enduro 900/HA40 for the Silk 650/HA38

I wanted to get the mast position dialed in using this foil on No.41 - and initially I felt I needed a bigger day to do this.

Turns out that needing to be on the throttle longer to lift a smaller foil starts to position you in a more critical takeoff position.  Something I've gotten away from since I started Foil Drive-ing.

But I kept trying to take waves - and after three waves and three adjustments, I think I have found the sweet spot.

It was nearly double overhead on the big sets breaking outside.  The problem was there was too much water moving all over the place.  There was plenty of wind - enough to have gone winging comfortably - and that put a lot of chop on the surface.

That in turn made catching waves harder.

Picking the right wave was everything today.

An issue made even more challenging by using a different foil for the first time on a shorter board - factors that individually make for longer takeoffs.

Despite the challenges, I did manage to catch a few notable waves.  And the Silk 650 is tremendously nimble.  It just needs a lot of energy to move it through the water.

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I think the perfect conditions for the Silk 650 would be a glassy head to head and a half high day, with a lower tide to get the waves running 

By the data sets, I count 12 waves ridden - with multiple attempts that ended up with the waves leaving me behind, or me pulling out of a bottom dropper. 

I need to spend more time on the Silk 650 to get it past the twitchy stage (me, not the foil).

But tomorrow morning, as this swell peaks, I am going to use the Silk 850/HA40 and No.40 to be able to get up onto a rising wave faster so I have the ability to get onto the section where I want to be (and not where I find myself due to the late takeoff).

W:55/FD:101/PW:19/S:4

Evening FD DW WP-PV Session - 5/23/2025

The wind was blowing similar to yesterday - but it definitely had more holes/lulls.  With a solid high tide, launching/landing would be nice and easy.

The waves were where the biggest disparity from the forecast lay - 

Surfline said it would be twice as big as yesterday - but it was a touch smaller (if you ask me).

That was all fine - Norm and I were going to do a downwind run anyways.

No.40, AFS 80cm UHM mast, Enduro 900/HA40

Kalani was also on FD.  Zach, Prayot and Roland were on wing.

It was pretty fun catching waves all the way down from WP over to PV.

The area before Campgrounds was pretty jumbled (and hard to catch any waves).

And from Campgrounds on to PV, the waves were fat so you had to get out in front of them if you were going to catch it - especially in the strong winds. 

I'll call this 15 rides - I know I got left behind on some of them.  If I got out in front, I could ride the waves for a long ways.

The waves were way easier to catch at WP.

I think Bill is going to let me try the Amos Trench board, and I'm going to let Kalani try out No.39, and I might be helping Mark tune in his new Foil Drive - Hickam run in the morning (it's also a -0.3' tide...)

W:42/FD:72/PW:6/S:4

Dawn Patrol Foil Drive-ing - 5/3/2025

Dawn patrol this morning saw the running swell dropping just a touch and the wind dropped off (temporarily). 

Low tide a 0', rising to 0.4' - meant a longer paddle out to water deep enough to flip the foil over and launch.

No.40 with the AFS Silk 850/HA40

The wind did inch up during the session.  Oddly enough it was from side off (NNE) and it would push me back from taking the drop on some of the waves.

Regardless, I caught some really long rides and the walls were tall and running.

On one particular ride where I was stalling in front of a breaking section, I wasn't able to pick up speed fast enough and got eaten by the white water.

On other runs I got pinched in and had to go through aerated water - the Silk ate that up not even fluttering.  Made me think I need to try out the Silk 650... 

Dean, Noel, Prayot and Kalani were all out.

I had to come in early so I could help La at our yard sale (selling plants).

12 rides by the time and distance graphs.

Again - this graph is interesting in Foil Drive runs because you can see the length of the rides.

W:34/FD:66/PW:1/S:4

Dawn Patrol Foil Drive - 3/22/2025

Dawn patrolled with the Foil Drive this morning.  Really nice conditions!

No.40 with the same lower assembly.  I've been wanting to use the Spitfire 900 - but the waves weren't consistently big enough to use it and still get long run time out of the battery.

And I didn't want to do a battery swap since the tide was on the low side (me being lazy).

Full crew out today - Mark, Andrew, Thursday Matt, Dean, Dennis, Noel and others were out.

I had some really long rides today.  All but a handful of waves were pretty low energy - but there was enough shape to bounce turns between sections.

On the handful of bigger breakers, it was fun to drive to the bottom of the broken wave, zoom back up the face behind the section, bank off and head back across where the wave broke.

23 or 25 rides depending on which data set you look at.

This distance view of the ride data makes the longer rides more obvious.

Should be similar conditions tomorrow morning.

W:22/FD:45/PW:1/S:4

Dawn Patrol Foil Drive Session - 3/16/2025

WP was open this morning.

Waves were a notch smaller today down from yesterday.  Zero wind again so the surface was nice and glassy.  And a higher tide made for a nonchalant entry.

Same gear as yesterday - but I pulled the mast slightly back to see if I could lessen the front foot pressure/additional lift I was having to deal with.

After cycling this board in the rotation behind No.40, I can say No.39 is the board to use when higher speed is called for.  This board doesn't like to schlog - so not a light wind wing board.  With sufficient power (larger wing) I can use a smaller foil - or just using the boost on the Foil Drive. 

So No.40 is an all-rounder, and No.39 is a higher speed specialist.

The new pulled back mast position definitely is better - the lift is more progressive without losing pumpability on the recycling efforts.

There is a pattern in this pile of red an blue spaghetti.  I'd takeoff and head right, carve several turns and then head left (to give the SUP guys a chance to catch the wave), then ride it out.

I got a triple in there somewhere, along with a couple of double dips. 

Prayot was out on his Dragonfly and AFS Silk 1090.  If the waves were taller, he was catching them.  He got a double (at least one that I saw - probably more).

24 rides - slightly lower waves count, but the waves were lully today.

The wind is supposed to come back Tuesday - I may take a break tomorrow to prepare.

W:21/FD:42/PW:1/S:3

Dawn Patrol Foil Drive - 3/15/2025

WPB was still closed this morning.  Norm, Marvin and I headed to Pavilions.

No wind this morning - made for glassy conditions - so nice!!!

The tide was high and dropping so entry was easy.

There were some waves, but you had to wait for the sets to get good ones.

I took out No.39 - again to continue to get the characteristics down.  The rest of the setup was the same.

I used the new battery today (I used the standard Max battery yesterday).  I got over 2 hours without being too stingy on the throttle - in fact I made several efoiling runs.

When the sets came through, the higher tide was somewhat holding the waves back from breaking - but the walls that resulted ran for some good distance.  Marvin and Norm had some really fun rides also.

25 rides in 2.25 hours - 

Super mellow session!

W:21/FD:41/PW:1/S:3

Dawn Patrol - 2/23/2025

Nice conditions for the dawn patrol again this morning.

Super light offshore wind kept the surface conditions at near glass.  Low tide at 0.6 and dropping - but that just meant swimming a little more.

There were waves breaking on the outside -  

Same gear - including the HO Max battery.

I came in at 45% because I needed to get Norm's battery and foil over to him.  At an hour and a half, I could have been out another 30 minutes at least.

Tight takeoff spot today.  And as time went on, the waves actually got smaller and smaller (fading swell).  Which realistically is fine - I really should be resting my right knee anyways (I can't help it if I rip super hard).

These rides were really long today.  And I got several double dips.

22 rides this morning - uber fun this morning!!!

W:9/FD:33/PW:1/S:3

Evening Session - 2/13/2025

Not as big as yesterday.  Fuller tide.  And more wind.

Today was not as perfect as yesterday was - but there were still good waves to ride.

Marvin came out to try out the new High Output battery and High Efficiency motor.

I moved the mast forward a notch and bolted on the Spitfire 900.  I thought I might end up moving the mast to dial in the optimum position - but it was pretty good from the get go.

I did notice the whole setup felt a little slower than normal.  I have been using the Foil Lite bolt system and with the prospect of moving the mast out on the water I used the Wingscrew wing nuts.  That might have been the drag I was feeling.

But there was also a really strong current running West to East.  There was also a little more chop on the surface than I have been used to (from the past few clean sessions).

Not sure exactly why I was feeling off my game - but today was definitely more of a struggle day.

To add to all of that, Marvin mentioned his battery was moving inside the unit.  And after his mentioning of that, I heard/felt the same in my box.

I finished the session with 35% left.  I did efoil a few times - but I wasn't getting in the groove (still).  Otherwise I was a little harder on the throttle than I normally am - and the waves were breaking on the far outside - so that additional usage would explain the higher consumption.

Now to reflect on the positive - there were some great rides today.  Tons of carving and critical position riding where the waves were breaking.

I did have some abrupt/unplanned dismounts.  I'm attributing that to the chop and using a different front foil.

17 rides in just over an hour - no room for complaints here.

W:9/FD:27/PW:1/S:1

Evening Session - 2/12/2025

Went Foil Drive-ing this afternoon

The wind had been on the waves for a bit so it was not as smooth as yesterday - but the tide was higher and the waves were pretty darn good.

Same setup as yesterday - except I was using the High Output Max battery and I brought the mast back a notch.

The set waves were head and a half high and it was so good to swoop to the bottom of a wave where you could look up at the wave break right at you!!!

And I caught multiple waves like this -

The High Output battery is the same voltage as the Max battery - but having more Ah and Wh made the Foil Drive seem steadier and even a tad stronger compared to using the regular battery.

That might very well be all in my head - but the battery did seem like it was not dropping off as fast as the other battery does.  A possible explanation would be the Max battery has been rode hard for well over a hundred cycles - and batteries don't last forever.

Back to the rides - I was way outside the Cabins - pretty much where we go winging when the wind is strong (because the wind swirls at this point and if you get dropped in a lull it is a really long swim back in).

20 waves in an hour!!!

The mast position was probably a hair too far back - I didn't feel like I was wrestling the foil - but I also needed to work a little more to keep it in the sweet spot.

Truthfully I think I could have been on the Spitfire 900 (and maybe even the Spitfire 840)

No.39 has been working superbly.  I have zero complaints/tweaks/ideas on how to improve its performance.  I got the WMFG deck pad today - and it's on No.40 already.  I'm going to let it sit for a couple of days to make sure the bond is good.  That will give me a couple more days on No.39 to get its characteristics down.

W:9/FD:26/PW:1/S:1