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 Foil Drive-ing Session - 6/1/2025

With La and Noe out the whole day, I got to nab a second FD session!!!

Still glassy, less warble, and a decent tide.

Same gear, but switched out to the 3-blade prop.  Also used the regular Max battery with the HO motor.  And surprisingly I got really good performance - and decent duration.  The 3-blade prop is definitely smoother.

Knowing the HO motor works with either battery, there is no reason to go back to the other motors.

Roland was already out.  So was Eddy.  Prayot launched just before I did on DW SUP foil.

Really good rides this session!!!  Lots of turns - and back to back carving - SO GOOD!!!

18 rides - pretty darn good

W:42/FD:80/PW:7/S:4

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 6/1/2025

Bill came back from a trip to the Mainland - so I went to Hickam this morning to get his trench board back to him.

Same setup as Saturday's dawn patrol, but switched out the rotor hub to the factory 2-blade prop.

There was a weird warble on the water today - really small waves with a super short period - all riding on top of the longer period swell.

There were a bunch of SUP surfers right in the line between the inside peak and the bowl by the channel - had to thread the needle a few times, but I mostly just peeled off before getting to the bowl (sad face emoji here).

I've been using the 20cm cable (as the 15cm one I ordered a while back has not yet arrived...).  I could feel the mast pod hit everytime I hit a warble...

That warble made me have to adjust on the fly to avoid getting wiped.  I did wipe a few times anyways - 

There were a few really fun ones despite the warble.

15 rides in an hour.

I wasn't really impressed with the 2-blade prop... even this one had an ever so slight vibration on it (not nearly as bad as the Magic Hub, but still there).

Fun session!!!

W:42/FD:79/PW:7/S:4

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 5/31/2025

There was a window this morning where the wind was going to be light - Foil Drive-ing

Lower (but positive) tide.  Smaller, but still fun size swell coming through.

New (to me, but not yet touched water) High Output Motor (rotor and stator).

I set it up with the Magic Hub (but already swapped it out for the original 2 blade prop hub).

AFS Enduro 900/HA40/UHM 80cm mast on No.40 (I wanted to compare the new HO motor performance to the last session)

Using the throttle as closely as I normally would, I got two hours out of the HO battery using the HO motor - 45 minutes more than I would have on the old motors.

And I also ramped up the boost to maximum.  The boost is a significant difference over the old motors and previous boost level.

I had plenty of long rides today.  I tried to kick out well before the longboard lineup.

There was some residual chop in the water - not too bad, but enough to definitely make riding something you had to manage (and not just go like during glassy conditions).

23 rides today -

Going to try the original 2 blade prop hub tomorrow.  I want to see if with the additional power, I can get away with the 2 prop setup.

W:42/FD:78/PW:7/S:4