Evening Session - 12/22/2020

Marlon and I hit WPB this afternoon.  There was supposed to be a bump and the wind was forecasted to be zilch.

Well - there was a bump up compared to yesterday.  A few of the bombers that rolled through were at least chest high.  The wind had an onshore flow component to it (convection).  And the tide was low at 0.1'.  I paddled the board/foil upside down and with the increased energy, I was able to stay on the outside and ride worry free (about grounding).  Marlon as always - cruising into to waves and riding casually.

I brought out the same setup as yesterday.  That weird draggy feeling was present today (unlike yesterday when the foil felt like it was slipping through the water).  Might need to put a coat of carnuba wax on the foil.  I did get some really long waves - 781' and 18.1 mph according to the watch.

The swell is supposed to peak tomorrow... I think I'm going to switch to the CF1200...

Evening Session - 8/5/2020

Had to work late again - got home and Marlon was loading up his longboard.  I asked him to wait so I could go.  Wind was strong trades with a lot of east in it - choppy water (all I could think about was what size wing would I need to go winging in this).  The tide was really high at 2.3'.  The surprise of the day was the swell - chest to head high on the sets.  I brought the skinny 4'10" with the GL180 thinking it was going to be small and not so choppy.  Note to self - if it is choppy, use the wide 4'10" as it cuts through all the mess better.  It was definitely big enough to have been able to rip on the GL140.

I had to recalibrate again.  I could also feel resistance from the foil - I don't know if this was me recalibrating or if I was picking up on the differences between the Armstrong and the Go Foil.  Hmmm - that would be interesting the study.  I took an early insider and got a quick ride.  Then I paddled for the way outside break - and caught two which I rode all the way back in.  The wave was breaking right, so I had to foil into the wind - again surprisingly to me was how much the wind slowed me down.  My next two waves were wipeouts of epic proportions - knocked the wind out of me.  I caught a few more on the inside, but nothing to gush over.  I really could have used the GL140 today.  Another odd note, I had to put more backfoot pressure on again - per my earlier post, I'm now supposed to move the foil back up a hair to prevent that from happening (I should try that out).  Marlon was clear on the other side - so I didn't see many of his rides.  I'm sure he was catching everything.

Evening Session - 6/7/2020

Marlon did a double run today - he hit the beach earlier to meet a friend.  I stayed back to help get some projects completed (La fixed my board socks, and I built a new plant trellis for La).  He went back with me for an evening session.  The tide was full high at 2.2'.  The swell was waist high with occasional chest to head high sets.  And the wind was normal trades - with the surface choppy again.

I am still on the experimenting track.  I brought the wide 4'10" out and I set it up with the tall mast, the GL180 and the P17.5 rear wing. 

I set the mast to the same setting I had marked for the 24.5"+3" mast.  The big experiment was whether I would have to adjust for the different mast height.  The foil was predictable and for the most part the same as if I were riding the shorter mast.

I had some long rides again - to be expected with the GL180.  I also had a few blow ups from trying to catch the bigger set waves - I did catch a few that I didn't blow up, but those were green.  I did hit bottom once - while recovering at the end of a long ride.  Got some minor scratches (I just put a coat of spray paint over it to smooth it all out - hydrodynamics).  So the big data point from today was the mast height does not impact the mast location (for a given manufacturer).  Mast height should impact other things - like the amount of leverage you can bring to bear on a turn, but for the center of lift and the center of gravity math it doesn't contribute.  Now that I've worked through a bunch of these permutations with the Go Foil setups, I am get the itch to breakout the Armstrong foils again...

Afternoon Surf - 3/28/2020

Marlon did come this afternoon.  Went back to the same place.  The wind was up, but it wasn't blowing the waves apart.  The tide was pretty high at 1.2'.

The swell was pumping - chest if not head high on the sets.

I brought out the Go Foil 24.5" mast with the track adapter, then placed the GL180 and Kai tail wings.  This setup feels great!  I caught tons of waves.  The GL180 takes of more like the Armstrong 1600 - I have time to get to my feet and pop the front wing up.  I was setup to have done two 2 for11s but didn't connect the dots (yet).  The wing feels like it is in between the Iwa (controllable lift) and the Maliko 200 (gliding through the flat spots).  I also lucked out with dropping the mast track onto the right place - balanced out the gate.

Marlon had a good time - smiles abound!!!