Wing Foiling Session - 1/25/2025

I had planned on winging today, but the forecasts got revised with lower winds.  I went ahead and started charging my Foil Drive battery and then the trees started moving.

I figured the waves were small and there would be fishermen on the shore - and I went ahead and drove to Hickam.  It looked like the wind was going to stick around, but it would be light.

I set up the current light wind equipment - Nova Pro 5.0, KT Dragonfly and the AFS Enduro 1300.

I also bolted on the North Shiftlock Camera Mount.

Side note - I couldn't get the GoPro Hero or the 12 to power up - I think I'll have to charge the cameras up right before using them.  They may be smart batteries (and self discharge if not used to preserve the health of the battery).

Any ways - the mount is pretty cool and I didn't feel the weight of the camera.

The picture is the back half of a heel side tack 

The session started out well - I made a bunch of runs and transitions despite the lower wind levels - this equipment is good for wind in the 10ish to 15 mph winds.  Just need a puff to get up off the water.

Unfortunately, the wind dropped out and I spent most of the session waiting for that puff to get up.

Pretty tight correlation between the wind speed and my speed.

I'm glad I did get up on foil, got some miles in and got to try out the camera mount.  Despite the long back half, today was good training (for the parawing - the more I know how to coax this board up on foil, the better it work for me when parawinging).

W:7/FD:15/PW:1

Wing Foiling Session - 12/15/2023

Another day of strong winds with lots of challenges embedded.  The wind was pretty swirly today - 

There were periods where I was trying to jibe and I would get totally backwinded - it got difficult to figure out where the wind was coming from.

There was another time period where I couldn't get up on the board.  Oh well - at least there was wind.

Low tide so the paddle out was pretty long.

The surf wasn't bad as long as you looked at the event as a downwinder.  The wind swell being blown in did actually break at certain points - timing was everything. 

It has been quite some time since I took the GoPro out.  I actually found it tucked into a cooler bag in the truck. This picture shows I did throw some tacks - but the wind was so up and down that I didn't want to risk falling so I mainly jibed.

Here is one of the wind swell runners - really fun when you got a long ride!

And on those long rides, carving both ways was possible

This time and distance should have been better - especially based on my speed when the wind was coming at a good pace and from a familiar and steady direction.  But I did spend a bunch of time in the water.

More north than east today.

Strong wind for sure - just shifty.

You can get the picture of all the ups and downs.

Norm was out.  He was actually hugging the coast more than I was.  Goes to show you the difference in the wind when two riders and take different tacks going out from the same point.

Roland and Duke also came out.  Duke's first time winging!

Roland was staying on the inside - kinda coaching Duke.  Towards the end he started winging more on the outside - then the wind died on both of us.  He was a lot further out than I was.  I picked up a gust and got back to the shallows.  Then Roland picked up a gust and was able to get back in, jibe a few times to get back to the lay line to the landing spot, then heading in.

I did not want to paddle - so I waited and eventually picked up one last gust.  These last few sessions have been challenging for sure.

W:121/F:107/S:58

Wing Foiling Session - 8/8/2022

Hit WPB after work.  Wind was up when I got there, but it had an element of off and on.  To negate that concern, I bolted on the Kujira 1440 and used the RS 5.1.  I also was trying out a direct mount (onto the Cedrus mast) Stringy fuselage.

Marlon also came out - he brought his Seaside but later said it would have been better had he brought his longboard.

Roland and Derek were synchronized foiling.

I was not feeling it today - my left elbow has been giving me a little trouble and taking new gear out to WPB is never really a good idea (Hickam is a better trial and adjust place).  The 1440 didn't feel settled - probably need to adjust the stabilizer AOA... still had fun (when the wind field didn't slack off)

Marlon broke out the drone and started filming - you can see his drone following me in this picture.

It wasn't a bad session - I just felt I was not one with the foil and the elements.

You can see the wind was a little shifty - actually had some north in it.

The wind was on the lighter side of fun - I was out from 5pm to 6pm

And for me this is telling.  I've been able to get this front going faster on different fuselages.  I need to adjust something (like I said earlier I'm going to start with the stabilizer angle).

W:80/F:67/S:18

Wing Foiling Session - 6/11/2022

The trades started to come back today.  A large group assembled to go winging at Hickam - me, Kalani, Roland, Tim, Marvin, Erik, Jim, Arvin, Dennis, Harris and one other guy (that recently started coming out).  Kalani got a new set of wings - Reedin SW2 in 6.0 and 5.2.  Roland busted out the Cloud IX 4.2 (looked smaller than that).  Really cool to see all these wingers out!

There was definite texture on the water, but it wasn't whitecapping.  It also looked like it was coming more north than the usual tradewinds.  I pumped up the Reedin SWX 5.2.  I also bolted on the GoFoil PNL185 onto the Stringy fuse and used the 85cm Project Cedrus mast.  Really good setup for today's conditions!

I did bring the demo Reedin SW2 4.7 that Jeff let me borrow - but there were holes in the wind and I already had a bunch of ups and downs with the 5.2 (maybe tomorrow the wind will have steadied out more).

I tried out the Insta360 harness mount today also.  Interesting perspective, but I think I need to aim it lower.

From my track below, you can see the amount of north in the wind.  Since it has been a while since I've winged in decent steady winds, I wanted to warm up - I focused mainly on turns today.  The PNL185 actually gets up on foil easily, and I can turn it, but it does seem to want a wider turning arc.  I think tomorrow I'll break out the Takuma Kujiras again (Marvin was using his Kujira 1440 today and he said he was having a much easier time compared to the Armstrong HS1850).

The wind was definitely better than any we've had recently (which really has been thermals) - but while I was out it was pretty weird (but super fun).

I'll have to look through the previous posts where I used the PNL185 to see what the top speed was.  Tomorrow I think I'll use the Axis ART...

W:47/F:59/S:17

Evening Session - 5/21/2020

The streak goes on - I did a solo evening foil session out at Pine Trees.  The wind had swung more East and it was messing with the texture - it kinda made it harder to ride.  The swell was still hanging in there - shoulder high on the sets - big enough that I had to back out of some takeoffs (knowing that I'd probably get blown off - I had the GL180 on).  And the tide was somewhere above 1.5' (dropping though).

I did bring the GoPro out so I wouldn't have to post more "foil in the back of the minivan" pictures.  I had some really good rides, but managing a camera while riding takes away the riding focus and you kinda lose perspective just trying to get the camera to turn on and in position.

My last ride I was able to get a legit 2 for 1 - without really trying either.  It is mostly wave spacing and luck with positioning along the break.

I think next time I go out I'll bolt on the Ono Foil W228 rear wing to loosen up the tail.

Two Fer Saturday - 10 August (And Sunday Evening also)

Dawn Patrol on Saturday - just to mix things up a little bit.  Tide was low at 0.3', very little wind and a decent swell pushing chest high energy.  To keep mixing things up (cross training) I took out the longboard.  Too much fun!!!  I started out on the outside, caught a few bombs and then spent the rest of the session riding all the inside waves (as most people were on the outside trying to compete for the bigger ones).

Then the twofer - La's nephew who recently moved into town has been asking to go surfing - so I got permission to skip out on one party and take him surfing.  The tide was a little on the higher side at 1.4' (by 6pm).  Marlon finally agreed to put a GoPro on the board he was surfing - we scraped the port side of the nose clean and got the camera mounted - now he is hooked!!!  Here are three of his favorites:

I went out on the foil - Slingshot Infinity 76 on the 24" mast.  I got a few good rides, but the whole first half I had trouble getting the foil to lift clear - the foil was almost pegged to the front... I did get some longer rides toward the end of the session to make up for it.

We also got an evening session in on Sunday.  There was a new, similar sized swell in - the waves were a hair bigger than yesterday, but I kept the same setup on the foil-board.  I got another few good ones under my belt - but had the same issue with getting the foil to lift.  I'm starting to wonder if the bashed up starboard front wingtip has something to do with this...

Marlon was better setup for this evening - he caught a bunch, but noted it was really crowded where he was.

GoPro Handle

The second project was taking an old standup paddle offcut and epoxying in a FCS plug to make a GoPro mount.  Since I had extra epoxy mixed up, it was the perfect companion project to the foil tightening.

I'll post more when this is all set up.  This is a much slimmer version of the yellow floaty that we currently use.  More to follow.

Saturday and Sunday Surfing

Marlon and I hit the beach on Saturday evening.  I was using the 5'2" and the Go Foil Iwa (on the 29.5" mast).  If you are shopping for a foil - the Go Foils wings are buoyant and float - this is good for some reasons (it you ever lose the foil, weight, and paddling on non-choppy days) and bad for others (paddling on choppy days - the board/foil go wherever it wants and not where you want it).

I got a few really fun rides, but the water was really choppy.  That really didn't matter once up on foil, but while paddling for a wave it made all the difference.  Marlon found another ding on La's board (after we just finished fixing the rest of them) so he went in early.  I do like this foil and it has a different feeling than the Slingshot - a little livelier... but not sure if that is due to the wing, or the mast height, the difference in buoyancy, or all of the above.

Today, we went out again and I used the Slingshot Infinity 76 on the 24" mast.  I had the foil jammed to the back of the tracks on the 5'2".

The water was way choppier than yesterday.  Stronger trades and a really close period on the swell made for a lot of paddling.  The Slingshot setup does not float and is considerably heavier than the Go Foil.  I got several waves, had a few steeper takeoffs (a relative term) and even took a couple to the beach.  Wave choice is definitely a large part of successful surf foiling - pick the ones that aren't so vertical but still have enough energy to get you moving.  Whitewater mush is not a bad thing...

At first I though the foil might be too far back as I wasn't lifting easily.  Then on my third wave I had my feet further back and I unweighted my front foot a bit (contrary to everything I've been trying to unlearn from surfing) and not only was I up - I was able to pump through the flat section and continue on the reform.  I got a few more rides just like that, but called it quits (as my belly had gotten rubbed raw from the front foot pad, and we had an old friend with us at the beach so I didn't want to stay out too long).  So I have gotten to the point where I'm exerting active pitch control (unweight front foot to pitch up, weight front foot to pitch down - maintain once you're where you want to be).

I bribed Marlon to take pictures from the water.  He got the settings misaligned but I was able to get a few photos (although he missed my bigger waves ;)

More Surfing over the Weekend

I took Marlon Dawn Patrolling on Friday and Saturday.  We skipped Sunday because I'm getting old (sore muscles) and it was way too humid and hot.

The waves got smaller by the day, but they were still fun sized.

On Saturday, one of the locals was using a folding lawn chair while SUP surfing.  

Marlon countered with his sitdown approach.  

Hurricane Lane is headed our way - hopefully it'll push some surf our way, but stay far enough so the period isn't too close and the winds don't get strong.  Stay tuned...

SUP Surfing the Latest South Swell

Marlon and I did a dawn patrol yesterday.  It was pretty windy and choppy - I brought out the ULI Lopez (but while I was out there I was thinking I should have brought out the Greedy Beaver).

I caught some good ones, but I also tripped up way more than I normally do.  It's harder to make the drop when you are getting blown back up the face, and the chop is bucking you off the board.

Still a good time - Marlon was way over on the Oneula side of the breaks so I didn't get to checkout his rides.

I ended up pulling a muscle near my left shoulder blade.  I'm sidelined for a few days...