Nightmare Scenario - 11/25/2020

Foil and Wingboard jumped out of the back of my truck today while I was driving on the freeway.

Got super lucky that only one of the two bungees broke - if the load broke totally free, someone could have gotten really hurt (thank goodness).  There are some scratches and yet another ding on the tailgate - but again considering what could have gone wrong, this is good.

There was some damage to the top nose area - I'll just grind down the high points, fill with epoxy, add a top coat then sand to 400.  The innegra survived being dragged around on the freeway... can't get a better endorsement than that.

The tail of the foil got a little bent up - the pedestal mount rear bolt hole mainly.  I'll sand down the tip that got damaged, seal it with epoxy and be done.  And yes - I was at the beach and I did go out (after I taped up the scratches).  Its a good thing I fix dings... uuuuuuuggggggghhhhhhhhhh.  

I'll most likely use a heat gun  to take off the front deck pads, drop in some footstrap inserts, add a little cap sheet, drill holes and rubber cement the deck pad back on.  Might as well since I'll be grinding on the board.  

And I'll close this off by once again giving thanks that this incident wasn't worse.

After Work Wing Foiling Session - 11/12/2020

I brought all my stuff to work just in case the wind was blowing - the wind was blowing!  All the same equipment as yesterday.

This picture was taken after I packed up.  When I got there the wind was really gusty - I figured I'd keep testing the 5.0 and rigged it loose.  For all but one and a half runs, I was up on foil pretty quick.  I was nailing my outbound tacks, and focusing on my inbound jibes.  I tried tacking inbound - honestly I think I'm going to nail the tacks before I get the jibe down.  I've been thinking I need to try all this on a skateboard so I can just practice on the turns. 

It was a fun and productive session!

Thursday and Friday Foiling

Despite the lower tide, I decided to keep up with foiling on the Iwa.  On Thursday, I set the foil as far back on the tracks as possible (on the 5'2").

The lift was more controllable and I managed to get some pretty long rides.  I did hit the bottom twice while paddling (first on the way out, second while I was getting out at the end of the session).  Damage was minimal and I just need to get over this.  The swell was not small so some of the takeoffs resulted in crashes and burnages.

This evening Marlon and I went out and the swell was just a tad smaller (but still not small).  Same setup as yesterday and I got nearly the same results - just better.  More control (lighten up on the front foot to lift and down pressure to steady out).  On a couple of takeoffs, I was going way too fast - foil was humming and I popped out the back.

I did get some longer rides, pumped through some flat spots and was able to correct some back setups - so today was definitely better than yesterday!  Progress however small is always a good thing.  Marlon was back on La's longboard.  I saw him on a few rides - I think he is missing the thruster setup ;)

Catch Up Post - Windsurf Foiling - April 13

I needed to get these photos from La, but couldn't until just now - so the few posts will be catch ups.  Last Saturday I went to Hickam to foil since the winds were supposed to be up and more easterly.  Well - the wind was up alright - too up - the gusts were way too much for sailing without a harness.

I started off rigging the 5.0 and had the Slingshot Infinity foil setup with the longer switch fuse.  It was hard to tell if this setup was better or not when my arms were getting ripped off.  I did get the whole rig up on foil, but decided it would be beneficial if I went in and rigged for less lift.

I rigged up the Naish Lift 4.7 and reconfigured the Slingshot foil back to the setup I use for surfing.  The wind got stronger and I was equally challenged (this windsurf foiling stuff on larger wings is definitely for lighter wind days for sure).  The wind was so strong I was waterstarting with ease and felt I could have been in footstraps and regular windsurfing.  I'll have to remember that next time the trades go nuclear...

Even after having my arms stretched - this is still the coolest thing out there!

All Stop (Sixth Time Windsurf Wave Foiling)

Another Friday evening, after work windsurf wave foiling session.  I used the Iwa front blade with the 29.5" - the wind was blowing hard (gusting past the mid 20's), mostly (when it wasn't, there were some big holes to slog through).  Still rigged the 5.0 Simmer Style as the steady breeze was 13 to 15 mph.

Beyond the conditions, the Iwa foil seemed to be a champ in the higher wind conditions.  I didn't feel the cavitation (???) or 'burping' that I did using the Maliko 200 at similar speeds.

I was able to get a bunch of long rides - pretty much runs from one end of the race track to the other.  There were several runs where I didn't even feel the sail pressure (sail was fully sheeted out).

All was not honky-dory... a few runs had porpoising, and one of those runs had the mast striking the board nose.  I got a crack on the top deck of the nose and a small blow out on the front rail.  Not a bad ding, but it'll be a pain to fix.  I'm going to modify the nose to prevent this from happening again...  But looks like I won't be windsurfing this setup for a couple of weeks.  La and the kids were at the beach and La got some great pictures of me flying the foil.  It is great learning something new!

5th Time Windsurf Wave Foiling the Hypernut

I went foiling this afternoon.  This morning the weather looking like it might not clear up - with lingering clouds and even some residual rain, I wasn't sure the wind would pick up but it did.  It turned out to be really nice!

It doesn't look like it, but the wind was blowing a steady 15 mph with gusts into the low 20s.  I setup the foil in the rearmost position today to see what the differences would be.  The obvious difference was that foil would lift later, but the surprise was I would end up in porpoising situations more often than previous sessions - porpoised probably 5 times, twice I got thrown forward of the board.  The wind did almost die twice, but even those times are fun (slogging training).  

Tonight I'm researching "how not to porpoise your foil".  Can't wait for tomorrow!!!

Christmas Foil Session

Marlon and I went surfing Christmas Day evening - there is a small south swell pushing some energy - grab it while it is here (shorter drive than going up to the North Shore).

I took out the 5'6" and the kit foil (this is an old picture - I didn't take any pictures today).

I picked up several waves, but only rode a couple - prone foiling is way harder than windsurf wave foiling.... but you don't get better unless you practice.  Catching white water made standing up easier compared to greenwater waves.

Since the last session, I added another grip strip on the bottom and the board was easier to paddle inverted (on the way out and back in).  

Shhhhhh - 5th time out on the Hypernut (Fourth Time Windsurf Foiling it)

I had to pull a longer shift on Sunday at work - and I had a family Holiday Party to get to afterwards.  But with the wind blowing, I didn't want to miss out on an opportunity to continue developing my foil skills.  The wind was forecasted to hang right around 15 mph, but by the time I got to the launch, there were zero whitecaps - still some texture to the water surface, but it was probably closer to 10-12.  I decided to keep everything the same so I could see what difference the wind speed would make.  My findings were the 5.0 I rigged was marginal - most likely would have done better rigging a 5.7 (and will do that next time).  Despite the under powered situation, I did still manage to get up on the foil more than a few times and for longer consistent runs.  Several dry jibes (not on foil, but just lots of balancing to keep dry) and I was able to make it back to the launch.  I haven't had this much fun going straight in a long time!!!

And I made it to the party - but not without getting caught (La used Life360 to see where I was at)!!!

Lift Foils

I stopped in to chat with Keff at Flight Surfboards - he just got in some Lift Foils.

These are so nice - light, full carbon, wings come in a single piece with a connection to the mast.  So nice...

Hanging Out on the Log

I took Marlon to orchestra practice yesterday and had a few hours to burn.  I drove over to Kailua to check out what was going on. 

There were a few kiters out on foils and a couple of windsurfers (also on foils).  The wind was marginal - maybe 10 kts.

There are a few logs set out at the western side of the beach park - a place where people have sat and checked out the conditions or taken in the jumps the kiters were making.  The logs are timeless.

I took pictures of the boards when the riders came back onto the beach.  The foils aren't too different size wise from the one I finished building... hmmmm

Foil Research

Checked out the Kailua shops on Saturday...

Meanwhile at the Naish Shop, they had some of the 2019 equipment in stock.  The combo SUP/SUP Foil/Windsurf Foil boards really caught my attention... One board, two foils, and my old windsurfing gear - and I can cover everything - is this the holy grail of windsports????

This is the Large Surfing Foil 

This is the XL Surfing Foil (downwinders on a shortboard, surfers over 200 pounds)

This is the Windsurfing Foil

And the tail of the Large Surf Foil

Gonna Assemble One This Weekend

Or at least get a few parts glassed

More Sanding - Almost Ready to Glass and Assemble

I had some time this afternoon to get more foil part sanding done.  I got the masts done and fine tuned the front wings and the fuselages.

Now all I have to do is sand the mounting plates and I can start mixing epoxy (I think I no longer like that part - and I can feel myself procrastinating already...)

Made Some More Progress on the Foil

I broke out the bench sander and blew through the last of the bulk sanding.  On the fuselages I got the tail upcuts and the noses rounded out. 

Then I shifted over to getting the tail wings roughed in.

All of this work actually went very quickly.  I think I stuck a 30 grit belt on the sander the last time I used it.  And the horsepower in the motor - doesn't stop or bind for anything!  I really should have done this earlier.  I'll use the plugged random orbital sander this week to get the shapes all dialed in.  That'll get me in position to start laminating sometime in the next couple of weeks.