Dawn Patrol - 5/21/2023

Tried the Foil Drive Plus Assist this morning.  This rig was pretty heavy - 

It took 2/3s of the session to get the timing right to catch waves - when I was catching, the riding was challenging as the swing weight was definitely something to contend with.

Dennis was out with his Foil Drive on his SUP foiling board (5'8" Quatro) and he was killing it!

I used the GoFoil PNL185 - not a foil that I've used recently - that didn't help my cause either. 

This is where the mast ended up - slightly forward of where the foil would have been on wing and on the GoFoil mast. 

Definitely more logistics associated with the Foil Drive - this may turn into a weekend endeavor (helps to fight the crowds).  But will definitely need to figure out how to reduce the setup weight.

W:44/F:41/S:28

Teaching Noe to Wing

Happy Birthday to Noe!!!

We went out for a family water day - Marlon and La used SUPs and I gave the intro lessons for wings to Noe. Managing the wing, setting up for takeoff, riding weak side, launching and landing from the beach, and schlogging were the topics of the day. 

Actually - she is a natural and showed proper form and understanding.  We just needed a little more wind and she would have been up and riding already.

Even with the giant wing I wasn't able to get up on foil.  Honestly, being able to drill on managing the wing and schlogging are important topics and skills - not being distracted with getting up on foil helped focus on the core skills (for getting back to the beach when the wind drops off).

Fun family day!!!!

Wing Foiling Session - 7/1/2022

Today was supposed to have had nuking winds - and for a while the wind was strong, but it wasn't nuking.  

I set up the same gear as the past couple of days.  I picked Kalani up - and Marvin, Harris, Jim and a few others were out also.  Matt came out towards the end of the session.  Marvin wanted to try out a shorter board, so I let him board the 5'0"x25"x5".  Both Kalani and Harris had brought out their just picked up High Modulus Carbon Fiber 90cm Axis masts.

At the beginning of the session, the wind was strong - I took off pretty quickly and headed out to Firsts.  The conditions outside were a carbon copy of the two previous days - but better.  The wind was more steady than it had been, it was lined up with the swell direction and was strong; the waves were cleaner and stood up taller, the tide was nice and full.  I caught several remarkable waves - overhead bowling walls that I could carve (normally with winds with more north I get blown back - I can rip with easterlies).

These days get burned into my head - so good!

I ended the first run to go in and try to coach Marvin through his first runs on a shorter board.  The wind started to collapse and I never made it back out to Firsts.

I thought the wind had more east in it than what the chart shows.

And here is the surprise of the day - according to the Strava app I was running, I hit 23.9 mph.  I'm not sure I necessarily believe this - but while riding the bigger waves taking off on the outside, I did feel like I was going as fast as the foil would go and where I could still control it.  If the wind was stronger in the inside, I would have switched the rear stabilizer out to the 380HA - who knows I might have gone faster.

Where it gets hard to believe this is the app listed a max speed of 26 mph, but I can't find a reading on the analysis plot higher than 23.9.

The quest continues.... and hopefully tomorrow the wind will get stronger

W:58/F:61/S:17

Wing Foiling Session - 5/3/2022

After work session.  Wind backed down a notch just as I drove up at 3:10pm.  There were white caps as I was passing the HIANG parking lot - and they were gone by the time I was ready to hit the water.  The surf was giant sized - I told Harris that I was going to pass and just hang on the inside to practice my toe-heel tack.

There were a bunch of people cycling through (and I bet there were more earlier) - Jim, Edmund, Harris and I - another guy Tim; then Eli, Derek and a guy named Josh (who had an epic, gear destroying wipeout on the outside), finally followed by Bill.

I am not really getting the toe-heel tack down... I need to watch more videos and dissect the turn.  I did get a bunch more turns.

I think I had the right sized wing up - 5.2 - there were considerable gusts and lulls though.

Edmund had a 5.1 Takuma RS - we had compared notes and he and Jim also noted the back winding I had experienced.  But observing Edmund - he was getting upwind just fine.  I'm going to have to put more time on the 6.1 to get the feel of it down.

I really love the Reedin SWX now - I have adapted my style to the characteristics of that wing.

Josh tried taking a really big set wave - didn't make it and got pounded hard.  Eli and Derek were out there and so was Harris - they all helped out and they made a pit stop at the beach.  Josh borrowed Edmund's 5.1 and they all took off for Iroquois Point again.

I might have gone out if I wasn't always worried whether the front foil was working itself loose or not... or maybe not ;)

W:36/F:43/S:12

Wing Foiling Session - 5/1/2022

Windy Sunday - jumped in Kalani's wife's Sequoia again and added Roland.  I only brought the SWX4.2 (it was that windy).  But the other guys all brought 2 wings.

The wind was strong - but there were some ups and downs, and the direction would shift periodically.  Not the best of conditions but still fun.  I had it in my mind that I would jump today.  First run out I got clear of the water by a large margin.

I had several more jumps, but it seems on flat water, you need just the right conditions and perfect timing to pull it off.  My last one I came down with more of a nose down attitude and could have possibly foiled away (all jumps ended in stops).

Roland was trying to get his new foil positioned, so I stuck to the inside.  Kalani and Tim were working on the inside to keep developing their skills.  In this wind, I was able to get in a bunch of solid turns - all except the toe-side tack.

Eventually I headed out to Firsts and got to ride some smaller waves.  I lost another wingscrew, so I headed in (didn't want to damage any other gear).

After a back-to-back (session) use of the Takuma RS and the Reedin SWX, right now I think I prefer the SWX.  The draft stability, forward drive and handles are more to my liking with the SWX.  I think this may change over time - but I'll need lower speed winds to test the RS further.

Had an ordeal trying to get back into Kalani's SUV.  Ken eventually came out - here he is just barely missing a jibe.

Another fun day winging!

W:35/F:43/S:12

Wing Foiling Session - 4/30/2022

Large part of the Hickam Harbor crew came out today - including Tim and Kalani.  Kalani wanted to get his new board (yes the one that has been "curing" in my autoclave/"garage" for the past year) in the water.  Tim declared that if he didn't get up on foil today, his gear would likely end up on Craigslist.  And I wanted to try out the Takuma RS 6.1 wing.

The wind was supposed to be down in the morning, but the forecasters were WRONG AGAIN - the wind was all over the place - sometimes not even strong enough to get up on the 6.1 with gusts into the high 20's/low 30's.

I have been having better luck with the Takuma fuselages being discipline specific now (the "shaky" one is now the prone foiling fuselage; and the less issue plagued one is the winging fuselage), so I decided to test whether the 1210 would come loose while winging.  And as you can see - I brought out the strapped wing board...

I also bolted on the 17" rear stabilizer I just got from www.Foilparts.com

The wind was way up and down - so much for light wind testing the RS 6.1

I actually got three sessions in today.  First one was in the lower of the winds today.  The RS is not like the OR and Reedins - it is closer to what the Ensis V2 felt like.  I initially had a hard time going upwind with this wing - if I pinched too hard, it would backwind, and it would be slow to recover (I would have to really pull with my backhand to get the luff to pop back out).  I also seemed to have needed to move my hands to the back of both handle bars in order to fly the wing.

I figured I had a decent feel for the wing and had gotten some transitions in - I headed straight out to Firsts.  Jim was out there with his Alien wing 6.0.  The waves were small, but rather clean.  I caught a few and then went it to check on Tim and Kalani.  

Kalani was having a hard time dialing in the foil - it has been almost a year since he was last out.  Tim had drifted down to the reef where I fish (and did the walk of shame back to the launch) - but he said he did get up on foil three times during that run.

I took a break - the RS is a demanding wing (but to be fair - I should probably have been on the 4.5 or 4.2).  I headed out for another run.  Even though the wind was stronger, I tried to use the same coping skills I figured out on the first run and it worked - the RS was a bit easier to manage and I was getting upwind (just not as closed hauled as the OR or SWX could get).  I also hadn't felt my hands go numb while winging - but the handles were stretching my hands - just like a windsurf boom.  WOndering if I'm going to need to use gloves while flying this wing.

Almost broke 20mph with the 1210.

I didn't record the last run, but Kalani asked me to take his board out to see if I could ride it (so he could tell if it was him, the foil or the board).  He had on his HPS 880.  I got up and foiling right away - that board I made is pretty awesome!  That didn't make him feel better, but a year can be a long time.

The 1210 held- except for the last screw which had loosened just a tad - way better than having to limp in on a loose foil.

I think I'm going to like the RS wing - but it is significantly different than what I have been foiling with so I'll have to make some adjustments.

W:34/F:43/S:12

Wing Foiling Session - 4/25/2022

Last day with the truck (and its tremendous conveniences) before I have to drop it off at the body shop to get my self-inflicted wounds (smashed in rear quarter panel) fixed up.  Body shop guy said 2 weeks + or -.  Oh well - time to practice my "I can get it in there" routine.

Setup the same gear as the past several sessions - but swapped out the wide wing board for the narrow.  On the front foil, I wanted to try one last thing (suggestion from Prayot to use loctite on the screws) before drilling out the existing screw holes and placing in M6 helicoils.  I used the NWFB because I figured I should start getting used to winging with footstraps again as a prelude to learning to jump this season.

BLUF - the loctite made it better - only loosened up towards the end of the session, but it didn't stop the wiggling.  Time to do some surgery...

No surprise here - 1/4" back from the 1095 placement.

The waves were definitely bigger - Harris had a few waves that were overhead while he was up on foil.  I caught a few good ones, but they were as big as the ones Harris caught.  I just had some hesitancy pushing the 1210 really hard.

There was a pretty big school of halalu moving around the harbor.  I ran through it a few times and I could feel the fish bumping into the foil and the mast.  I didn't see the bigger things that chase the bait balls.

The wind was pretty hard to read - it kept swinging back and forth from the East then more North.

The black space was where the foil loosened up and the wind shifted.  And that is why I've been so fixated on correcting this deficiency.

Fun session despite the issues.

W:32/F:41/S:12

Wing Foiling Session (if you want to call it that) - 3/18/2022

The wind had been blowing all day - so naturally I grabbed the winging stuff, but headed to WPB (so Marlon could also go out and surf).  I brought out the OR A 5.0, the NWFB, and the GoFoil PNL185.

Roland had already launched - I watched him get up on foil twice, so I decided I'd go ahead and launch.

As soon as I got outside, the wind dropped below the strength I needed to get up on foil.  I kept heading outside trying to get to stronger wind, but it wasn't happening.  Twice when I had turned back in, I was able to use the waves and a slight puff to get up on foil.  But I was still too far away to land on sand.

I decided to would just try to land at Campgrounds.  I did manage to get up on foil one last time and got to ride a wave in most of the way to the sandy spot.

Marlon did see me beach at CG and he paddled in to come grab me.  Good thing he had the key this time...

You win some, you lose some - just glad to get wet!

W:15/F:28/S:10

Wing Foiling Session - 2/13/2022

And as forecasted, the wind did pick up to wingable levels - but just barely.  I brought out the NWFB so I could get the 1095 positioned and the footstraps adjusted (and I also didn't think there was enough wind for the 4'8" wing board - although that's debatable with the flat tail/square rails - but I also needed to limit the variables).  I also brought out the newly repaired Ocean Rodeo A Series Glide 5.0.

I got the footstraps adjusted (moved everything 1 notch back - same indications I was getting from the last session).  This spot is also pretty good for the 1095 - with all the adjusting I'm constantly doing, I'm realizing that for winging the mast position is not ultra critical like it is in prone foil surfing - just get it close and it's all good.

The wind was strong/weak enough that I was really riding the gusts.  The repaired wing isn't just replaced bladders - the new bladders are thicker, has a backer near the valves and ends, and they also added taped on pull strings - all of these improvements so the bladder stays fixed in place more so than the stock version.  The repair was not cheap, but I believe I paid for more reliability and that is piece of mind in an already dangerous activity.

You can see the wind had a more northerly swing to it today.

Like I said earlier - riding the peaks today.  Good practice for getting up in low wind with a high aspect front foil (I really should use the 4'8" next time to see what the difference is - and if it is what I think it is, I'll likely be shaping another bigger wing board soon - with square rails and a straight tail).

Jim was out with a Blue Planet Alien 6.0m wing.  He seemed to be up more than I was - but was further down wind.

Harris was there with his family - and when he was pumping up, his strut bladder blew.  He showed us the bladder and it was right where most of the blown spots I've seen were - right on the seam along the head.

Fun to be winging again!!!

W:6/F:13/S:7

Wing Foiling Session - 2/1/2022

The wind was forecasted to be wingable on Tuesday afternoon.  Well - as I was pulling up it was wingable, but by the time I was rigged and waterside, it was barely moving.  But I went out anyways because....

I wanted to test the repaired Narrow Wing Foiling Board.

While repairing this board, I decided to move the boxes forward since the previous iteration ended up being short up front while using smaller front foils.  I had the PNL185 mounted and it was sitting towards the very back of the tracks.  At 1305cm2, this is now one of my larger foils (along with the Kujira 1210, the GL210) so I think the box placement was pretty good.

The wind certainly light - but there were three gusts that I was able to pump up onto foil with.

Far from a "fun" session, this was strictly testing.

Considering the wind speed, the recorded speed is impressive - that I am attributing to the SWX 5.2

At least I got up on foil!!!

W:4/F:10/S:4