Wing Foiling Session - 12/8/2021

The trades started to fill back in today - light, but still wingable... mostly.

OR A 5.0, Go Foil PNL185, WWFB.  The wind was just on the cusp of being totally wingable.

The wind was more northerly than the graph indicates.  I had some long stretches where the lulls kept me schlogging.  When I finally did get up on foil, I did stay up for a while - and the waves were actually good sized - head high on the sets.  Although the wind was blowing almost straight into the waves - so they were hard to ride.  I did get some really fun ones.

I did get caught outside on a long lull.  I saw the wind outside so I kept schlogging out - but the wind kept luring me out... I was way outside before I got into the wind field and up on foil.  I carefully tacked and headed back in - picking up a pretty big wave and milking that energy to get through the dead wind zone.

I got back to the inside and spent the time trying to pull as hard as I could to get to the upper part of the inside (where the wind was more consistent). That was bait and I got stuck outside again.  Oh well - 

You can totally see the correlation of the wind graph above with my speed chart below (this is so cool!!!).  

The wind is supposed to be building from now until the first half of next week - it will be good to have wind again!  I think I'm going to try the Axis ART999 again tomorrow.

Wing Foiling Session - 11/29/2021

Yesterday's session was another experimental run.  This time it was the Lift 150 Surf V2 with the 25 Rear Stabilizer.  Same wing as last time, same mast, same board.

The bolts stayed tight on this setup so no issues there.  Where there were things to consider was on the water, this is really a small foil - front and rear stabilizer.  At just over 960 cm2, this is a smaller front foil than I normally use by a large margin.  I had brought it out thinking the wind would be much stronger than it was.  I had to move the foil all the way to the front of the boxes.

The wind had more North in it and it was gusting.  Not apparently the conditions where I do my best.  A lot of blue (slow motion) in the tracks below.

 

When I did manage to get up on foil, this setup moved fast.  It took me a few runs before I was able to get the transitions - but once I was, I could tack without coming down.

If there would have been more, steadier wind, I think this foil would have shined.  I think this one is going to be a work in progress - I think the 25 rear stabilizer is too small (unless it is nuking) - so using the adapter for bolting on different rear stabilizers will offer some alternatives.

I wish the strong steady winds would return... this soft, swirly stuff is driving me nuts.

Wing Foiling Session - 11/28/2021

First session with the 85cm Project Cedrus mast.  With the plate and the adapter, it is closer to 89cm - really good for committed wing foiling.  I bolted on the Axis ART 999 on the Ultrashort fuselage and added the 400 progressive rear stabilizer.  No question on what wing (OR Glide A 5.0).

Wind was there, but it made you work for it.  What made it worse was the bolt connection for the Axis adapter is a little different - one bolt goes through the adapter into the mast, another goes through the fuselage and the adapter into the mast, and the last one just goes through the fuselage into the adapter.  The first and last bolts fit really nicely.  The second one did not want to tighten all the way - seemed just a little too long.  I got it super close and everything seemed good to go so I hit the water.

Also tried out the GoPro 9 I got over the weekend (on really good sale for Black Friday).  I had gotten a kite strut mount a while back and the OR Glide had a spot on the rear of the boom that looked suitable.  Truth is it was too close to me and didn't quite get a wide enough field of view.

Surprisingly the ART 999 got up pretty quickly.  It felt really sensitive though - which I originally attributed to the form factor (super narrow chord, super thin chamber, really long span), but after the session and examining the bolts had loosened, it became apparent I need to address the bolt number 2.

Not really that much wind, so this front foil is really promising.

More experimentation coming up!!!

Wing Foiling Session - 11/26/2021

Based on the observed patterns from the past few days, yesterday after work, I decided to try winging.  Good call as there was good wind (even though it didn't look like it) and I made a change to the wing.  Same gear as I've been bringing out recently - the wide wing foiling board, the PNL185, and the OR Glide 5.0.

So this was the big change - I took the middle handle off and pulled the front handle back and the back handle forward into the vacated attachment points.  This effectively stretched the handles and removed the slack that was present before.  This changed the wing from a potentially great wing that handled well in stronger winds, to a fantastic wing that worked equally well in light winds all the way up to the gusts into the mid 20s.  Getting rid of the handle slack allowed way more direct control and really allowed this wing to pump efficiently in the lighter stuff. 

I spent the majority of this session out at Firsts.  There were some tiny waves coming through, but it was rare when they actually broke.  Still tons of fun and with the tweaked wing, I was working on trying to tack without coming down off foil.

During the session, there was texture on the water but rarely were there any whitecaps.  According to the report (HNL station), you can see the wind would dip down into the low teens.

Despite the lower wind, you can see I was up on foil for the majority of the session (way more blue than black).  I would say this is completely due to the new configuration.  It is amazing what a small tweak can do!!!

Wing Foiling Session - 11/21/2021

Finally there was enough wind to wing foil!!! The last time I was out winging was 11/5.  A lot of the regulars came out to partake of the wind (not sure when we will have it again - not any time soon according to the forecasts).  Matt was out when I got there.  Bill, Arvin, Harris, Jim and two others I do not know their names were all out.

PNL185, the refoiled No.9 rear stabilizer on the 32.5" mast, all bolted on to the WWFB.  Pumped up my "big" wing (Ocean Roden 5.0 Glide Series A).  This was the view from the launch when I drove up.  The wind was pretty much up into the OR Glide 5.0's range, then back down (check the chart below for what the wind meters were reporting and my correlated speed).

With the exception of one run out to Firsts to see what was going on out there wind-wise, I spent the majority of today's session making runs in and out, and really focusing on getting the transitions tweaked.  Surprising to me was making almost windless tacks and jibes - not sure why I wasn't getting these before today.  I even attempted the elusive in bound tack.  I actually really like turning.

Powered transitions are super fun with this wing - it just goes wherever you send it.  No arguments, disagreements or delays - start carving, send the wing and switch hands.  Lately I've also had more time to get through the transitions - I'm thinking that may be more from the PNL185, but I'm sure the wing isn't hurting the process.

Speaking of the PNL185 - if you are frustrated with the HA foils from the other brands - with their high stall speeds, their stickiness in the turns, and other lack of user friendliness, the PNL185 has been the best high aspect foil I've used so far. 

I got in 17.75 miles today in 2.5 hours.  You can pretty much see between these two graphs that when the wind was below 15mph, I was schlogging.  If it was higher than that - I was up and going.

Truthfully - I think only having a 5.0 on the low end of the wind scale has been making me a better winger.  More attention to easing the foil up and picking up speed using apparent wind are some of the things I'm thinking about more, and am glad when I get going in lighter and lighter winds - but a 6.0 or bigger would have made winging much easier today. 

Good time on the wing today!

Wing Foiling Session - 11/5/2021

Hit WPB again.  Wind was whitecapping when I pulled up to the parking lot - but by the time I was ready to launch, it had dropped a little.

Rigged exactly the same as Thursday - OR5, PNL185, WWFB.

The waves did pick up.  Long walls that reeled on for hundreds of feet.  It would have been absolutely perfect if the wind had filled in just a notch higher.

 

.

I did catch a few waves where I dropped the wing - so much fun!  The PNL185 showed its limitations on these rides - the NL160 would have been better for this kind of riding.

Funny thing is today is supposed to be the windiest day of the weekend... even with the fluky winds, you can see I was able to pull upwind with the new wing.

Wing Foiling Session - 11/4/2021

The trades finally came back today!  I've had the Ocean Rodeo Glide 5.0 in full aluula for a bit now.  So long that I had a chance to inflate test it, found a leak in the strut, sent it back and had a replacement sent out. The wind has been down for almost 2 weeks... needless to say I was really excited to be able to get the new wing out to test it.

The tide was favorable for winging at 1.3' and there was some background energy rolling through - maybe thigh high - but I'm not complaining.

Marlon came out and took drone footage.  WWFB, using the PNL185 and obviously the OR Glide.

The wing pulls upwind so well.

Most of the time I did not see any whitecaps.

You can pretty much correlate the lulls with the black spots in the speed graph below.

For as inconsistent and fluky as the wind was, it was totally awesome to get back out and to try a new wing (that does not suck).

Tweaking New Gear

I spent yesterday afternoon working on stuff that has piled up on me and also tweaking some new stuff.  I helped Marlon fix a ding in one of his boards.  Then I sealed up the trailing edge of the HS1532CS (that I sold - the customer wanted it sealed up a bit more).  Then I got to the good stuff.

Having sold the Ensis 6.0 and 5.2, I had been looking for a replacement wing.  It needed to be powerful, not have any windows, be lighter, have handles and have the range of both of the Ensis.  That is a lot to ask of one wing - but here it is - the Ocean Rodeo Glide 5.0 in A (full Aluula) Series.

This is actually the second one - the first came in earlier this week, but when I ran it through the pressure test, the boom would not hold air.  For as much as this thing cost, I went ahead and asked for an exchange - I got that yesterday.  This one held pressure (and it is still inflated in the living room).

I am really excited to put this wing to the test.  I know it will not have the get up and go grunt that the Ensis does, but what is a few more pumps to gain a wider range, almost no weight, and an ultra stiff frame that translates much more power (instead of losing it to flex and deformation).

With this wing, I have the goal of only having three wings - 5.0, 4.2 and a 3.6.  Those ranges (hopefully) will go from 12-25, 18-30, 25-??? respectively.

Now we just need the trades to come back (still a week away).

I also shimmed up the Takuma Kujira 75cm aluminum mast.  I got this mast from Jeff along with the Kujira 1210 so I can prone foil the Kujiras (as I'm still waiting for the Project Cedrus 2021 Takuma adapter). 

Shimming the Takuma is pretty important.  If you don't the load is only on the bolts and any vibrations the rig endures will start to loosen the bolts.  For all the complaints I see on the web, I would say nearly all of them are a direct result of not shimming the parts that get joined together (fuselage where the front foil meets; fuselage where the mast slips in).

I can't wait to try this foil out!!!