Wing Foiling Session 9 - 9/24/2020

The wind forecast called for stronger easterly winds for today, but La wasn't feeling so well - so I headed home, picked up Noe, dropped her off at sailing practice and headed to Hickam Harbor with my winging gear.  I didn't see straight east winds when I got there - in fact it was shifting around all over the place.  By the time I got the wing pumped up, the wind settled out from the NE.  It was straight out of the east for the entire day - then when I show up....

Anyways - go out and be thankful for what you have is what I try to say.  I did make some adjustments to the gear before heading out.  I shifted the foil up in the boxes by another 1/4".  I also changed out the rear stabilizer for the chopped down 16".  These adjustments were totally worth it - way less breaching today, and the couple of times I did breach, it was more like a fast lowering instead of a body slam.   And the foil was more balanced and easier to get flying - like way easier than yesterday.  I felt really confident on the setup today and even got close several times to a flying tack (just short touchdowns and right back up on foil).  I think next time I'll push the foil up another 1/8" to see if the ride gets even better - I did pay attention to where my feet were - my back foot is forward of the arch bump on the back foot pad.  I'm thinking with the foil a hair more forward, my back foot can go further back.  We'll see.  The wind did shut down after 4:30, and I eventually shlogged back to the launch - just in time to pick Noe up from sailing.  Fun day!!!!

Cutting Down the P18W

I've been listening to some podcasts discussing breaching.  The common thoughts on the culprit is the rear wing.  All I know is when I think I'm good to go for a long wall, I breach coming out of the turn that lines me up.  Sure it makes me feel alive to get the crap kicked out of me every now and then, but after a few express elevator drops it gets quite frustrating. 

I've also heard guys talk about getting more maneuverability out of a chopped wing - but I'm more interested in the increased speed (from less drag).  I took an inch off of both sides - I'll see how this works before taking more. 

The forums are saying most guys have taken their stabilizers down to 14" - what I don't know is what their weight is - the lift you lose taking the wing length away is lift that works to hold you up.  I'll probably get to 14" - but I'll take it a step at a time to be able to document and understand what is going on.  We went and did the rounds up at the Waialua Surf Shops yesterday - and I picked up a second P18W so I have a reference point to go back to (and use when the waves are smaller and I need to extra lift and not the extra speed).