Wing Foiling Session - 3/9/2025

Fun session today.  Went out later - the weather was not conducive to winging earlier (rain) and La, Marlon and I went up to the North Shore for a change of pace - so later was fine.

The wind was decent for the 5.0 m

The tide was low (so longer paddle out).

And the waves were on the small side.

Prayot and Roland were partaking today as well.

Based on the testing I did yesterday - I originally wanted to go to Hickam today and figure out where the Cabrinha H800 and the Axis Spitfire 840 would line up (and recalibrate the positioning of SK8 950).  I was a little tired from driving around today, so I opted to hit WPB despite the low tide, and just get the SK8 950 adjusted. 

For most of the session, the wind was up enough to keep on foil.  There were a few times I went down due to a botched maneuver, and I had to wait for a gust to get back up - but that was not the norm. 

The tide kept the waves rideable in front of the cabins (which is also the "dead zone" wind wise on lighter days).  The arc that is seen in the chart below is me riding goofy foot and carving up the standing wave faces - SO MUCH FUN!!!

I also got several tacks on to inbound waves - and kept whittling away at the horizontal angle of these turns at their apex. 

Decent wind - you can see where the waiting time frames were (dropped below 15mph)

This was a really good session - until the end where I had a couple of reef touches to the foil just after splash down.  Nothing that a little wet-dry sandpaper couldn't address.

Tuesday is shaping up to be a nuking day with some waves.

W:18/FD:39/PW:1/S:3

Wing Foiling Session - 8/15/2023

Yesterday evening session after work - was nice and relaxing.

Wind was side off shore and decently strong.  The waves were small, but that kept a lot of surfers on the beach (and I could ride through where I would normally turn out to avoid the surfers).  The tide was nice and full - so takeoff and landing were easy.

Same lighter wind gear -

This is the first time I had the wing out since Brenda fixed it.

Fantastic front foil!!!

That's some good mileage - thermals really delivered!

I wanted to do some upwind training for the upcoming race - I got level with Hau Bush and the wind started faltering - so I turned back down and got a short downwind run.

Perfect conditions for the gear I brought.

This was a solo session - Eli was leaving when I drove up (and he did not go in).

Awesome session!!!

W:78/F:76/S:31

Wing Foiling Session - 7/29/2023

Up and down wind at WPB yesterday afternoon.  Roland insisted on winging (I was thinking prone foiling and Kalani was pushing to Foil Drive).

It was tough, but if you could get up, there was enough wind to keep you up.

I put the GoPro on the other wing to get a different perspective (face on outbound, overhead on the run in).  This shows the lean into the tacks more than the camera on the port wingtip.

When the wind was up, it was coming in hard from the NNE, which makes winging a little more confusing.  It was fun, but there were some really long lulls.

I could tell the wind was going to die so I grabbed a gust and got in without incident.

Speed over time is indicative of the long lulls.

This last round of wind has had a lot of North in it, WPB seems to handle the North better than Hickam (dead offshore...)

These are the days I wish I still had a 6.0m wing

lulls...

W:73/F:68/S:31

Wing Foiling Session - 2/5/2023

The crew planned to go winging today at Hickam.  Got a late start (Kalani's SUV battery died while he was getting manapua - I took him to get a new battery; and then Roland decided to go with the rest of us to Hickam) - but that only helped as the wind got stronger as the day went on.

Today was a testing and training day.  I can't recall having used the F One Eagle 1090 on this board before - so that was test and evaluation No.1.  After the third session (and having placed where I thought it should go, coming in and pushing it forward, and then finally nudging it back - but still forward of the initial point), I had the position dialed to have equal pressure on both feet and marked it.

I also tried to install a foot hook/half strap onto the spot where the rear footstrap went.  I wanted to see if this is a suitable substitute for a rear strap.  I think the answer would be yes - if I had a point to which I could screw it in - the existing inserts are too far inboard.  This is something I'll include on the next board.

And lastly, I swapped the DW210 rear stabilizer for the KD Maui 15" Marlin.  This stabilizer moves through the water with minimal drag.  I left the shims for this stabilizer at home so I did not get it dialed in, but I did take it out for a spin and it definitely has tremendous potential.

As far as training, I practiced both tacks - heel-toe and toe-heel.  The heel-toe was the first turn I learned to perform proficiently.  My success rate with it has varied, but I have learned to more glide a front foil has (and the more power I go into the transition with) the easier it is to make the tack.  The toe-heel tack has been my worst transition - but today while using the Eagle 1090 and the 15" Marlin - I was making pretty much every tack!!!

These pictures are one of the heel to toe tacks.

And this is one of the toe to heel tacks -

So here are the runs - this first session was 6.72 miles.  1090/210 - well powered on the 4.7 SW2.

This next run I swapped out the 210 for the 15" rear stabilizer and got in another 7.02 miles.  This is the run where I was getting tons of tacks in.

Funny thing - I didn't go as fast on this run as I did on the other two runs.

This was my last run - got in 7.36 miles.  I took off the foot hook and put the DW210 back on so I could go out to Firsts with equipment I was fully comfortable with.  Here you can easily see the difference between a tack (sharp point) and a jibe (crossed over loop).

And I zoomed in to the Firsts area so you can see the tracks I laid.

And the blue line about corresponds to the down slot below.

Great wind today!!!

Full house today - two guys I didn't know plus Arvin, Bill, Jim, Matt, Jesse, Ryan, Ken, Tim, Kalani, Roland and Harris.

I got four sets of gear into the truck today - 

W:8/F:7/S:11

Wing Foiling Session - 6/22/2022

The wind was not forecasted to be up today - but that didn't stop the wind from coming up.  I picked Kalani up and we headed to Hickam for a post work session.

I opted for the SWX 5.2 and the ART999/420HA.  I did bring the 899 and 380HA (and could have used it at a point - more on this shortly).

When I got in the water, there was texture on the surface from the wind so I felt good about the equipment selection.  I got up on foil and headed out to Firsts.  It was clean, side offshore winds that were fairly consistent.  I was able to catch some fun rides, but the tide was starting to drown out the swell.

I guess I rode more waves than I recall -

After 40 minutes outside, the wind started to falter and I headed in - but then the wind really picked up and I transitioned to speed riding mode (and had contemplated going in and switching out to the ART899/380HA, but figured I was better off just riding).

Was really good wind for the 5.2!

I milked 22.4 mph out of the setup today!

The other thing I did was to practice transitions - focusing on dry tacking on the outside, and trying to get the inside jibes around cleanly.  I was able to apply what I had been looking at on Youtube and bam!  I was knocking out my inbound tacks!!!

Now I need to finish the new board that I have on the rack so I can start teaching myself to jump.

W:54/F:60/S:17

Wing Foiling Session - 3/19/2021

I made it out the Hickam at 3pm.  Noe was just pulling in and the wind was pretty strong - gusts to 30 according to the chart below.  I put up the 5.2 Ensis and rigged up the HS1850.  I did bring the wide WFB out - wanted to mix it up.

I made a beeline straight for Firsts.  The wind was just right for the 5.2.  I caught three rides and headed back in to see if Noe was all packed up.  She did not notice me so I headed back out.  I worked on turns again - Outbound tacks and jibes are easy, and I'm having an easier time switching from goofy to regular to do inbound jibes.  I went ahead and headed back out for more waves.

There were some small rollers coming through - really fun to catch those.  And it felt great to ride out, tack without stopping, ride a wave in and switch feet to jibe back out without coming down off the foil.  This is going to be a really fun summer!!!!

I ended up with 10.79 nms and hit a top speed of 14 mph.  I'm going to cut down the 1850 this weekend - mainly shortening up the chord and rounding the remaining tips.  I'm thinking that will reduce the skin drag and I can get a faster cruising speed.  Not much black today!  Moving right through the turns now!  That one large patch towards the end was a lull.  That was pretty much when I figured it was best to head back in.

The wind is supposed to be good tomorrow.  I just got a new gopro mount - so I'm going to see if I can get some decent pictures while up on foil.