Anointment of No.32, Part 1

Today was the day No.32 touched water and saw action.

Good day for it - it was windy and shifty.  Swinging from the NE to E, at pretty good speeds.

I only brought the SW2 5.2 - but probably could have used the 4.7.

I had three separate mini sessions to get positions dialed in on the new board.

The picture below is in reverse order.  And the first entry was short by 10 minutes because I forgot to start the GPS tracking.

I'll also only post the wind chart on this entry - but it covers all three foil swaps.

First up was the legendary Takuma Kujira 1210.

The position I transferred from No.32 was spot on.

It's hard to see the individual tracks/transitions, but I actually pulled way more tacks than jibes today.  I need to keep on practicing the toe-heel tacks to make them smoother, but I'm making most of them now.

No surprise on the top speed on this foil -

Good ol' reliable foil!  Made the first turn a heel-toe tack (actually this turn) 

Turns out this board is a sinker.  What a difference an inch of length and 2 inches of waist makes on volume!

One of the many toe-heel tacks

This is going to be a great board!!!  It just needs good wind since it is a sinker.

Successful anointment!!!

W:91/F:85/S:35

Wing Foiling Session - 8/29/2023

The wind was up and down during today's session.  Eli, Roland and Prayot were out to cultivate some stoke..

The tide was really high - +2.6' - thanks to the Super Blue Moon

And there were some decent waves coming through - head high on several occasions.

But the wind was a little bit flukey.

I thought it would be a hair stronger, so I brought the Kujira 980/178 stab on the Stringy fuselage.

At times it felt like I needed more lift - even though this is where I have historically set this foil.

Not too bad for an hour's worth of winging.

I tried to stay further towards Fenceline to keep in the flow of the wind.  It was a dead zone in front of the surfboard rental shack.

Not bad - but it's hard to rig for these kind of ups and downs.

Again not bad.  The Kujira 980 did feel a bit unstable today - but I'm going to say it was the small chop riding the backwash and having to ride through that stuff.

Prayot saw a pretty big shark in the surf zone.  I had already gone in by that point (La wanted to run some errands tonight - so I wanted to get home early).

The wind is supposed to build up for the next several days (until Saturday).  So winging until Sunday (then it'll be Foil Driving time for Sunday and Monday).

W:87/F:82/S:32

Wing Foiling Session, Part 2 - 8/16/2023

From Kailua we headed to Kahala to meet up with Matt and so we could do a practice run for the upcoming upwind-downwind winging race.

This was my first time out at Kahala, and Matt's second.  We were both interested in learning the launch and recovery spots.

I setup the same gear that I had up at Kailua.

Getting out on a really high tide was not as bad as I thought it would be - you still definitely have to watch out for the reef - but I got out with a leap of faith (that I had enough wind to ride high and not hit the reef).

I had a hard time with the upwind leg.  The wind was so strong that the drag was slowing me down more than the wind could provide enough bernoullis.

The Garmin depleted its battery less than halfway through the trial run.

Matt made it to the blinker buoy first.  I ended up making it and took the opportunity to practice rounding the marker with tacks.

Then we headed downwind - which is such a unique experience.  I made it back in without incident (whew).  I would have preferred a much smaller wing going upwind, and a much bigger wing going downwind, but you can only choose one foil and one wing.

Again this was only a portion of the run (because my GPS watch ran out of charge).

A brutal as winging in Nuking Futs conditions were - I love pushing myself to do things I haven't done before (long live GenX!!!)

W:80/F:76/S:31

Wing Foiling Session, Part 1 - 8/16/2023

I met Nick (I've known this guy for 30 years!!!) this morning for a dawn patrol wind sports session.

The wind was present when we showed up - but not terribly strong - we decided to go kitefoiling.    

I have never tried this - but have wanted to learn for those light wind days when I just have to get out.  Nick has been doing this for longer than I have been foiling - so he said it's a 7.0 kite day

As soon as I launched, the wind picked up and me not knowing any better went ahead and tried to get onto the board.  I was eating humble pie the whole way... until Nick came over and said there was too much wind for what we were trying to do.  We both went in and reset to winging equipment.

And because I already had the Kujira 980 setup on the kite foiling board, I just plucked it off and transferred it to No.25

17.62 miles later....

This was really fun!  The waves were not all time, but they were present.  I got in a bunch of tacks - but mostly jibed (as my frame of reference is backward at Kailua).

I gave Nick the refurbished striped wing board - and he was a tad bit apprehensive at first - this board being a foot shorter than the board he normally uses - but he gelled with it quickly and he was jibing on to waves in no time!

This wind was not really expected - but it was a great surprise.

Not a bad graph

And from there, we made our way to Kahala for a race practice session.

W:79/F:76/S:31

Wing Foiling Session - 8/7/2023

The wind was ripping, the surf was up, and the tide was deep enough to not have to paddle out too far - perfect conditions to stoke the adrenal gland!!!!

Prayot, Kalani and Roland winged

I pumped up the Reedin SW2 3.6 (first time) - this design is the best line of wings I've ever used.  Roland pumped up his F One Strike V3 4.0 for the first time also.

I felt perfectly powered whether in a slamming gust, or the prevailing nuking background level winds - and during the session there was one wave where I got smashed and dragged in the white water - the leash was pushed into the trailing edge - no issue with the leash attachment or the trailing edge.  I love the SW2s!

I pulled out the Kujira 980 - this foil was the right call for today's turbulent conditions.  Being smaller it also helped eat up some of the wind power.

Roland accidentally kicked his foil and it bit back... lots of deep cuts lately... (I actually just got my stitches cut out today).

Not a bad run in challenging conditions!

I had a few overhead waves (that's while on foil).  On one run out, I saw a sailboat that was making a run and made a close approach to where we were winging.  I went out to take a look because it looked like they had the main sail up on the opposite side of where it should have been.  They jibed and headed back out.

Kalani and I were on one wave and he made this sick jump - probably 10 feet above me and I was in the pit of an overhead breaking wave!

This graph is from Hickam.  At WPB it seemed to be stronger and more consistent.

Not a bad top speed either.  If the wind was a hair more from the east, I think I would have gone faster.  

Epic winging day!!!

Tomorrow since this wind event is supposed to peak, I may go to Hickam after work (safer in the harbor).

W:76/F:71/S:31

Dawn Patrol - 8/6/2023

Dawn patrol had a surprise - larger than expected surf!!!  The wind had been on it a little bit throughout the night, and knowing this is probably being influenced somewhat by Hurricane Dora, the texture was not a surprise.  Tide was a medium high.  Great conditions for Foil Drive foiling!!!

The experimenting continues - this morning the subject was the Kujira 1095.  Actually, I had thought it was going to be smaller than yesterday - that's why I brought the 1095 - but I think today's testing would have been more appropriate for the 980...

Weekend dawn patrol foil crew

Pre-setup

Perfect placement - well balanced and progressive lift from this setting.

This foil takes off nicely, is really fast, has plenty of lift and pumps through flats easily.  It does not roll easy (not a surprise).  The HPS 980 carves the best out of the foils I've used for FD so far.

I caught several incredibly long waves today - picking them up way outside Middles (I think this is 5-Os) and riding them pretty much to where the prone foilers were trying to takeoff.

Tomorrow starts a run of really strong wind - this testing will have to be put on the back burner until next weekend.  I'd like to test out the Kujira 980, the Vyper 170, HPS 700 as conditions allow.  I'm really not interested in purchasing any new front foils - but depending on this testing, the Spitfire 900, the SK8 950 and Hyper 170 are on the desired testing list.

W:75/F:71/S:31

Dawn Patrol - 8/5/2023

Dawn patrol this morning - nice conditions with mid tide, very little wind and decent sized waves.  Marlon was longboarding and Kaylani was the photographer.  I didn't see any pictures so I'm not sure how their session was.

I headed out to the outside break.  Wave were really inconsistent so when I did catch one, I would stay inside for a bit and ride the inside waves before making my way back outside.

Kalani and Dennis were on SUP Foil FD today and they were really killing it.

I'm going into a round of testing to figure out what equipment works best for FD Prone.  I know what I have with the Axis HPS980 - stability, progressive lift on takeoff, turns well, can pump back out but feels a little on the slow side.

Today I move on to the Kujira 1210.  This is a little faster, but has a little less pump.  Of note I did get a triple repeat and a few doubles - but this may have been more attributed to the set makeup and less the performance of the foil.  But then again, I have used this foil extensively and know how to use it to extract wave energy.

I got 3 hours and drove the battery down to 38%.

Tomorrow I'll likely use the 1095.  I have a Magic Hub that Kalani got for me - but I'm going limit this testing to see which foil gives the best performance, then see if the magic hub makes a difference for me.

W:75/F:70/S:31

Wing Foiling Session - 7/24/2023

Pulled an afternoon session at Hickam.  Wind was up and down, and there were hardly any waves.

Jim had been out on his 6.0, but came in and put up his 5.0.  Bill had been out on his 7.0 - both said the gusts were pretty brutal, but nothing mattered in the lulls.

I setup the Kujira 1210/178 - it's been a while since I had this bolted on...

When I pulled up to the parking lot, there was a good gust coming through - made me pump up the 4.7

My Garmin Instinct is failing me now - wouldn't hold a charge.  So I went out without the benefit of a GPS.  The wind was hard out of the North - 

The 1210 did a great job staying up in the lulls, but after using several different foils in a relatively short period of time, it is a tad bit slower than some of the others.

What I do love about the 1210 is its carry - I got in two toe-heel tacks without any drama, and this is one of the foils I can blind heel-toe tack.

Harris went out and headed to Firsts.  The wind filled in and I headed out also - it was way too offshore for my liking - and with hardly any waves - it was not worth the risk of having to make that paddle in.

It was good to wing again!!!

Oh - note to self - the foot straps need to go back a notch or two when using the Kujira foils.

W:69/F:68/S:30