Parawing Session - 8/21/2025

Today has really good wind.  Not nuking, but solid and more (than less) consistent.

I want to test the upwind ability of the BRM Ka'a 4.8 - and I was originally going to go to WP to keep the location parameter the same as yesterday.  But Norm said he was going to wing PV so I figured I'd take the breaking waves out of the equation and join him.

I brought the same board-foil combo out, but like I said earlier - packed the Ka'a 4.8

With the super high tide and stronger winds, launching was easy.

I had paddled over towards CG a bit more to launch - wanted to give myself a head start and not start with a deficit and have to paddle in against the wind.

The Ka'a did go upwind.  But where I usually pick up the wind if I go down and drift at CG, I could break through that section.  PWs have a smaller range and once you go below that you drop off foil (if you aren't willing to pump around).

That happened a few times - and I'd have to drift a bit (once way out to blue water) to pick up the wind line.

You can see from the track I progressively went upwind - and I really didn't give up any ground.  So that tell me as long as you have sufficient wind, even lower aspect ratio, short lined PWs can go upwind.  It would be nice to get my hands on a Kanaha and do a back to back with the Ka'a to see how different they perform. 

This graph was the wind at Hickam - it was a notch less than this at PV, but this relation is shown better on this graph as opposed to the Kalaeloa graph.

So for me at my current skill level and body weight, with the board-foil combo - I need about 20 mph to takeoff with the Ka'a 4.8 (and I think it tops out at the comfortable level at 27+ mph which it was gusting to today). 

I happy that I was able to get upwind with the Ka'a!

W:56/FD:104/PW:26/S:6

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 6/20/2025

Dawn patrolled Hickam again.  I primarily wanted to test out the Evolution Cedrus Surf mast with the Foil Drive setup on it.  Having had a good session yesterday will give me a chance to compare this mast and the AFS UHM 80cm in similar conditions.

Same setup as yesterday, just swapped out the mast.

The waves were a notch smaller today, but it was super glassy.

I can definitively say the Evolution Cedrus Surf mast allows you to turn tighter than the AFM UHM mast.  This is a pretty profound statement as the way the AFS Enduro 900/HA40 on the AFS UHM 80cm mast turned made me originally sell off every other foil I had (Axis, F One, Cabrinha).

Lots of tight turns in this red and blue spaghetti!!!

22 rides - I have to pinch myself sometimes - it is simply incredible that you can ride this many waves in such a short period of time...

Solid winds are back on Sunday

W:47/FD:86/PW:11/S:4

Foil Drive Dawn Patrol - 5/26/2025

Dawn patrolled WPB this morning.

The tide was super low - and where I normally would have gone to Hickam, I just didn't feel like that drive this morning.

Light winds and fun sized waves rounded out the conditions.

And today's objective was to test drive Bill's Amos Cruzer Trench Board.  At 34 liters, this is definitely a sinker for me.  And the drive unit when placed made the balance rear biased.  But I did manage to get the setup paddled out to a deep enough spot.

I lined up the foil/mast/drive unit at the same mark where Bill lines his Code 980 at.  This point balanced the foil out for the Enduro 900 also.

This board did the following:

1. Made maneuvering the Enduro 900 even better - closer distance between rear foot and the mast

2. Made taking off on a sinker easier - reduced form drag from recessing the drive unit

I felt for a sinker, it was not difficult to start.  I could "pop tart" start it pretty effectively if there was a pocket forming on an incoming wave.  But if I had to match speed, it seemed to need more power - I think that is a function of the wing screws I had on.

The crew was out in force.  Andrew, Makana, Rick, Noel, Dennis, Derek (F One foiler), Mark, Maile, and a couple of others.  Erik Eck also showed up all the way from Kailua. 

Takeoff was pretty much from the same spot where we wing (and sometimes get caught in lulls and chop).

14 solid rides with a couple of missed takeoffs.

So this board concept is interesting and confirms that I should build one to get better familiar with it's use and benefits.

W:42/FD:74/PW:7/S:4

Garage Works - 2/10/2025

I decided to stay back from water time today so I could get No.40 across the finish line.

Here it is all sanded down to 400 grit.

Top deck -

Bottom deck (with the tracks opened up).

And just to provide those following - here is the primary difference between No.39 and No.40 - "V"

I wanted to compare the flat tail of No.39 to the "V" in No.34 - but the longer length in 34 didn't make the comparison on level terms.

Getting the bottom shape on this board was an exercise in joining different curves and making them work together.  The upcoming testing will determine if it is worth the extra effort over a flat bottom.

After sanding, I headed off to get some clear coat.  The shop only had one can - so here is the board sprayed up with one can.

I'll try and grab another can tomorrow to get another coat on the board (makes it more scratch resistant - and prettier).

There are other differences between 39 and 40 - 

40 is shorter by an inch,

But wider by an inch.

40 is also thicker by a smidgeon.

And 39 is more streamlined, where 40 has some hips to it (taking off with 39, I had to be further back on the board than I normally rode - 40 has more volume forward so taking off "should" be weight further forward).

The WMFG deck pad is still supposed to arrive by Thursday.  Which means this board would get wet on Saturday morning.

That also means I'll start Foil Drive-ing with No.39 now to start getting a feel for its performance characteristics, before switching off to No.40 this weekend.

Let the testing (riding) begin!!!!

I think the next board is going to be a 5'2" - bottom shape to be determined by the upcoming 39-40 testing.  The shorter length will be for the summer swells (since Marvin bought the last 5'-Oh that I built).

Evening Session - 1/16/2025

The forecasted south-west swell did start to show this afternoon.  This picture was from when a set was hitting.

It was a rising tide - but overall it was still on the shallow side.  There was some onshore flow - and I think I could have been up and going on the AFS Enduro 1300/KT Dragonfly/North Nova Pro 5.0 - but I opted to Foil Drive. 

And this was to be a testing day to see if the additional signal window makes an additional difference in signal transmission.

Axis Spitfire 960 and Skinny 365 rear stabilizer.  I actually got the spacing spot on.

So here is my feedback on this board.

- the signal did transmit better, but still not a good as the basalt laminated boards 

- despite being 50 liters in volume, this board takes more energy to get up to planing speed.  Steeper waves help to get to planing speed faster/easier

- once up on foil, this board is a blast to ride, but you do have to be further forward on the board when motoring around

I left my watch at home, so the phone came out with me.

Norm was out on FD also.  Prayot was prone foiling and Roland brought out his trusty mid-length.

Norm had his new, dialed in Code Foils setup - and he was getting three-peats continuously.

I would get really fun rides, but only if I was able to get up - which wasn't as much as I would have if I were on one of my boards (which I now can confirm are faster on top of the water).

I got a handful of rides somewhere in the graph below.  Most of the peaks are failed attempts to get on to unbroken swell.

I think if I had the power settings on high things may have been easier.  I'll give this feedback to Marvin.

The swell should be better established tomorrow -

W:5/FD:7/PW:1

Evening Session - 12/4/2024

When I was on my way home, there were lots of clouds hanging around, and there was some onshore wind blowing.  I was debating whether to go surf or start sanding No.39 - from the picture you can see what I ended up deciding to do (I hate sanding).

There was still some good surf coming through - 

And the sand is starting to fill back in.

I put the Futures T1 Twin fins in for today's run.

The only bad thing about today was there were a lot of kooks in the water socializing - and getting in the way of some good rights.

On the waves I did get some length out of, these T1 fins felt really smooth.  I didn't line up with any sections where I could try to push the tail through the turn so I didn't get to see if these fins are the enablers I'm looking for.  My assessment is these feel good, have enough hold, and I'm going to assume they also release well.

I'm not sure if the conditions will hold for surfing... I'm going to charge my Foil Drive battery up - but if I can surf the Revo Max, I think I want to try out the Taylor Knox Twins from NVS.

W:145/PW:2/FD:87/F:5/S:28

Evening Session - 12/3/2024

The waves were still up this evening - 

Marlon was out on his Firewire Seaside.

And to continue the fin optimization, I choose the Glenn Pang Twins

These fins felt more nimble for their size compared to the Black birds from yesterday 

They still had drive (to dig in a good first bottom turn), and they have more release than the Black Birds.  But I could feel my right knee more today than other days - so I think that is preventing me from getting that turn I've been looking for.

Since I started later today, I only got a handful of waves, but they were all really good and lined up.  I got in a ton of good turns - just not the one I saw on Youtube.

Tomorrow I'm going to try out the T1s - with less overall area and more rake, I may be getting closer.

W:145/PW:2/FD:87/F:5/S:27

Wing Foiling Session - 10/20/2024, Part 2

And after helping La with some honey-dos, I went to get a second winging session in.

This is likely to be the last windy day for a week or so - best time to test out the third Ezzy wing.

Kalani, Prayot and Roland were all beaching when I was putting my gear together.

Straight strut Ezzy Flight 5.5m wing -

Also No.36 but this time setup with the F One Eagle 890/DW190 (the wind was much better this go around).

Really low tide this afternoon... I had to paddle out quite a bit before getting to flip the board/foil.

The wind was pretty steady this afternoon - would have actually been a good day to use the parawing - but today was wing testing.

The 5.5 has a good range - from light wind (as long as you don't have to start with the lower wind) all the way up to being overpowered - this wing handled it all well.

This version luffs well - but not as good as the 4.0m that I have.

I almost had a super long session without going down - I did mess up a jibe and got pretty tired - but I did recover back to foiling pretty quickly.

I didn't test them back to back, but I think the North Nova Pro 5.0 has the same power as this wing.

Super fun (solo) session!

W:129/PW:2/FD:74/F:5/S:19

Wing Foiling Session - 4/19/2024

After my bounce trip to Kauai, I saw two wingers out at Hickam while my plane was landing.  Kalani had already asked what was going on and I said winging Hickam - 

There was wind - more than yesterday.  

Matt had already been out on No.35.  He said it worked great.  He already could get up using smaller wings - this board made it even easier.

He said Jesse took it out also and said it gets up out of the water fast.

Kalani took the Ezzy Flight 5.5 out (but didn't even get up on foil - I let him know before taking it out that it doesn't have the low end of the SW2s.

I took the Ezzy Flight 5.0 out.  I placed both wings on top of each other and here is where the difference lies - 

Donnel texted me earlier and wanted me to tell him if the trailing edge had a flutter in it.  When the gusts came through, this area would flutter noticeably.  When the wind was normal and the wing was being used in its lower range, there was no flapping/fluttering.

I took out the same board and foil as yesterday to keep things comparative.

Not bad stats at all.  Since we got out later than normal, we were time limited.

The Ezzy 5.0 is not as good as the 4.0 - but it is way better than the 5.5.

I was able to get two toe-side tacks in without even blinking an eye.  Not sure if it was the Eagle 1090 or the wing - but I'll take it either way.

On the heelside tacks, recovering the wing was really easy - the back handle was just there where I needed it to be as it rotated through the tack.

This wing also pulled hard up wind and was really fast for its size (but again - just not as good as the 4.0).

I went up to Firsts and grabbed some waves.  Luffing the wing it behaved similar to the 4.0 - it stayed where you put it, not wanting to walk away at all.  I flagged it on several waves and the same performance was had each time.

The wind did seem better than what is on the graph below - but this was the general trend.

Towards the end of the session I made some speed runs - the results are pretty impressive considering the wind and that I was riding the Eagle 1090.

Sunday afternoon looks to be another good wind day - but I may try to use the F One Strike V4 that Prayot is demoing.

W:49/FD:24/F:4/S:9

Wing Foiling Session - 4/18/2024

The wind was forecasted to be in the light wind range of wing foiling this afternoon.

Harris came out after calling the airport report.

And I was able to pick up the Ezzy wings I'm borrowing from Donnel - so I wanted to see where the bottom end was on this design.

And to give myself the best chance of getting on foil, I setup No.34 with the F One Eagle 1090

And despite all that, the wind turned pretty darn light once Harris and I hit the water 

I did get some runs in but it was light during the lulls

I think today would have been a better Foil Drive day

Harris did make it outside and he rode some really nice waves.  I did not want to chance it with the light wind and a borrowed wing that I was taking out for the first time.  The Ezzy 5.5 was not the same brilliant wing that the 4.0 is.  It felt heavy in hand and it has a really small sweet spot power wise.  I did not get to test the luffing or overpowered flying (since there wasn't much wind) - but it did not have a whole lot of low end (which was expected).  Also - Donnel's choice of harness line (fixed windsurfing harness line) is not my preference - too easily got hit in the face with the line.

If I was pulling out one of my personal wings, it would probably have been the North Mode Pro 6.8

Despite all that was said - it was a day out in the water so it was good!!!

I got a bounce trip for work tomorrow - when I get back I'm going to try and hit it again with the 5.0

W:48/FD:24/F:4/S:9