Wing Foiling Session - 2/16/2022

And as luck would have it, there was a small window where the wind picked up enough for me to wing.  I got to the parking lot at Hickam by 1:30 and rigged up and in the water by 2.

When I drove up, the wind was actually dead.  But recently I've been paying more attention to the Surfline forecast and it has been better than the rest at predicting wind.  They said 3pm it should be 17mph.  I went ahead and bolted on the Kujira 1210 that I used in the dawn patrol since the wind was questionable, especially since I had the 4'8" Wing Board (I wanted to dial in the footstrap positions).

When I got into the water, I could see the wind starting to fill in and then everything in the universe was right.

This board is magic and despite it's propensity to sink if I don't have forward momentum, it gets off the water faster than any board I've ever used (flat tail and square rails).  After a few runs to get my bearings and to knock out some transitions, I went ahead and made my way out to Firsts (which I haven't actually done in quite some time).  

The wind was stronger out there so I only went down three times in 45 minutes.  I was able to ride several waves and I tacked and jibed without issue.  So much fun!!!

I went back in and adjusted the footstraps (pulled them back a notch) and headed back out to make sure they were set.  I had a couple more runs and called it good.

One of the other things I did this session was switch out the wing leash.  I had the Dakine bodyboarding one on previously, but put on the second Kaohi 5' double coil.  I do like these better.  If they get twisted, all you have to do is stretch it out and it resets.  It also gets around the harness line easier also.

These little strings are part of the bladder replacement repair job I got done at Airtime Kites.  The past two sessions were perfect and having a fully inflated wing that you can count on is a huge part of that!

W:7/F:15/S:8

Dawn Patrol - 1/23/2022

Dawn patrolled again.  There is still some swell coming in from the south, and there is still west wrap.  The tide was high, but at a manageable 1.6' (yesterday was 1.8' and was drowning out the swell).  With zero wind, the conditions were really good.

I brought out the same gear as yesterday, but I did shim the mast base.  One shim each under the front bolts was enough to correct the "nose-down attitude".  The mast position I had paddled out with was making my back leg a little spent - so I pulled the mast forward and VIOLA!!!  Balance was achieved!

I'm going to mark this position for this mast and the Kujira 1210.

I caught a bunch of waves both before and after the mast position change - the conditions provided opportunities for long walled up rides and hooking carves.  With the high tide I didn't have to worry too much about grounding so I was a bit more aggressive on the riding.

SO much fun!

W:1; F:9; S:4

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!!!

More Tweaking Stuff

I got the Takuma Fuselage Adapter for the 2021 fuselage yesterday in the mail. When everything settled down, I grabbed the Project Cedrus Mast and the fuselage from the 85cm Takuma mast, and set out to get the fitment worked out.

I removed the tape shims - this adapter was a perfect tight fit.  And while I was at it, I went ahead and added Tefgel to the other screws on this mast.

Here it is all set up.  I did not plan on taking it out on the dawn patrol for Sunday because the tide was going to be rather low at 0.6'.  This mast measures out to be 81cm - just under 32 inches.  A little tall for prone, but also a little short for winging.

I'm supposed to be getting the Axis screw set in the mail in the next couple of days.  I plan on setting up the Axis ART999 on the Crazy Short Fuselage with the 400 Progressive rear stabilizer.  

And since I was working on different things, I went ahead and sanded out the tips on this Takuma Kujira 200 rear stabilizer where it had touched reef earlier.  Smoothed out without an issues.