Catch Up Post - Windsurf Foiling - April 13

I needed to get these photos from La, but couldn't until just now - so the few posts will be catch ups.  Last Saturday I went to Hickam to foil since the winds were supposed to be up and more easterly.  Well - the wind was up alright - too up - the gusts were way too much for sailing without a harness.

I started off rigging the 5.0 and had the Slingshot Infinity foil setup with the longer switch fuse.  It was hard to tell if this setup was better or not when my arms were getting ripped off.  I did get the whole rig up on foil, but decided it would be beneficial if I went in and rigged for less lift.

I rigged up the Naish Lift 4.7 and reconfigured the Slingshot foil back to the setup I use for surfing.  The wind got stronger and I was equally challenged (this windsurf foiling stuff on larger wings is definitely for lighter wind days for sure).  The wind was so strong I was waterstarting with ease and felt I could have been in footstraps and regular windsurfing.  I'll have to remember that next time the trades go nuclear...

Even after having my arms stretched - this is still the coolest thing out there!

WIndsurf Foiling 3/32019

I finally went Windsurf Foiling again - just about two months since the last time I went out (and cracked the nose of the board).  I brought the Naish Lift 5.7 and 4.7, with 400 and 370 mast respectively.  I also brought the Maliko 200.  The wind was blowing stiff at the beginning of my session (1615) but rapidly dropped.  Initially the 4.7 lifted, but after a couple of runs I figured I should change out the sails.  Here's the wet 5.7

The 5.7 is a beast - lots of power.  It took a little bit to get used to the pull.  But true to the advertisements, you can dump the power when needed (duh - all sails are like that).  I was up on the foil a lot, but the earlier flights were not smooth and controlled - too much wind and too much lift from the foil.  I could tell when I was headed for a breach and a few times the mast got away from me (headed for the nose).  I checked the nose after each crash - the high density foam nose guard and the light weight mast seem to be doing the trick.  As the sun continued setting, the wind smoothed out and at just under 12 mph the 5.7 and the Maliko worked perfectly together - I got two runs with perfect control and stability.  I even tried pushing a jibe (failing in a blaze of glory).  Have I mentioned I love this truck?

I am going to rig up the Slingshot FSurf Foil with the 78cm fuselage and see if pushing the wing forward makes a discernable difference in stability.  I'm thinking it will since that is why Slingshot is selling the FSurf with the longer fuselage and calling it the FWind.  Should be able to test that setup out this week (the wind is forecasted to hold).

The other configuration I want to test out is the 5.7 and the Iwa - that might be a way to eliminate the need to fight the setup.  Stay tuned!

Getting Back on the Horse

It has been a while since I have gone windsurf foiling - since before my trip to Virginia Beach/San Diego back in January.  The wind forecast called for marginal conditions so I packed up the Hypernut, some sails and the Maliko 200 in case I had some time after running a bunch of errands.  After running said errands (mostly getting more materials to build a deck in our backyard), I did get a chance to checkout the sailing spot.

Really glassy and really flat.  Nice for paddling and flyfishing - but the opposite for windsurf foiling and surfing.  Tomorrow is supposed to be better (more wind) so I'll try again.  Since I was over there with a bunch of equipment, I figured I'd at least rig up the sails, take some measurements and record the optimal outhaul and downhaul lengths.

I need to get wet...

FInishing Off This Repair Project

So yesterday I sanded the repair area down - primarily taking off the primer that was not needed.

Today I masked the board (and the garage)

And applied a couple of coats of almost matching blue spray paint.

Here is the board post spray paint application - the unpainted section is where the nose bumper will be applied (so this whole incident won't be repeated with an accidental mast strike).  I'll also put on a coat of urethane to protect the paint from scuffs.

I should have this done tomorrow afternoon.  Thank goodness (and now to get it wet again).

Recon Flight Over The Racetrack

I had to head over to the mainland for business this past week.  On the way out, I took pictures of the spot where I've been windsurf foiling - kinda neat to see it from the other side.

This is the look back towards the launch.

More pictures from the plane in the next post -

5th Time Windsurf Wave Foiling the Hypernut

I went foiling this afternoon.  This morning the weather looking like it might not clear up - with lingering clouds and even some residual rain, I wasn't sure the wind would pick up but it did.  It turned out to be really nice!

It doesn't look like it, but the wind was blowing a steady 15 mph with gusts into the low 20s.  I setup the foil in the rearmost position today to see what the differences would be.  The obvious difference was that foil would lift later, but the surprise was I would end up in porpoising situations more often than previous sessions - porpoised probably 5 times, twice I got thrown forward of the board.  The wind did almost die twice, but even those times are fun (slogging training).  

Tonight I'm researching "how not to porpoise your foil".  Can't wait for tomorrow!!!

Fourth Time Out on the Hypernut

I brought the windsurf foiling setup to work today - I was hoping the wind would hold up and that I would get to sail/foil after work.  I was not disappointed!  It was blowing steady when I pulled up to the parking lot.  The anemometer was showing 15 to 17 mph average.  I rigged up the 5.0 and set the M200 forward in the box (as to only change one variable from the previous session).

I lifted a lot this session - and for longer durations.  I was trying to learn how to control the lift and not get thrown - it all started feeling more comfortable by the end of the session.  In total I was probably up and flying at least 12 runs.

The wind seemed to be more easterly today - the runs lined up better with the launch.  Honestly, with the foil in the board and with me getting more comfortable uphauling the 7'4" Hypernut, I'm not even worried about making it back to the launch point.  By the end of the session the wind had dropped into the single digits and I didn't have a problem sailing back in.

It was dusk by the time I got back in - I was having so much fun I didn't want to stop!  I'm totally stoked that I get to do this!!!

Second Time Out on the Hypernut

I took the Hypernut out to Kailua today.  Lots of kites piled up on the beach when we arrived (lull in the wind).

I wanted to test the stability of the board with the foil inserted.  It was pretty stable - I didn't have an issue paddling it around.  I felt that I could have paddled into a wave - which is good news (this board isn't too small for me at 189# - it isn't a no-brainer, but it is on the doable range of paddling.

So after paddling around a bit, I came in and put the sail on.  I used the Naish Boxer 5.8 and I had plenty of power - so much so that I was even water starting.  Uphauling this rig on this board was challenging, but it was doable.

I even got up on the foil a couple of times - this being the first time on the board with the foil, and the first time with the board and the foil and a sail, my foot placement wasn't quite right and the foil would get away from me.

The wind got weak on me and I figured it would be best if I headed in - I ended up downwind of where I started so I took a short walk of shame.  But that said, I am hopeful that I can get more practice under my belt and with the additional experience, this will all start to click.

Not bad for a first outing!!!  And it felt good to windsurf Kailua again after all these years.

All the photos were taken by La with her new DSLR camera ;)

Slow Progress on the Surfing Hydrofoil this Weekend

I didn't have much time this weekend to devote to progress on the hydrofoil, but Marlon and I did move the needle forward a little.  Got the base plate and mast cleaned up.

Here the bead has been poured along the leading and trailing edges.

Then got the divynicell strips epoxied together (base structure for the mast track box reinforcements).  Marlon is learning the sequence to mixing epoxy (he even corrected me about re-taring the scale before adding hardener - I'm going to have to give him credit for a composite material course - HEY I'M A HOMESCHOOL TEACHER!!!

Next step here will be to cut the two groupings into the near final top to bottom dimension.  Then trim the unused sides off.  Finally epoxying the top and bottom pieces together.  Then I can drop in the mast track boxes.  I've got enough d-cell here to make 2 sets of 2 boxes (enough for 2 foil boards).

Linking the last post with this one, I have a big, wide SUP blank coming in.  Originally I was planning on making two prone foil boards with the blank - one at 5'2" and the other at 5'5".  After looking around the Kailua shops and a little on the internet, I'm rethinking the plan -

I may now go ahead and make a 5'2" (or even a 5'0" - after the learning curve, most people are converging on shorter prone boards - I still want a board that has float to make catching waves easy, but now I'm thinking the shorter the better since I'm going through all the effort to make a foil board from scratch).  But the second board can likely be a 6'0", as wide as possible foiling SUP/Windsurf Foiling board.  I'm comfortable now with placing a mast track in the top deck, and am not apprehensive about the boxes that would need to get dropped into the bottom deck for to support the foil - so why not???  Inexpensive option to get to try out the "holy grail" I was referring to earlier...  It's is at least worth the thought...