Windy Saturday, Part 1

The trades were up and strong today, so we brought the kids to Pearl Harbor to get some windsports in.  First we dropped Noe and La off at Rainbow Bay Marina where Noe could go sailing.  Then I took Marlon to Hickam Harbor to learn how windsurf.

We brought the old Kailua sailboard and the iRig inflatable sail.  You may recall seeing this inflated on a post a while back - well it has taken this long but I finally got one of the kids on it.  I originally started teaching the kids on my smallest sail - an old Naish Hokua 3.75 m2 wave sail.  That sail on a mast and boom was a little too heavy for Noe and barely manageable for Marlon.  I got the iRig, but we've all been doing other things.  With the wind up, the surf would have been a little rough - Marlon was game while Noe opted for the Laser.  I took the rig out first just to make sure it all worked (this was the first time out).  I through on two foot straps and placed a SUP paddle through them just so if something did go wrong later, Marlon could paddle back.

He took off after a short lesson and was buzzing around powered up nicely.  He was doing so well that I setup my wind foiling rig (7'4" Starboard Hypernut, 29.5"+3" Go Foil mast, Maliko 200 and Maliko tail, Naish Lift 4.7 m2 sail).  I got up a bunch but the wind was on and off.  There was a wing foiler out (Duotone V1 wing and Kalama Performance foil board) - made me wonder if it would be easier to just wing foil....

Marlon and I both finished up around the same time - and we went off to pick up La and Noe (Part 2)

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!

Tuesday Evening Windsurf Foiling Run

I left work late so traffic was going to be bad - no problem says the guy who packed his windsurfing wave foiling gear (me - I did that).  I was on the water by 4:30pm and had rigged up a 5.0 initially.  I did manage to get up on foil despite the lack of available power.

In the picture, it looks pretty calm and glassy even.  It did get windy and I came back in after a few runs and changed out the 5.0 for the Naish Lift 5.7.  More power for sure and up on foil a bunch.  I worked on getting back into the groove of foiling while sail powered.  I had a couple of breaches and a few spinout squirticles - I think next time I will mount up the Iwa on the tall mast to see if I can shed the spinouts.  I'm thinking I'm going too fast and that when the squirticles happen - que the Iwa.

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).

All Stop (Sixth Time Windsurf Wave Foiling)

Another Friday evening, after work windsurf wave foiling session.  I used the Iwa front blade with the 29.5" - the wind was blowing hard (gusting past the mid 20's), mostly (when it wasn't, there were some big holes to slog through).  Still rigged the 5.0 Simmer Style as the steady breeze was 13 to 15 mph.

Beyond the conditions, the Iwa foil seemed to be a champ in the higher wind conditions.  I didn't feel the cavitation (???) or 'burping' that I did using the Maliko 200 at similar speeds.

I was able to get a bunch of long rides - pretty much runs from one end of the race track to the other.  There were several runs where I didn't even feel the sail pressure (sail was fully sheeted out).

All was not honky-dory... a few runs had porpoising, and one of those runs had the mast striking the board nose.  I got a crack on the top deck of the nose and a small blow out on the front rail.  Not a bad ding, but it'll be a pain to fix.  I'm going to modify the nose to prevent this from happening again...  But looks like I won't be windsurfing this setup for a couple of weeks.  La and the kids were at the beach and La got some great pictures of me flying the foil.  It is great learning something new!

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!!!

Shhhhhh - 5th time out on the Hypernut (Fourth Time Windsurf Foiling it)

I had to pull a longer shift on Sunday at work - and I had a family Holiday Party to get to afterwards.  But with the wind blowing, I didn't want to miss out on an opportunity to continue developing my foil skills.  The wind was forecasted to hang right around 15 mph, but by the time I got to the launch, there were zero whitecaps - still some texture to the water surface, but it was probably closer to 10-12.  I decided to keep everything the same so I could see what difference the wind speed would make.  My findings were the 5.0 I rigged was marginal - most likely would have done better rigging a 5.7 (and will do that next time).  Despite the under powered situation, I did still manage to get up on the foil more than a few times and for longer consistent runs.  Several dry jibes (not on foil, but just lots of balancing to keep dry) and I was able to make it back to the launch.  I haven't had this much fun going straight in a long time!!!

And I made it to the party - but not without getting caught (La used Life360 to see where I was at)!!!

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 ;)

The Dawn of a New Era

Behold!!!  The start of something total new and radical beyond all that was radical before -

In case you can't tell, that is a 2019 Starboard Hypernut 7'4" 4in1 board and a GoFoil Tri foil set (Nalu-Kai-Iwa front foils, Kai-Iwa rear wings and 29.5" mast) - I decided I need to reset my foiling attempts.  The best I can tell from the research I've done - this is the foil to ride right now.  The technology has started to settle and performance-price-durability wise this series is coming out on top.  As I get used to riding this foil, I can then compare it to the one I made and see what improvements can be done.  

Regarding the board - this is the smallest SUP I've owned - and after a few quick sessions SUP surfing it, I will stick the foil on and SUP foil it and then add a windsurf rig to it and begin learning to Windsurf Wave Foil - this could actually be the end of kiting for me if this new equipment pans out the way I'm expecting it to... stay tuned.