Evening Prone Foil Session - 4/20/2026

Got in a late prone foiling session.

There were breaking waves even with the higher tide.

These two were chillaxing

Progression 170 with a Vic rear stabilizer.  Project Cedrus Classic mast bolted on to trusty ole No.24

I successfully rode 5 waves!  This is definitely a perishable skill - glad to mix this in with the recent surfing sessions to get cross training in!

I think I am going to make a slightly longer, slightly narrower version of this board...

PF:6/W:2/PW:31/FD:30/S:14

Wing Foiling Session - 3/11/2025

Strong winds, high tide, but small waves today.

I wanted to mix things up - Neilpryde Fly 4.0 and the Cabrinha H800.

Big crew today - Eddy, Norm and I were the early shift and Kalani and Roland were the late shift.

The H800 felt a little slow/draggy.  And it was also really pitch sensitive in the choppy conditions.  But in these winds it did get up pretty easily.

Having to learn a different foil, I pulled my punches to avoid having to restart.  Despite all that, I did eat it a lot and had to restart anyways.

Some of the gusts were nuking -

The chop did make for hard riding.  The H800 seemed to respond better to rear foot steering.

And oddly enough - the Fly 4.0 was also responsive to rear hand control.  With the winds blowing around today, the twitchiness of the wing did fatigue me.  The North wings I have been using don't do this - better for my elbows.

Tomorrow is supposed to be even stronger than today -

W:19/FD:39/PW:1/S:3

Evening Session - 2/1/2024

Caught an afternoon session - 

Waves were intermittent - but belly high when they came.  I think the West swell is finally passing us.  The weather was pretty wet and cold.  I actually had a hard time seeing because there was no contrast between the sky and the ocean.

At least the weather kept the crowd at bay -

I brought the Progression 170/flex rear stab setup on the 68cm Project Cedrus mast (classic).  For the board, I broke out No.31

No.31 is probably the smallest I would go when prone foiling.  I'm estimating this board to be about 35 liters - so pretty much my shortboard volume.

I botched the first few rides - which I always do when changing back to prone from either surfing, Foil Drive prone foiling, winging, etc.  It didn't help that I was on a different board also - but after those first few everything was coming together again.

I was able to get a few triples, and a ton of good carves in.

I actually think No.31 may be a good Foil Drive Max board.  Will have to cycle this in once the FDM is in hand.

I did move the mast up twice from the starting point (white dots).  The original placement was definitely too far back because I had to coax the board up.  This position felt a lot better, but I'll still need to experiment with it.  I thought I moved the boxes up on this board when I did the second install...

Tomorrow the trades return.  It'll be a bit northerly at first, but by Sunday it'll be mostly from the East.  Debating if I want to do an after work session at Hickam, or beat feet home and hit WPB... low tide... hmmmmm.

W:8/FD:10/F:4/S:5

Evening Session - 1/25/2024

I got in a late session today.  Prayot was foiling the AFS stuff, so I figured I would go out and see how he was doing on that gear.

I have not prone foil in quite some time.  And whenever I jump back to a different discipline, I usually eat it a bit until I get my footing/muscle memory back.

Today was no exception. 

There was actually some size today - and the waves were really clean.  Roland made the right call and had brought out a surfboard.

I brought out the short Cedrus mast (it was a low tide at 0.5') and the Progression 170.

I did eat several up front.  And even a few of the good ones - but I did catch a few nice rides - after eventually finding my "footing".  I did have some issue keeping the nose up when taking the drop.  I'm going to have to go back through my notes to see if I need to shim the base.

Good session!

W:6/F:12/S:4

Dawn Patrol - 1/7/2024

Marlon and I got up to dawn patrol this morning,  The waves had come down a lot (still breaking but, gutless today).

I wanted to continue the trend of running through the foils I use in other disciplines to see how they work with the Foil Drive (prone).  I bolted on the Unifoil Progression 170.  This is one of the best low energy surfing foils that I've used prone foiling - I figured maybe it would give similar results while prone foiling with the Foil Drive.

I originally started with the mast mounted closer to where I have the Spitfire 960.  After the first wave I knew I had to move it forward (really hard to get the foil to lift).

I ended up moving the mast up twice, with the final position pretty much as far forward as I could get it (and there was still a tiny bit of back foot pressure - but it was also a little bit jumpy on the takeoff - so this may be the best spot for the mast).

The Foil Drive was a session saver today.  I anticipated the smaller waves (mahalo Surfline Premium Subscription), so I used the small hub propellor.  I needed it to get more top end speed to catch the non-breaking (almost non-peaking) waves.

I was nabbing waves that I had to augment pump to stay up on foil - that would have me going across the line up.

My wave count was 25 for the day.  Not as good as the past couple of sessions - but considering the conditions, I can't complain.  Nearly everybody I stopped and talked to said it was ridiculous that I was up and riding (and they probably didn't catch but a handful during the same session duration).  Dennis was out on his SUP foiling setup.  He was also catching tons of waves - but he was letting the longboard grouches get him down (they were grumbling about how many waves he was getting and how much the Foil Drive cost, and how longboards are a better investment).  I told him to ignore them because he's the one having fun.

Surfline called today at 15kJ - at this energy level, I think I would have been better off using the HPS980.  The Progression 170 would work better with conditions like yesterday (but so would the Spitfires...).

I did notice the Unifoil adapter was a tad loose when I got back to the truck.  I'm not sure how long it was loose - but there didn't seem to be any damage.  I need to add that to my pre-flight checklist. 

W:2/F:4/S:0

Dawn Patrol - 11/23/2023

Marlon asked to foil today on the dawn patrol.  The waves were on the smaller side, but nice clean conditions.

I set Marlon up with the Iwa today.  He said the Kai wasn't giving him enough lift.

He paddled out to Coves (I thought he was going to join me and the regular crew over at Cabins).  He said he wasn't getting up on foil initially so he moved the mast forward (he's pretty much got it at this point if he can to that conclusion on his own).

I took out what I probably used the last time I went prone foiling (without the Foil Drive).  I know I usually suck after switching back and forth from one discipline to another (in this case shortboarding to prone foiling) - but I sucked today.  The crew (Dean, Andrew, Rick and Matt) were asking about why I wasn't on the Foil Drive - I said because Marlon was foiling and I thought I'd be closer to him if I stayed regular prone.  Well - this session was definitely a reinforcement of if you want to be good at something you need to practice it.

I ended up catching three good ones, so at least I know it was the adjustment back. 

Matt was out - he was on the ART Pro 1201 (and gliding around like it was nothing).

I won't be able to go tomorrow morning because I have to work.  We'll see what the conditions are like (as I may want to just get No.33 laminated).

W:115/F:102/S:56

Evening Session - 9/28/2023

The wind is backing off, so I Marlon and I got in a late afternoon prone foiling session!  

I setup my standard gear - No.21/PC 68-72cm mast/P170/Flex Rear Stab

Marlon took out the gear he has been learning on.

We adjusted the mast position forward a quarter inch - seems to have worked since he was up on foil multiple times.  He just needs more practice to get settled in on the foil (instead of the board).  Also those first generation GoFoils need a lot of front foot pressure - he was compensating by placing his hands on the rails... maybe we need to pull the mast back a hair.... more practice tomorrow!!!!

I caught several - but since I've been winging so much lately, my pumping back out game sucked.  I'm so used to just sheeting in to get back out....

Roland was commenting on the Lift 120 that Duke has been using - they lined them up to see the size difference.

The 120 has a shorter chord and is about a hlaf inch shorter on each wing tip than the 140

Not to mention the 140 has a way different profile across the span.

W:100/F:90/S:36

Evening Session - 9/14/2023

Evening session was smaller today than yesterday.

I caught some fun ones, but with the higher tide, the backwash was raging.

Prayot was out using the Eagle 990.  Roland was on the P140.

I have the P170 dialed in again for sure - not messing with this anymore as it is optimized.

W:92/F:88/S:35

Evening Session - 9/13/2023

I was super tired when I got home - I ended up taking a nap.  But I also felt I needed to keep trying to get the rear stabilizer dialed back in to where I had it before (I changed the shim).  I had changed the shim back to the 0.5 degree one I had on previously.

The wind was kinda up - but it was blowing offshore.  The tide was dropping but still on the high side.  And the swell was belly high on the sets - pretty much perfect for foiling.

The setup performed perfectly - doubles out the gate and super easy and sustainable pumping.  Pretty incredible what a shim can do.

I just fell in love with this foil setup all over again -

Cranking turns was never so good...

W:92/F:87/S:35

Evening Session - 9/12/2023

I had hopes the wind would be up like yesterday - but while driving home the signs were not indicative of good winging winds.  Playing it safe, I got in a late afternoon prone foiling session.  

Marlon flew his drone for a bit, then longboarded.

Decent high tide at 1.9', winds at winging strength - then dropping off - then picking back up (glad I didn't setup the winging gear), and a decent fun sized swell.

It has actually been a little bit since I have been out on prone gear - I set up the low energy equipment (P170, 14.875" flex rear stab, shortest Project Cedrus mast I have).

I did better than I thought I was going to considering the gap between prone sessions - but just like riding a bike...

It feels really good to turn with this setup!!!

I caught a couple of handful of waves and called it good.

Roland and Prayot were out winging (and floating).  Gary had his wing out when I first got to the beach, but ended up SUP foiling.  And Marvin was out on the prone foiling gear.

Fun session (but I am feeling kinda tired - might take a break tomorrow).

W:92/F:86/S:35

Dawn Patrol - 8/22/2023

Pulled a dawn patrol with Nick and Lance.

I decided to prone foil - and setup the normal gear - Progression 170/Flex Rear Stabilizer/68cm Project Cedrus mast/4'8" Prone Foil Board

The wind was actually on the surf pretty early... and it turned the surf into a choppy mess.  I actually could have been winging.

I did get some rides in - I just couldn't turn upwind, otherwise I'd get slowed down to stall speed.

Despite the challenging/choppy conditions - it was really good hanging out with Lance and Nick!

W:82/F:81/S:32

Evening Session - 8/14/2023

The wind was light at the house when I got home.  Made me take my winging gear out of the truck and put in the prone stuff.  Well - as luck would have it, it would have been really good 5.2 winging weather.

The waves had come down from yesterday - still fun if you caught one that didn't double jack due to the back wash reflecting off the beach (pretty high tide).

It's hard to break away from this combo for prone foiling...

Marvin, Prayot and Roland were also out - fun session!

W:77/F:76/S:31

Dawn Patrol - 8/12/2023

Dawn Patrol conditions were good this morning.  Decent sized swell running - you had to wait a little, but when the sets came in they were head high (while I was on foil).  The wind would eventually come up, but the for the first hour it was really light.  If the tide were a touch lower, more wave would have broken on the outside - but overall the session was really good!

I have been wanting to test more of the different foils that I have - today the Vyper 170 was bolted on.  It performed the way I thought it would - great roll when I wanted to bank off a shoulder, not so great pump back out, predictable lift on takeoff.

I had several really good waves - the foil just wants to flow.  I think I can drop a size on the stabilizer and that may help to regain some speed and carry during a recycle attempt.

I also noticed I needed more throttle on takeoff attempts - less surface area on the foil means less lift generated for a given speed compared to the larger foils I've used.  Basically I get up faster on the HPS980 and that foil being larger can provide more carry - and I can get takeoff using less battery power (which means I can stay out longer).

If you look at the picture above, you can see that Unifoil positioned the mast pocket closer to the front foil (as compared to the standard Axis mast positioning) - that means I needed to push the mast more forward using this foil.  I adjusted it once while I was out today and here is where it ended up (pretty much as far forward as it could go in the boxes).

Great session today!!!

Tomorrow the surf is forecasted to be slightly bigger - I'll either bolt on the 980/375, or use the Vyper 170 again but change the stab to the Kujira 218....

W:77/F:74/S:31

Evening Session - 8/11/2023

Evening prone foiling session the wash away the work week (and what a week it has been).

Decent conditions - good energy to ride, wind to cool things down (but not wingable), and a nicely high tide to avoid hitting bottom.

No.21, the Progression 170, the new asymmetric rear stab, the 14.875" rear stabilizer I normally use, and the 68cm Cedrus mast

I tested the new stab first.  It is definitely looser turning back side - there was hardly any resistance throwing the tail around.  But that did translate to a noticeable loss of lift.  On toeside, I felt like I could grab more water and wrench my turns just as hard as before (this side of the stab is nearly the same as my normal stab).

At the halfway point, I went in a changed out the stabilizer back to the normal one I use.  And just like that I was able to float around with not a lot of hard pumping and still carve the shit out of a rolling wedge of energy.

I have the asym placed on top of the standard

After the first test, I'd say this is a good stab to use when the waves have energy behind them and it's going to be a carving session (GL140, Vyper 170, Kujira 980).  I'd also like to try it winging - especially since I switch around alot and will be able to see what each side does.

Tomorrow morning the wind is supposed to be low... Foil Drive -

W:77/F:73/S:31

Asymmetric Rear Stabilizer

Grinded this one out yesterday

It helps this had been previously shaped so the effort put forth was more fine tuning

And lots of sanding

I think it turned out nice

Garage Works - 8/9/2023

Some things I've been working on -

Conversion of one of my older rear stabilizers into an asymmetric (for regular stance).

And I had to patch the 4.2 strut bladder that got popped by the 14" Marlin stabilizer.

I really need to get some other chores done (but this stuff is more interesting).

Evening Session - 8/9/2023

Yesterday afternoon I had originally set out to wing.  There was good wind, there was some pumping swell, and the tide was decently high.

I set up the Eagle 890/Marlin 14" and pumped up the SW2 4.2

Well - while paddling out, the ocean said "Nope" - I kept drifting downwind and did not have enough wind to get up.  On one beating (of many), I saw the rear stabilizer graze the strut and "pop"

I paddled in and waited for Marlon to come back (he had went home to grab a board).

He came back and I packed up.  I went home to grab a board also - but while at the house, I debated about bring a surfboard or a prone foilboard.

I ended up with the Vyper 170 on No.21

I had three really good rides, despite the pitching lip close out waves that were coming through.

Marlon on the other hand was able to generate enough board speed and paddled into some really good waves.

This was a tough week for the WPB crew - wings torn and deep cuts...

Sometimes you win - sometimes you lose.

W:77/F:72/S:31