Wing Foiling Session - 7/13/2024

Hit Kailua this morning.

No.36 with the Evolution Wind Mast, Eagle 890 and DW 190 rear stabilizer.

Donnel was letting me try out a new Ezzy Flight 5.0 prototype.

Totally weird wind today.  Super cranking winds, followed by a band of nothing wind, then super squall, and on and on.

Zach also came out - he and Naomi said they like Kailua and will probably spend lots of weekends there.

I also had an Ezzy Flight 4.5 - which I pumped up while the super squall was coming through - but by the time I was back launching - no more wind again.

This chart is from Waimanalo and it is kinda close to what was happening (but not really).

So all three of these outings were with the 5.0

I really liked this version of the 5.0 here's the feedback I sent in:

Here is my feedback on the 5.0

Much better low end than the last one I tried (the one with the darker gray canopy material)

Luffs almost as good as the gen 1 4.0 - almost

I really liked luffing from the front flying handle and it felt really good.  Jump City had some swell, but it wasn't consistently breaking.  I did catch 10 or so breakers and luffing on a beam reach was effortless - the wing just parked and followed me.  Going straight downwind, the wing did dip (tail), but every wing does that (this isn't a critique).

This version didn't seem to point as high as the others - but I'd rather have the better low end and more behaved luffing and trade a few degrees of pinching.

There was a tiny amount of flutter at the third batten (from the wingtip) when the wing got into the upper range of what a 5.0 should be used in.  This is also nitpicking and not necessarily something that needs to be addressed.

This version did not have any backwinding.  I switch stance all the time and prefer to ride heelside going both port and starboard tacks.  Because of this I may be able to position the wing into a more favorable position when pinching upwind, and that's why I may not have experienced the back pressure you guys noticed.  Comparing this to what I regularly ride (North Mode Pro), not having to focus on this (on this version) made it easier for me to focus on stance to go faster.  The North Mode Pro will do the same thing you described (some backwinding when hitting extremely high angles into the wind) - I usually sheet harder with my backhand when that happens.  The previous version I had tried before backwinded worse than the Mode Pro.  I enjoyed not having to address this on the current version.  

The canopy material was different than the other iterations.  On the surface it did not necessarily give me the same impression the first version did (crisper canopy - perception of durability) - but the limited time I had on this one wouldn't be enough time to judge durability (you're more likely to notice this).  I don't think this is necessarily a driving factor, but the groups I wing with judge wings on their "crispness" - the perception being that a wing is good to go and not bagged out as long as it is crisp.  I know that this isn't the case - just painting a picture of what the layman's viewpoint is.

I really liked the handles on this one.  They felt intuitive to use, and I didn't have any abrasions from hitting any high spots.  I have been contending with tendonitis at my forearm/elbow.  This version did not strain my forearms at all.  There was balanced power distribution between both hands - even at the higher end of the range.

I think this 5.0 is dialed in - I would buy this version.

W:86/FD:48/F:4/S:13

Wing Foiling Session - 7/12/2024

Strong winds for today's session.

Decent tide, and rising surf - was great while I was out there.

Same wing/board/mast as yesterday - but I switch out the Eagle 890 to the SK8 750/Carve 195.

I have to remember to set the mast a hair behind the labeled position!!!

Looking to the area in front of the cabins - I got to swing wide a lot today to ride the surf since the wind was blowing through that area a bit more consistently today.  Super fun!!!

I felt the Mode Pro 4.8 was perfect - except for a few lulls.  I had considered pumping up the Ezzy Flight 4.0 - especially when I had just gotten there - but you could see the clouds in the distance and the reduction in wind speed that would come with it.

Nice correlation between the wind readings and my speed track

Prayot, Roland and Duke all came out just as the wind was dying.  Eli came flying from somewhere up wind.  I'm glad I got out when I did.

W:85/FD:48/F:4/S:13

Wing Foiling Session - 7/11/2024

Weird weather again today.  There were rain clouds coming through all day.  Yet when I got to WPB, it was blowing hard.

You could see there was strong wind blowing, but the water didn't look like it.  Not chopped up and the small waves coming through were pretty organized.  Nothing to write home about - but you got what you got...

Prayot was already at the beach when I got there.

I set up the same gear as yesterday, with the exception of swapping out the Reedin for the North.

Prayot setup the just finished being repaired AFS Pure 900.  It behaved better with the rear stabilizer set up the correct way. 

Short session due to lulls and squalls coming through.

I wanted to see how fast the Pure 900 is - Prayot and I raced on a couple of runs.

You can see where I got stuck...

That dip clearly shows below also.

Once I got back up, I could see Roland was on shore and had pumped his wing up.  I could see the wind starting to falter, so I headed in.  Partially to tell Roland it wasn't worth it now, and also to not get stuck out there again - since the North really doesn't have a low end.

And just to demonstrate just how much the wind died back - Marvin came out with his new Appletree-Majek board to test it out.

Really fun while the wind was up!

W:84/FD:48/F:4/S:13

Wing Foiling Session - 7/10/2024

Weird conditions today

It was a rising tide, with strong winds and a small swell coming through.  But the angle of the wind and the frequency of the lulls made riding challenging.

Eli was winging when I drove up and Zach was windsurfing(!)

I pumped up the Reedin SW2 4.7 - was a good choice - right in the middle of the extremes.

I opted to use the Eagle 890/DW190 today to make sure I didn't get stuck in the lulls.

Lots of chop all around - made you have to think about the rides.  I even popped the tail a few times.

Lots of tacks today.  Waves were on the small side so mostly just playing around.

In the gusts I could have easily been on a 4.0 - but in the lulls a 5.2 would have been a good sized wing.

Fun session!!!

Roland was on the beach watching.  When Norm came in we all hung out and discussed heart conditions and brain activity.

W:83/FD:48/F:4/S:13

Garage Works - 7/10/2024

I wanted to get these boards finished and out of the garage.

First up was Marvin's Majek-Appletree.

Here's the bottom deck window.

And here's the top deck window.

This is the nose job on Zach's prone board

And here is the finished ding repair on Zach's wing foiling board

And last but not least (actually probably the hardest repair of this group), Prayot's AFS Pure 900 tip repair.

Done - done - done - and done!

Garage Works - July 9, 2024

I had a never-ending meeting this afternoon at work.  That coupled with contending with late afternoon west bound Oahu traffic and today was a 13 hour work day.

After I got home and settled, I hit the garage to sand the fill jobs, trimmed up some patch material and set about getting the patches epoxied into place.

This is the nose ding repair for Zach

And this is Zach's KT Drifter bottom deck ding repair

This is Marvin's new Majek-Appletree C@$h board signal transmission windows installation - this one being on the top deck

And this one on the bottom deck.

And this is the last fill coat for Prayot's AFS Pure 900 wing tip rebuild.

I'll sand and spray these tomorrow and they can go back to their respective owners.

Garage Works - 7/8/2024

Lots of action in the garage this afternoon.

Guest shaper at the Velasco Garage.  Prayot is making a 5'7" wing board based off the new KT Dragonfly Surf.

He got it rough shaped in about 2 hours.

Zach also stopped by to get some dings fixed.  I got the boards sanded and the dings filled already.  I'll sand these tomorrow and get the fiberglass/carbon patch placed.

And Marvin got his new Majek-Appletree C@$h prone Foil Drive board

He picked the spots where the windows would be placed and I started drilling.  As of this writing, both windows are filled.

I also worked on Prayot's AFS Pure 900.  First up was looking at the rear stabilizer - it was on backwards.

Then I asked him if he was good with the fill as is or did he want additional carbon on - we're sticking with thinner.  I'll sand this down and run it through the sanding regime.

And Marlon got some work done on the board he is building.  He is getting more comfortable with the tools now.

Moving lots of projects through!

Garage Works - 7/7/2024

And in between errands, cleaning things and mowing the lawn, I got a bunch of stuff done in the garage.

First up was sanding and spraying clear coat on Kalani's SUP Foil board.  The windows worked!!! 

I was actually a little nervous because I haven't put the windows in a SUP before - but the physics was sound (and it worked).

Not pictured, but I peeled off all the UV cure clear coat from the Project Cedrus Carbon 85cm mast that I had repainted.  The UV coat started falling off when I used the mast to Foil Drive - with a razor blade I got the entire mast cleared.  I'll use some of the 2k clear coat from Napa to get this mast recoated.

Then I started working on Prayot's AFS Pure 900.  He ran this tip into the pipe at Fenceline.  At this point the major damage is repaired - but now I have to go and make sure both sides are balanced and the tips are the same size.

What makes that difficult is the compound curves this foil has - they are coming towards the tip from multiple approaches.

And last but not least - I helped Marlon thin out the rails on the longboard he is building for one of his friends.  Fast work when you use an electric planer.