My first days foiling

[brynkaufman2]

For anyone thinking of jumping in here are some initial thoughts before I forget them.

I have a JP 155 foil board and the NP Aluminum foil. I decided that was the easiest setup I could get to learn on.

The first day I was all over the place. I did not have a plan and just tried to hang on. This was not a good strategy. Although I only fell off twice, I really became exhausted fast. The good news is I had a foil out situation and recovered, and numerous touch downs and was able to stay on the board. However, I really felt out of control a lot.

For my second session I decided to just go slow, try to keep the board close to the water, and in control. It was a much better session. I only had one crash going down wind when my sail caught a gust. However, I really learned from it and now understand more about the front foot pressure to keep it from rearing up like that.

While from the shore it probably looked like I was on the water a lot, I really felt in control and when I did leave the water I still felt some control although I did not go that far before touching down again on the water. It was completely opposite of my first session and I was not as tired and doubled my time on the water.

I plan to continue in this direction staying in control, going slow, and learning how foot pressure controls the foil.

My sail size so far is 5.5 in conditions that I would normally be running a 7.5. I noticed even at 5.5 I am constantly sheeting out to prevent the sail from pulling me off balance. I like the feeling of just a little gust gets me moving and once moving it takes very little wind to keep going, even though I am touching the water off and on as I am riding very low.

One thing I paid a lot of attention to is entering and exiting the water. We have a small shore break. For entry I hold the foil instead of the rear foot strap, and it works good. For exiting I feel it is better to separate my sail and take the foil out by itself and return to retrieve the sail. It is definitely more challenging as you have the long foil to contend with, along with the width of the board.

Hopefully this will be helpful for anyone considering foiling.

[skyking1231]

nice.....

i will hopefully be foiling sometime in the future.

if you follow the videos from slingshot. they recommend...taking the rear strap/straps off (in beginning), and leave harness in the car.

and while out on water. to juust concentrate on getting board out of water...say just clearing to 6 inches or so....and then slamming it back down on the water (well maybe not slamming). and to keep repeating that til you get more accustomed to the foot pressure.

but then what thr hell do i know.

[brynkaufman2]

I decided to keep the straps on so I could start to get used to them.

On a smaller board that would probably be more difficult, but on this board I found the straps are in a position where I can get into them before I am even going, which makes things even easier.

I think the straps were helpful the first day when I was out of control they helped me bring the board down again without crashing or losing my footing.

For some reason I catch more wind with the harness off. Probably I am just used to sheeting out a lot with the harness on and when it is off I found it harder to sheet out. I use the longest harness lines possible which makes sheeting out easy.

I understand what they are getting out by leaving the harness off. I would call it extreme sheeting out at all times once on the foil. However, when I came out of the harness all of a sudden I was catching too much wind.

Their foot pressure advice is right on. The key to remaining in control is not to go more than 6 inches and to keep coming down. I learned yesterday that the front foot pressure is key to staying in control. Like Tony said in windfoil academy. Going up is easy, it is staying down that is more challenging.

My two big takeaways from yesterday were controlling the board with front foot pressure and extreme sheeting out to catch just tiny puffs of wind that will not pull you over or up too much when on the foil.

[gregnw44]

Skyking - There's not one right way to do it. Like most things, there are many correct ways to do things. Anyway, all that advice on the Slingshot site is good advice. There's nothing wrong with following all of it. But we're adults with different experiences... and we're different sizes, have different boards and sails... and have different skills and in different wind and water conditions. So people will take what advice they want, and try it. If they succeed, than I guess their technique worked for them. If they didn't succeed, that they'll try something else next time.
Personally... in my situation... I did take the rear straps off... but I wore my harness. However, I've only been in light wind from 5-12 mph... so I used my harness for all the slogging around time, waiting for 12 mph gusts, haha.
But I unhooked for better and more effective pumping (for me) and I stayed unhooked while "up" foiling. My rides have all been short, so when I come back down, I hook in again to save myself for the next gust.

[brynkaufman2]

Good point Greg on the pumping! Next time I want to pump I will unhook from my harness. So far I have had enough wind where I have not needed to pump to get going.

The issue I hit when I unhooked by accident is I probably accidentally pumped once when I tried to bring the sail back closer to me. As I was in windy conditions the accidental pump along with the current wind speed was a huge pull in the sail, which of course took me too high without the right front foot pressure.

Great point too on different strokes for different folks. With different equipment and different wind conditions it is not one solution fits all.

My first two sessions have been in pretty good wind. I have not yet experienced the really light wind with a larger sail size.

One more thing to add. For me I am staying out of really gusty winds as a beginner. The foil amplifies everything, as does really gusty winds, so the two together are probably not a good combination for beginner foiling.

[grantmac017]

I'm about 5 sessions in with the big Slingshot on a formula board. I went rear straps off, but kept the harness on. I did put the harness lines forward to promote undersheeting which is a big component of control under power. I find that getting onto the foil I'm in the lines then naturally unhook once I'm going.

I can't remember where I read it but I recall the advice to treat the mast like the control stick of an aircraft. Back for nose up, forward nose down. It probably just adjusts foot pressure but it does it in a subtle way that works nicely.

[brynkaufman2]

Great tips, I will try moving the harness line forward. Another rider at my location mentioned that helps him.

I really think my long harness lines are helpful too. It allows me to sheet out completely while still hooked into the lines which for me makes the sail a little lighter to hold.

[brynkaufman2]

I am starting to control the foil in the air now. Although I am going up and down it is slow and not crazy like on my first day. I think within 1 or 2 more sessions I will find the balance.

One pro gave a tip to stand more upright and over the board instead of the traditional leaning out while blasting and that was a huge break through for me. Once I changed my stance to upright it was easy to get the board into the air and stay more in control.

I am controlling the foil some what through the sail along with foot pressure. For example, when I lifted up too high, I found myself sheeting out more to help slow down and come down to a better level again.

One other thing I am pleased with is when I foil out or need to come down for another reason the landings now are fairly smooth and I can continue to get back up on the foil. The panicky feeling I had when I first went into the air and came down is gone.

To get going off the beach I decided to stop trying to beach start. Sometimes the wind was too light and I did not like having the shore break so close behind me. I now swim the rig out across the wind and once I am well clear of the shore break I up haul. While I could do a beach start sometimes I found it challenging and risky.

To come in I found it easiest to disconnect the sail, push it out to give me some time, and carry the board in by itself and then come back in for the sail. This method allows me to use both hands to secure the board, one on the foil mast, and the other on a foot strap. As I come in through the break I can lift the board completely out of the water so it is not impacted by the small breaking waves.

Yes, entry and exit are more difficult, but I am out on days I would not even consider, so the extra time on the water certainly makes up for those slight challenges.

[brynkaufman2]

So today I used my largest sail, and Ezzy 7.5 Zephyr. It pulls like a 8.0 and has the same boom length. It was my most used sail for regular windsurfing on my Kona CarbOne long board.

I was concerned if it would be too much sail, but for my JP 155 board and NP Aluminum Foil the sail worked great. It felt stable and easy to get going with either no pumping or just a fast short pumping with my rear arm only.

As the sail is stable when I went into the air the ride was still stable and I never lost control or crashed. The wind was gusting to about 14mph or less, so a pretty gentle day.

The issue I have now is my 86cm harness lines feel too long They are the longest NP makes. While they worked great to hang off my boom and keep the sail up right with my long board, my stance for now for foiling definitely wants to be more up right and over the board.

As soon as I do this I come out of the harness lines, and at my age and that sail size I really want to stay in the lines to get less tired.

I am also finding my rear leg which is in the foot strap getting tired after a long run. So while I feel better now about controlling the foil I don't feel like I have my stance dialed in right. My arms and legs get tired too fast.

It could just be a beginner issue, although I am considering going with shorter lines, or at least making some adjustments on the ones I have by spreading them out more to make them shorter.

The good news is with this board and foil combination I feel in control, and even though sometimes I go too high I normally land fairly gently. The board has such a rounded shape that when I land on the rail or any where else it just feels like it kisses the water and keeps going. There is no sudden slow down which might cause me to fall.

[brynkaufman2]

Just an update. I have around ten 1 hour sessions completed now. I am now up on the foil more than not, but I still touch down or hit the top of chop frequently.

I am working on learning how to capture the wind with the sail when on the foil. Everything is much more sensitive as you might expect, so even a small gust of wind is amplified right now when on the foil.

I used a 6.5 sail today, but it turned into 7.5 conditions, but I was pleased that during a gust I could still get going and once going you do not need much wind so the 6.5 is fine.

I have not crashed in many sessions. I rode the foil out twice today and one thing I notice is I actually do not come down as hard as you might think. What happens is you lose your acceleration, but as you drop I believe the foil is countering the drop with an upward push, so even though you do touch down, it is not like coming down with a fin from 3 feet high.

Most of the time if I feel out of control I can either head up wind or sheet out or a little of both and it brings me back into control. I do come down and hit the water but with this JP board that is never a problem, even if you hit it on the side it just bounces up and keeps going.

My current challenges are learning to lean out more and still get up on the foil. Many times I end up being too upright and the harness line drops out. At this point I just keep going without it for another 40 ft or so as there is not a lot of pull from the sail when on the foil. My other challenge is feeling how the wind affects the foil, in terms of speed, direction, height, etc.

I am also working on going up wind more and capturing enough wind to stay on the foil. The upwind capabilities really surprised me today and I think that will only get better with more experience.