THE DONG said...

waveslave said...

Sir V said...
Here's a previous vid...

Enjoy

V

Just wondering ...

When you crash the kite and can't relaunch it due to equipment failure,

how do you do a self-rescue ?

How would you get that shovel back to the beach ?

easy... you tip the board upside down, attach rashy to fin and windsurf in

Totally ..

Actually not that difficult.. the board glides on the water downwind much faster than any surfboard or TT, so you just push it ahead like any other one. The foil seems a little tricky to handle but after a while you learn to stay out of its way. I used to get a lot of cuts and scratches on my shins from 'battling' with the board to get on it, manoeuvre etc. But this was only through the learning stages, I haven't hit the fins in a very long time all my scars have disappeared already - so it gets better.

Whenever I crash, and it happens , I usually find that the board moves really quickly by itself, mostly downwind. When I mean fast I mean faster than any other type.. it just seems to want to travel by itself, so I just chase it a bit. I actually find I lose it a lot less than my surfboard, but that is perhaps because the waves I have been playing on are a little smaller - for now, the goal is to progress to bigger bombs.

I'm going to try the Dong's way

V

lotofwind said...

Sir V said...

lotofwind said...
Yeah a bloke at our local showed me his a couple of days ago.
Looks like a bit of fun floating above the water, but not really for wave riding IMHO as in the thread topic.
They have been doing it with surfing years ago but it never took off as you cant really carve hard and hit the lip and actually surf the wave etc.
Good for cruizing around on though and you dont feel any chop with the fin your riding under the water instead of the board bouncing on the surface chop.
Pretty amazing to watch though, cheers for the vid.
But the guys gear I looked at, it cost about $5000 for the board and hydro foil.

Half of that mate (delivered in Oz) .. Call MHL and tell them I sent you

V

I gave MHL a call and they gave me a good price, when I told them you sent me they doubled the price ????

Nice, I'm glad my charm is working..

Hey Rowdy, I agree with you.

I thought I'd show people that there are other uses for a foil other than flat water or racing.The majority of kiters seem to think along a narrow band of uses for a foil, so I thought I'd post something that shows people riding different areas.I started foiling so I could ride waves otherwise unrideable because of not enough crest or size. Then I discovered that just about any wave can be played with.. crest, size, wind direction - those are all learning curves.

That's why the name of the thread

I'm getting more and more stoke out of my foil every day. Glad you agree. I'd like to see a few more riders so we can learn off each other. That is how the sport progresses, no?

sir ROWDY said...
I see foils the same way I see other boards made for cruising and having a good time on the water. Great fun to ride, but in my opinion not something I can really see myself being a part of in any real "progressive" manner... Why? Because I just don't see where you want to take foiling in that respect. I mean how far can you really "progress" cruising, jumping and racing???... There's just not enough scope to interest me to pursue foiling full-on at this point in time (or at this age) maybe when I'm older and even more broken it will be something that interests me more. As I said, great fun to ride, don't get me wrong!

I see your point. My opinion is not so constrained - this is where I want to take it.. thinking about it gives me the jitters in my dreams I'd like to get to this point. While I may not get there in my lifetime, I have a goal..

Slashrockson said...
Hi V,

As a matter of interest, a few questions.

What was the wind strength in the Foil IV vid

Was that your 11mt Drifter

What do you weigh and does weight have as much of a bearing on performance

Thanks, different but interesting.

Hey SlashRockson, great questions.. the kind of stuff I would wonder about as well.

Yep, 11 Drifter, 73Kgs

Beginning of the vid, wave section, wind up to 15knots and gusting 17 maybe, but certainly no more. This was back at beginning of the year and then I wasn't venturing in much more than that. The middle section where the sea seems so flat and clear.. that's because it was, possibly max12-13knots. My mate came later that day when it got to 13knots and he's riding a Zephyr, 6'2 surfboard, 85 kgs and a very good rider, he was just able to stay upwind.

Some of the sections on this vid, the clear water ones, the wind wasn't really any more than 11-12knots. That is the ideal speed for the 11 Drifter to make it a comfortable ride without having to sign it too much, as you can see the footage is quite stable and it hasn't been stabilized at all on the whole video. We must also account that the kite is carrying a GoPro on the strut and another on the linemount - this adds to weight.I don't think you can get a comfortable ride on the foil in less than 9 knots in the ocean, due to currents, waves, slop etc. On a flat lake with no wind shadows and no obstructions you can ride in perhaps 7-8 with the 11. I've ridden it with the Zephyr but I find the compromise between speed of kite and weight.. I'd rather fly the 11 any day. Now, let's take into account that my Zephyr is one of my favs for low wind and surfboard when everyone else is on the beach. But I can ride the foil with no caps in sight, on apparent wind. Most kites can't even stay up and I'm riding eheh.

But below 8-9 knots you are really pushing it in the ocean. If the kite drops into the water you'll have a hell of a time to lift it again - that's the problem. There really is no better out there than the Drifter (imo) for foiling because it stays right back of window and keeps trying to take you without falling. But kites are a preference and every rider will tell you about their favourite, it's a personal choice. I hear the Chrono and the Velocity are very good ones too.Any more questions fire away mate.

V