And here's a few good rides from Wednesday's box session. At between 1 and 2 minutes per wave it's hard to make a movie that doesn;t go for too long, so I chopped and cropped. Hope you like it.



Ride safe,

JB

Great edit JB! , Loooong rides and lots turns...jelly legs just from viewing

Have a look at Robert Stehlik from Blue Planet latest video using block mounts front and back to locate his feet. Excellent idea I'll be trying this.

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Colas said: - This is because your mast is not at the proper place. With a properly placed mast, you could have the same foot position for paddling and flying. And it is key for using straps without much trouble. But I think I already said that :-)

So, I have not touched the foil since September. It will use it gladly to escape the summer crowds, but it won't bother me if I was never to foil again.

Respectfully to you my French foil mate you are now out of the game , so much has happened in the past 6 months. It's a 7-1 board I'm not scratching onto 2 foot rollers but pulling onto 6 foot steep waves. Experience means nothing unless you learn from it and that's what we are all sharing on our Seabreeze videos. Please share any new vision you have. Thanks Rob

PIROS, yes center makes a huge difference. It's probably one of the major things I teach people when they are learning.

Colas, I have played with many mast positions, some even as far (nearly) forward as yours. Whilst you can achieve a neutral balance point, it does hinder certain other aspects of your performance. My stance doesn't change (or at least not very much) between paddling, take off and gliding. I do move my foil further back on bigger and more powerful days and keep it forward on small. I'm not sure why you like you mast where it is, but if you've tried further back and prefer it where it is that's great. But have you?

Anyway, time to go foiling.

JB

JB said..
I'm not sure why you like you mast where it is, but if you've tried further back and prefer it where it is that's great. But have you?

I moved a lot my straps position, which amounts to the same thing once in the air (where only the distance between your mast and feet counts).
My personal experience is that I ended up having my feet more forward at the end (which would mean having the mast back if you'd rather move your mast than your feet). With experience, you are able to fly faster, and the foil becomes definitively more controllable if you are farther in front of the mast. I must say that I didnt found the rear foot position very important (except in carving turns), the front foot was the critical one.

The advantage of having a mast back for paddling is that the board has less row effect. A more centered mast on short SUPs may require a board with less row, be it with the shape (parallel square rails like the current dedicated foil boards), some small fins, ... Of course you can compensate the row with paddling technique, but it makes your paddling less efficient so it may not be the best solution.

"My stance doesn't change (or at least not very much) between paddling, take off and gliding" -> I guess this means your mast position is at the sweet spot, which was my point. And actually, we seem to have the same feet and foil placement judging by your videos, e.g. the one I just posted on "Show us your foiling setup".

Note also that with straps, you can have a bit more tolerance with the feet position while paddling, as you can compensate by some push/pull rocking motion on the straps, that actually help a lot as a mini-pumping on liftoff on slow "glorified chop" waves.

Piros, I think it would be helpful to others if you described how you strained your ankle with the strap, to prevent them for doing the same?

Beasho said..

Piros said..
Another fun day at Byron . .

Great video Piros.

Your stance has me freaked out. I was watching and trying to center my feet. It looks like your front and rear foot are significantly Off-Center line.

I can not fly like that. I get the wobbles. The ball of my front foot has to be dead center. You barely have the tip of your front toe. This snap shot has me thinking your about to crash but you keep on going.

Beasho,

I foil with my feet the same as Piros. It's way more stable for me. 4 way stability and control

Could it it be that Piros and I have so many hours kite foiling strapless, it's just natural to us to fly this way?

My front foot moves forward and back as required. It's just natural for strapless kiters to feel free and move our feet. It's the joys and freedom of not being a strap cripple.

Dwight

Piros i put a black texter mark on and along the stringer line to help me centre my front foot position quickly and that seems to work. The centre block on the rear foot on the blue planet board work well too. You can feel if your rear foot is centred which is great because you cant easily see where your back foot is placed like the front one.

When on holidays...

Piros said..
Nice vid Casso, hey Colas 107 waves in 2 hours that's just over a wave a minute. Must hydraulic fluid in his legs.

And an exceptional hydraulic pump to power them :-)
The fact is that he is the only one of the Gong riders that have the stamina to actually pump his way around as a "normal" part of his session.

I think that this pumping stuff is kind of a double-edged sword. It is what attracts a lot of people into trying to foil, thinking they can replace paddling out by flying out. But it is insanely hard, technically and physically.

Will the net result be positive, like with tuberiding videos attract people to surf, and keep surfing even if most won't be able to tuberide?
Or will the disappointment be a backlash that will keep foiling in a confidential niche?

colas said..

Piros said..
Nice vid Casso, hey Colas 107 waves in 2 hours that's just over a wave a minute. Must hydraulic fluid in his legs.

And an exceptional hydraulic pump to power them :-)
The fact is that he is the only one of the Gong riders that have the stamina to actually pump his way around as a "normal" part of his session.

I think that this pumping stuff is kind of a double-edged sword. It is what attracts a lot of people into trying to foil, thinking they can replace paddling out by flying out. But it is insanely hard, technically and physically.

Will the net result be positive, like with tuberiding videos attract people to surf, and keep surfing even if most won't be able to tuberide?
Or will the disappointment be a backlash that will keep foiling in a confidential niche?

"But it is insanely hard, technically and physically."

It's not actually that hard. It's more technique (bit like riding without straps ). As you work it all out, pumping becomes something that you don;t even think about. While I am far from excellent at it, I can usually link up at least 3 waves on a decent session for each paddle in, on a good day I am linking 5 or 6 waves. I am 95kg, so not a light weight. What has been amazing for me is every time I get a light bulb moment in technique, not only do you get a turbo boost, but it's actually easier. Everyone thinks it's legs, but it's not. I constantly have to critique my technique, if I find I'm buggered after a 2 wave link, then I know I'm doing it wrong.

Foiling is all about balance, control, synergy and flow. When you learn not to force your foil, but to work with it, amazing things happen.

Loose the straps, learn to become one with your ride. Get granular and understand changes you make. Trim and flow like you're connected to your gear. When something doesn't work, then somethings not working in synergy.

Ride safe,

JB

I love going back to this video. Although it is a little old now, his points about pumping are invaluable.

Unweighting and let the foil come up underneath you. It's more in the core and upper body. As everything reconnects at the top, let gravity and a forward movement glide you down, compressing and preparing for another unweighting.



Ride safe,

JB

Hell yeah how did we miss this one and how is the pump back out on a Kai

JB cool video mate have to give that a go looks epic.

RJK said..

Wowser..