Hi - I like the idea of foiling - where I live at Arrawarra there are numerous spots with great swell that cannot be surfed with the usual surf craft.
I am 67 y old and feel that sup foiling is too hard and too dangerous for me at my fitness level - an it aint getting better! After seeing a vid of Dave Kalama where he explained about the " whole palette " so to speak, I would like to try WAVE SKI FOILING. I rode one for years and really enjoyed it! Could barrel roll under waves - get barrelled - strapped in - cannot fall off - foil is not a threat - WHO CAN HELP ME - Ican help with design but need feedback GETTING up onto the plane would be most important. The new Canard - different setup with "tail* foward? The mast would probably have to go under your bum ( back foot ) so to speak. Any local { AUSTRALIAN ) shapers/manufacteres interested?
Steve

stehar said..
WHO CAN HELP ME - Ican help with design but need feedback GETTING up onto the plane would be most important.

I think it is doable, but you should look for solutions from people like Alex Aguera, Dave Kalama (and me :-) ) that are foiling with the feet always in the straps, even while paddling (see video at the end for example). This is because since we do not move our feet during takeoff, we are in the same situation as you will be: not being able to move the "feet", but able to move the upper body, we use the same position for paddling and once airborne.

I'd say:
- have the lightest ski possible, especially at the tips, but some length will help to have a steady paddling speed for liftoff, especially at your age with a limited max heart rate, and you will less be able to pump to help the takeoff, and I guess rely more on your hull speed.
- It is a guess, but I think you should avoid shapes that "climb on the front wake wave", i.e. raise the nose when paddling. Maybe use a nose design that will pierce the wave rather than go over it. The idea is to disturb the foil as little as possible on takeoff.
- set your position on the ski for the most efficient paddling speed
- then, position the foil relative to your body mass. the center of lift of the foil should be under your center of gravity, or a tad behind. if possible, look at pictures of the specific foil in SUP/surf foiling action to determine its center of lift.
- take care that the angle of attack of the foil wing be slightly positive (upwards) when paddling
- a plate + rails mount seems mandatory to be able to adjust the foil position relative to your weight, unless you have a lightweight solution to adjust your paddling position (but I don't think it exists?). A mere inch makes a lot of difference, there is no way to exactly predict the proper position, you will have to test different positions on the water.
- plan towed sessions. As you said, since you will be kept far from the foil in falls, there is no drawback in being towed.

Foilin around last week...and A LOT of home duties this week....!Thanks for the camera work Sue

Great foiling Gashed. I noticed you switched from the Naish medium to the large during your vid. How does the medium compare to the large in terms of lift, speed, control, turning etc ?

www.facebook.com/trevsup/videos/1334039083388249/

I just made a little foil vid from a couple of yesterday's waves
two weeks down and I'm obsessed! Yeww see you guys on the water.

Two really impressive videos from Gashed & Trev . Great examples of the soft front foot pump you don't need to do the aggressive sea saw pump . Just keep some motion in the foil as you sail along , it keeps up momentum and helps you keep down an over foil and let's you carve up on the foil.

Keep the foil moving by soft front foot pump and carving and you will glide forever on the smallest bumps. Well done boys solid foiling . Bit more advanced advice on pumping you want to push the foil down on your front foot to sink it not tilt it fore and aft. It creates way more drive than pushing down on your back foot slapping the tail. Pumping off your back foot stalls the foil.

Cheers Piros

JB said..
Ok, just checked my measurements from this mornings session on my X32 7'10" GT. Tail to rear of mast was 20" and honestly felt pretty good. I'll be putting the video up soon (just uploading), but you'll see I'm catching pretty much nothing and getting great glides. The X32 really surprised me, it foiled amazingly well.

I need to redo the taping as it lifted a little (this is to get the mount flat after compensating for the "V" in the board).

Please also note I always tether my foil when using a board modification. I always primarily recommend using a production purpose built foilboard.







Ride safe,

Video coming soon,

JB

Hi JB
How are you.
Great advice all round.
I have a 2015 Naish X32 9'1"Sup.Quad & Or Tri set up.
Can I rout out and epoxy in a Radiator foil mast tracks .
The foil tracks come in a high density block with two 12" foil boxes with 90mm centres apart.Fits most foils.

Have a new Large Naish Thrust Foil and three masts.coming soon for kiting, Sup and maybe paddle in.

Just in the process of same on an epoxy Airush sector 54 for kiting.

What distance would you put the Rear of Box track from tail for my 2015 9'1" Naish X32" Sup?
Thanks in advance:)
Kind regards
Leigh

My first Down Wind foiling experience. Unfortunately the wind totally clapped out, but I managed to get a couple of glides before retiring, ready for next time though.



Ride safe,

JB

A very interesting video of Austin Kalama:

- you can see how the front foot is key in foiling. He plays around with the rear foot position while keeping the front foot in place in the strap. When the rear foot is close to the front foot in a very narrow stance, we get a feeling for where the balance point on the foil is.

- we can see his impressive technique in his economy of movements. The mini "soul arch" during the drop is pure class, as his casual seabird-like swooping on the wave.

- note how he is centered on the board, just above the center of lift of the foil.

www.facebook.com/Gofoils/videos/703066186562331/

Even Santa got hooked on foiling

yt04 said..

charlieuk said..
A Little vid on my diy wings it was a mega small day but glassy and some nice long rides.

Gee that looks like a nice warm
spot there Charlie??? Awesome with the glassy swell though, bet it sounds amazingly silent that glassy when up
on the foil. Great stuff!!

Yea water is down to maybe 7-8deg air has been all over the place. The wings are almost silent sometime you get a tiny hum but only normally in a turn. The swell is so much easier to ride than the windy stuf I normally deal with

nice one JB.
no white caps at all........do you up haul or water start ...I'M GUESSING up haul..in light stuff.

This video is pretty long but has some great information for anyone learning to SUP Foil:



Tips for new SUP foilers: after a early morning session, Sam and Robert give some tips to Lee and Evan who are new to Standup foiling. Shot spontaneously with a freehand gopro, the video and audio is a little rough but there is a lot of useful information for those learning this awesome new sport. Covered in this video are different board and foil sizes, foot positioning, using footstraps, taking off on the wave, angling the board to stay high on the wave, turning the board, the Maliko 200 vs the Maliko Iwa foil, winglets and what they do, doing floaters off whitewater, how to eject from the footstaps and how to fall if the foil breaches.