Standup Zone Forum
The Foil Zone => Foil SUP => Topic started by: Beasho on February 11, 2018, 05:34:39 PM
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I have spent the last 6 months learning to foil. I was 100% dedication to foiling, at the expense of SUP’ing except when my foil was broken (happened twice) or the waves were significantly over 10 feet.
I originally posted and restate: YOU DO NOT NEED A BOAT TO LEARN TO FOIL.
The following shows progression from the GoFoil KAI model to the Maliko 160 (original) to the IWA and Maliko 200.
I weigh 180 lbs. Haley Fiske 230#, Jeff Clark 210# and I all learned on the KAI foil. Haley was still flying the KAI more than 6 months without complaints.
When I flew the Maliko 160 I felt like I had superpowers. I had borrowed the Maliko 160 from Cort Larned. I got back on the Kai foil and until I purchased the IWA and Maliko 200 2-pack I was relegated to the smaller foil.
I have flown the IWA and Maliko 200 ~ 70 times on each foil. I suspect I will NOT be using my KAI foil again unless I go out in waves that are >> 10 feet. The IWA will be the go-to model. It is stable and turns beautifully. The Maliko 200 will be the foil to use when waves are consistently 4 feet or less.
Here are the videos and photos of my progress. This should emphasize that foiling IS NOT HARD TO LEARN. I taught myself with some coaching from Haley Fiske and Jeff Clark.
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Perfect Conditions: 6 to 9 feet and windy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXuFGAfer7A
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Day 5:
Wind out of the South. Not ideal. Waves were a bit steep and boomy for spring 6 to 8 feet @ 11 seconds. Took a few attempts to figure things out. But eventually was able to keep the nose down and ride out some VERY long rides with a combination of Foiling and Planing.
This was taken with an iPhone at distance but you can see I am comfortable chasing down faces and hopping into position on the board. I was surfing with my daughter Ruby. Half the time I was encouraging her, the other half trying to take care of myself. This was her first time surfing bigger ocean swell. A few drops were very steep and fast. This was my first day officially surfing my favorite left, which is front side for me as a goofy footer.
What I started to learn was that the energy varies greatly over the face of the wave. Drop to the flats and you effectively stall out. The video shows a few takeoffs. I am comfortable pumping the board to get over the edge and pumping when things get slow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wldv6mfS-8k
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Day 19: Kai Foil
Surfing with Jeff Clark at Sunset in the Wind: Au natural, no music. Waves were 5 to 8 feet and I was feeling in control:
https://vimeo.com/237951009
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Day 44: Maliko 160
Foiling the Flats with a borrowed Maliko 160. This bigger wing made me feel superhuman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gb2946yI9Y
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Day 50: Kai Foil
Wish I knew you when I was young:
https://vimeo.com/243950048
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Day 55: Kai Foil
Busted my Foil Board in 10 - 15 foot waves insided Mavericks. I took a 12 footer on the Head.
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Day 56: Kai Foil
Board repaired. Box reinstalled with Gorilla Glue.
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Day 60: Kai Foil
Price Tag: A family affair with Jeff Clark, Ruby Summers (my daughter) and Haley Fiske
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI8ka-JpMo4
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Day 65: Kai Foil
Flying the Wind and Chop. Still a bit nervous about the box-repair.
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Day 75: Maliko 200
Flying the Un-Flown, Un-Surfed, Un-Foiled . . . .
The picture below shows a gap I named "The Royal Flight" because you fly below Crown Rock. This gap was formerly Un-Surfable in anything less than 10 feet.
With the IWA and Maliko 200 I am now able to catch peaky A frames that lunge and then fade. I slingshot through these rocks shoot into the open ocean to the south and then catch rolling, unbroken swell wrapping the point heading East. AWESOME!!!!!
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Day 77: Maliko 200
The Royal Flight - Walking on the Sun.
Riding 250 yards on 2 foot waves complete with Salt-Arms from not falling in. Last weekend, in smaller surf, I had a day on the Maliko 200 with an average ride length of 230 yards.
Summary by Foil is below. More to come on the IWA - It will become the go-to foil.
What is amazing is that with ONLY 6 months of experience I would be considered a TOTAL BEGINNER in any other sport. Foiling is NOT HARD TO LEARN you just have to get over:
1) The cost
2) The first 10 sessions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26CaF5qypXE
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Inspiring man! And looks like a whole lotta fun too! Thanks for sharing
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Had a good session in the harbor on my Maliko 200. Small kine waves, but I got a lot of them and got some long rides. I'm still mostly going straight, but I'm getting comfortable flying the foil.
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Day 77: Maliko 200
The Royal Flight - Walking on the Sun.
Riding 250 yards on 2 foot waves complete with Salt-Arms from not falling in. Last weekend, in smaller surf, I had a day on the Maliko 200 with an average ride length of 230 yards.
Summary by Foil is below. More to come on the IWA - It will become the go-to foil.
What is amazing is that with ONLY 6 months of experience I would be considered a TOTAL BEGINNER in any other sport. Foiling is NOT HARD TO LEARN you just have to get over:
1) The cost
2) The first 10 sessions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26CaF5qypXE
Great vid.. 8)
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Yep, what Off-Shore said. Good stuff. Thanks for posting.
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PS: The day I broke my foil board I was trying to sneak into some 'feathering' waves at Mavericks.
The experience cooled my jets on big-wave foiling (for the moment) because its simply hard to get into the waves. I was going back and forth with Piros, the debate being MAYBE with a bigger foil you can pop in early and then scoot down the line. He suggested there is NOT enough top end on the big foils aka they will not go fast enough or be WAY overpowered with too much lift.
Time will tell.
Here was a snapshot from the Mavericks cam the day I was trying to foil the shoulder.
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Had a good session in the harbor on my Maliko 200. . . . I'm still mostly going straight, but I'm getting comfortable flying the foil.
Going straight usually leads to stalling the foil in the flats. I suspect you must be going down the line 'straight' if you are getting some distance.
When learning we all hunch over, then are told to stand up straight and square the shoulders. . . . All True.
However I have found that when going for a turn crouching down and even using your paddle on the surface helps slingshot you through the arc. Really fun. Give it a try.
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Today was mostly lifting onto the foil and then pushing the nose down. I'm staying in the wave by lifting a little when I have good push. which slows the board, and then shoving the nose down to stay in the wave. I'm doing that a lot. Bill (headmount) told me I wasn't lifting off at all, but really I'm just staying close to the surface. I can feel the foil release when I lift the nose and feel the acceleration when I push down. I turned across the face of the wave a few times today. It's crazy how fast the speed builds. My last good wave of the day I was angling fairly sharply (half intentional, half happy surprise) got the foil up about a foot over the water, stayed nicely in position, but just about when I hit Mach 1 I ran into a snowball and got tossed. Unfortunately, I fell back a little before ejecting, so the board shot me up and I hit the water amazingly hard. One of my friends said it sounded like a whale tail slap.
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Today was mostly lifting onto the foil and then pushing the nose down. I'm staying in the wave by lifting a little when I have good push. which slows the board, and then shoving the nose down to stay in the wave.
This was how I played it for many of my first sessions. Better to fly low than flip and crash. People used to say to me "Travis is sure flying well." Ahhh so am I . . "Well I haven't really seen you fly I thought you were just riding like normal."
But same thing. I was flying low. As you get comfortable you slowly crab walk you front foot further back. This skill will also be key in bigger surf. You HAVE to plant your foot dead center and 6" to 10"further forward. SURF down the face, get away from the energy and then crab your foot back to fly.
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Here is an example of a steep takeoff on an overhead wave in less than perfect conditions with the foil board. GoFoil IWA.
Use Heavy Front Foot:
https://youtu.be/Dy7IgJL5fEY
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We were just talking about this in the Harbor today. Chris P, Kathy Shipman, and a guy I assume is Daily Bread photos (I should be better about introducing myself). They were talking about crrabbing the front foot around, that there's no way to lift it and put it somewhere else. I'm using a front strap so most of my pitch control comes from either moving my back foot or pushing my hips forward or back.
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They were talking about crabbing the front foot around, that there's no way to lift it and put it somewhere else.
Yes! In this case I move my front foot by an INCH between being FRONT loaded on the drop and in the Balanced position for Control/Pumping by the end of the ride 250 yards later.
The orange elevated pad is 6" long with a 5" long raised bump. If my foot is in front of the orange pad the board will barely fly. The sweet spot is from the middle to front of the pad. Conversely I can only put my foot (just) behind the orange pad if I am flying the Maliko 200 (e.g. Big Wing) on a nothing wave.
The further backward the front foot moves the easier it is to pump the board but you lose the ability to quickly load the front wing and keep it in the water during a sudden drop down a face or trough. I can only afford to tighten my stance on bigger wings in smaller waves or in cleaner more predictable conditions.
Photo 1) I am rapidly accelerating. Getting my feet into the perfect position is critical. However I did NOT hit the sweet spot but then quickly shifted. Otherwise I would have overloaded the RIGHT rail, unbalanced the wing and the board would have likely flown out of the water.
Photo 2) Front loaded with weight way, way forward. In the video you will see the forward rails drag and smash the water. This is a good indication I am NOT flying which would have significantly reduced drag, sped WAY up and likely resulted in an Over-Foil then into a crash.
Photo 3) At the end of the ride. My feet are in comfortable pumping position. Front foot only 1" further backward than in takeoff FULLY front loaded position.
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For steep waves, I've been planting my front foot on takeoff, but keeping the back foot a bit forward of the sweet spot. It seems like I'm able to move the back foot much more easily at speed - not sure why.
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A few more firsts: My longest recorded flight: 554 yards on the GoFoil IWA
To do this required taking off outside the rocks on a Royal Flight, beneath crown rock, and then pulling back towards shore almost all the way to the beach launch.
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Here is what I call "Flying Mushrooms"
This is cutting between a further set of rocks to the south. This cut is impossible to make on any other surfable craft unless the waves are huge and then you would want nothing to do with this spot.
Unedited for now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVjEnR9ovMY&t=1s
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what are you doing to me, beasho--ive got much to learn with supsurfing, and have resisted the foil craze, but youre sucking me in---looks so fun
also great music choice on the maliko 200 vid
you are an early adopter animal--your breaking trail here is generous
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what are you doing to me . . you are an early adopter animal--your breaking trail here is generous
New things to learn daily on the foil. I have not successfully paddled back out to sea . . . yet.
I may need to lose 15 pounds or attempt to pump back out earlier on a wave while I still have energy.
Here was an attempt at a loop. It will be a fantastic day when I can pull off a swirl with the GPS tracker.
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The latest.
Taking off 350 yards outside of Mushroom Rock at Mavericks. The GPS shows the landscape with a sample view of what I am trying to takeoff on. The main peak at Mavericks would be another 250 yards further out (West).
As you can see I am surfing with all my friends 8)
https://youtu.be/bugJJW5j6mI
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Here's the picture.
I am standing on the shoulder, downwave of this breaking wave. The camera is on my head ~ 6 feet off the water. The peak is breaking the horizon and you can see the trough well below. These A-frames heave up and then fade quickly but they can be 10 feet high and pretty HOT on takeoff.
The trick is to just catch the shoulder and start flying. If I can connect from this peak into the lagoon the ride should be 700+ yards.
This flight held at 20 mph for almost 10 seconds. This is well above normal where you hit 20 on takeoff and then drop almost immediately.
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OMG!
The foiling keeps getting better and better.
GoPro and TRACE no longer integrate seamlessly to produce data overlays on the video. I found that DASHWARE solves the problem, with a bit of a learning curve.
http://www.dashware.net/
Here is a flight through Royals 450 yards. Taking off on a "Slingshot" wave. It punches me up on the foil and then I can fly WHEREVER I WANT. GoFoil IWA and 8' 2" L41. I am waiting on a 6' 6" Easy Foiler from Robert at Blue Planet.
In Northern California I fly alone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxGWbRAyuzk
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just got a Iwa/Maliko200 combo a couple days ago...this pretty much answers all my foiling questions ....thanks for posting!
:) ;) ;D ;D 8)