Standup Zone Forum
The Foil Zone => Foil SUP => Topic started by: Wetstuff on December 12, 2019, 06:09:12 AM
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I got Robert's Blue Planet balancing gizmo, and really like it compared to other devices. BUT, I just realized I have been reading all these foil posts ....with the this-and-that, short/long, HA/LA, Plate/Tuttle ...all the wonderful minutiae that, of course, you want in buckets in exploring a new sport.
Maybe I missed it, but I'll be damned if I have an idea of what comparable activity provides a similar feeling? I get smoothness - that's easy. I understand drag reduction = speed ..the technical yatta. But it must feel like something?
A Unicyle? ...slacklike? ...standing atop a shaky ladder? ...one foot speedskating? What'zt it feel like?! Thanks.
Jim
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So far, I have only foiled behind a jet ski...it's hard to describe the feeling (or lack of feeling). It's like you are floating on air with minimal disturbances. Having windsurfed for years, with every approaching chop or wake, I was expecting impact but it never came..that was the weirdest thing. Riding through chop and wake and feeling virtually nothing as long as I was up riding the foil.
The other thing that I wasn't prepared for was how quickly the foil board would rise..you spend the majority of your time keeping the board and foil down by having weight on front leg. I was expecting it would take some effort to get up on the foil, but it was exactly the opposite.
It's a unique feeling and one I am excited about getting used to..
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I'll try to put you in the ballpark. You are surfing a floaty longboard on a glassy shoulder high day. You roll in to a smooth one, do a face turn down the line (here is where the analogy begins) and you pump the face, accelerating as you go. That super smooth down the line pumping sensation is very similar. But, you are a couple feet up, it is faster, even less resistant than surfing glass, and there doesn't need to be a wave. Can you feel it? With a wing there is also some up-pull so you also get this soaring sensation. It is really nice...and I just made myself miss it a lot.
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Every wave feels like a Mavericks wave. The adrenaline rush is that great.
You are up and flying and your hair is buzzing. I think this is why all the big wave guys immediately jumped on the foils.
I am a lifetime fisherman. I counted every fish I caught for 4 years when I was young. Last summer I succinctly STOPPED fishing while on the East Coast. I would rather go and ride TOTAL crap 2.4 ft @ 6 second waves on the foil at 6 am than go fishing.
I realized that fishing was also an adrenaline rush. The feeling of having a 20 lbs Stripped Bass bash your rod gives the 'kick'. Where we live in Ct I know how to catch 3 - 5 fish an hour and if I fish for 3 hours we'll likely catch a 36 inch fish. This has been true for 20 years and I have never been skunked in my little boat. NOPE!!!!!! I would rather go foil.
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Unicycling is the most similar for me. When you lean on it, your torso must stay in line with the seatpost which is almost identical to the mast of a foil. It teaches me to quiet my upper body which has improved my foiling in heaps. I skateboard a lot too. I ride a cruiser board and carve downhill. This speed checking with carving is very reminiscent of carving to slow the foil down to get into the pocket. I don't ever get going faster than I can run. As of late, I have been skating with my chicken wing. I now have all my jibe/tack handwork figured out. When I ride for 1 hour, I get probably 10-15 miles of carving time on the board. It is my new favorite activity when getting in the cold ass water doesn't appeal. It takes 5 minutes to rig and go! Send it!!!!
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When drag is gone, you feel wave energy you can’t feel with any other sport. Feeling wave energy on practically nothing, is so fun.
When I learned to kite foil (on little racy wings), it did feel like I was trying to stand on a pole. Balancing on that pole was so unnerving, I could only ride for 45 minutes before my nerves were shot, and I needed a break on the beach. Jacky and I both had dry mouth after a session because we were so scared, we rode with our mouths wide open. ;D
Now you have it easy. These super sized foils for SUPs, and wing surfers, make everything so accessible for almost everyone.
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Best I can describe it is...that at first it feels like you're trying to balance on a greased bowling ball. :o :)
But once you get it somewhat mastered, it's then the sensation of standing/surfing on the back of one of a carousel horse at fair...you kind of just of float up and down suspended in midair (yeah, we used to get yelled at by ride operators...lol).
Once you get to be a little more proficient, it then feels as if you were able to break that horse loose from the carousel, and now you're able to control where you want him to go, and when you want to take him up to the top, decide how long you want to stay there before you lean over into him, and start banking this hard turn the other direction before heading back up again to the top....rinse, and repeat.
So fun! ;D
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Very cool, guys. Thanks. Ya, you can see a look of concentration in the videos perhaps Buddhist's nirvana rather than simple pleasure.
I had Erik Antonson's podcast on this morning and James Casey answered that question similarly... about the 37 min mark (if you're pressed for time.)
https://soundcloud.com/progressionproject/foiling-series-ep-1-james-casey
Jim
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It feels like a drug. You get that feeling, then you can't wait to get it again. What I like about it, is that your odds of getting an awesome session is high. I remember when I'd stand up surf, it would be like that unreal head high session on glass at the perfect direction 4 years ago on memorial day that I remember as epic. Now, 90% of my sessions feel like that. I get out of the water thinking, that was the best session ever, but how can that be when the last session was the best ever? Feeling like I want to jump in my car and get it right now.
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cool thread. Thanks!
In the beginning, when you drop your first wave and get to the wing it feels like the downward weightlessness of a roller coaster.
The awesome part is that it feels like that EVERY FRIGGIN TIME!
so much fun.
On another note, I have given up trying to explain it to my surfer friends. I realized that a bunch of them just want to be in the lineup, and talk about the water temp.... Not for me any more. I am pretty much done surfing.
-red
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The learning process is like trying to figure out how to surf and unicycle at the same time.
Once you are locked in, the closest feeling I have experienced would be snowboarding steep fresh powder at Whistler.
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all I can say is, it is a different feeling to what you know and you'll find out once you are on it and be prepared for some beating and punishment ;D
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I love the comparison to unicycling. I have always found that if I unicycle just before a foiling session, my session heats up faster and I have way more fun on my foil. I have been riding a large 36" wheel which also gives you the same height over "water" sensation. The smooth, floaty, carvy feeling and all! All in all, its hard to describe a sensation you have never before had. The words, floating, flying, smooth, fast, 3 dimensional, magical, ……..all come to mind and yet can not fully describe it. The struggle alone, and the effort required to learn something totally new adds to its appeal. Several times during the summer I would find myself becoming lost in the experience , just relishing the total freedom of flight, on a large mellow bump, actually forgetting that I was actually controlling this underwater airplane. In that brief moment of forgetful ecstasy, my foil would unknowingly rise to the surface and I would continue the flight alone, only to splash back to earth, giggling all the way.
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So cool... I got perhaps a similar rush in the early 2000's, dropping a kite for a power boost when twin-tips first became popular. Digging an edge and sensing the power was completely different than kiting with a directional. It was like bull wrestling with mother nature.
I envy you, SP. I fall when the humidity changes or the Sun goes behind a cloud. I would have a skull fracture and compound shoulder fractures if I tried a Unicycle.
Jim
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Honestly I think it's like trying to tell someone how sex feels.
There's no comparison that encapsulates the entirety of the experience.
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Clay, I am kinda like an Afgan male; 'I can't get any' at the moment, but I watch porn every day. You do some nice vids. Cheers.
Jim
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It feels better than sex Jim. Go get it 8)
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Jim that sounds frustrating. Hope to see you flying soon!
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Clay, I am kinda like an Afgan male; 'I can't get any' at the moment, but I watch porn every day. You do some nice vids. Cheers.
Jim
Holy geezus....I had to read that again - after picking my jaw up off the floor - before it sunk in which "vids" you were talking about Jim. :o
Hope you meant ones like this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir9Z7eVTdd0&feature=emb_logo
...if not...Clay, you gotz some splaining to do. ;) :D ;D
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Clay, I am kinda like an Afgan male; 'I can't get any' at the moment, but I watch porn every day. You do some nice vids. Cheers.
Jim
Holy geezus....I had to read that again - after picking my jaw up off the floor - before it sunk in which "vids" you were talking about Jim. :o
Hope you meant ones like this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir9Z7eVTdd0&feature=emb_logo
...if not...Clay, you gotz some splaining to do. ;) :D ;D
;D :D Hadn't even considered that interpretation of the analogy, pretty funny and I can see how that would be a shocking revelation.
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Ya. ...' sorry for the confusion. C'hit spins around inside my skull ..and I end up thinking; 'Who else watches videos with this much lust and anticipation?' Fricking Afghans!
Jim