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Random / Electric Surf Vehicles in 2020

« on: August 22, 2019, 04:23:56 AM »

It seems like 2020 may be the year that we start seeing viable surf EV's in the USA. I am stoked on that idea! The Mercedes EQV van looks really nice with 253 miles of range. An 80% charge in 45 minutes sounds good. 99 MPH will make Chan happy. I still yell at people for flashing me off at 65 "what's your rush, Andretti". Looks like Mercedes, VW and possibly others will also have some smaller SUV's available. The VW ID BUZZ looks great as well but I believe that is slated for 2022. Hopefully the US sees all of these.

https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1124642_mercedes-benz-eqv-electric-minivan-revealed

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Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / F-One Swing

« on: August 21, 2019, 03:40:07 PM »

I gave in to a growing interest and bought one of the F-one Swing wings today. I could only find a 3.5 but that is a great size for us. First reaction out of the bag was, holy shit is this thing light. Scale time. The Swing is 3 lbs even on my bathroom scale. Damn! Our smaller 3 meter Duotone and SPG are 4.6 and 4.8 lbs respectively. I wonder what the 2.8 weighs. I am not yet sure how important weight is (as these are all relatively very light)...but I sure am interested to see. Tomorrow looks solid so we may get to find out

. It also came with a cool little (3 foot) wrist leash that is just long enough to reach the back strut handle (plus about 6 inches of slack). I Ordered the rest of the sizes as well. More soon...

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Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Axis Foils

« on: August 19, 2019, 05:58:59 AM »

Stoked to have some Axis foils on the way! I recently spent a little time on a 28.5" (72.4 cm) GoFoil mast and found that a lot more comfortable (less twitchy) than the 32" that I have been using. It makes leveling out so much nicer. I didn't want to go back to the longer mast

. I ordered 3 masts (all right around 100 bucks) to dial that in (60, 68, 75). I see a lot of riders on ~65 (25.6") and I want to check that out. It is amazing how a (seemingly) little mast length can change things. I really like the simple modualrity of the Axis design. It will be cool to check that out and see how these things work. More parts! Chan is thrilled

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Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Hooking in

« on: August 19, 2019, 05:31:20 AM »

It is interesting to see more riders hooking in now. The F-one kites have harness line attachment points between the handles but it would be easy to use the unused handles for attachment on other wings as well. This might be nice to check out. Add that to the list

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Random / This will make you smile

« on: August 12, 2019, 03:27:57 AM »

What an epic display of skill. You have to love how much she is digging the music a world away and generations later. So cool!

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Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Wingsurf Downwind

« on: August 10, 2019, 04:27:42 AM »

Man does this young guy Titouan Galea shred. He looks like he was born on a foil. 35 liter board and making it look so fun.

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Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Who is making Wingsurfing wings?

« on: August 10, 2019, 02:43:39 AM »

With the addition of the Gaastra (wing below) I am counting 12 companies that are now producing wings. Pretty remarkable for such a new sport. Did I miss any?

Gaastra
Ozone
Takuma / Wingride
Slingshot
F-One
Cabrinha
Naish
Duotone
SPG
Ullman
Gong
Manta

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Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Cabrinha Cross Wing

« on: August 06, 2019, 04:35:54 AM »

Cabrinha is out (or coming out) with their new wing and here is a video of Pete on a 4.

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Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Ozone Wasp Wing

« on: August 05, 2019, 04:08:38 AM »

You have seen the Kai Lenny videos on some of the earlier and advancing prototypes but Ozone is now ready with their production Wasp Wings. 2, 3, 4 and 5 available. Clean looking product with input from some of the best. Very cool to see.

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Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / F-One Swing, Foils and Foilboards

« on: August 05, 2019, 03:39:02 AM »

Here is a great interview and some excellent footage of the founder of F-one talking about the sport. His stoke for the sport is evident and it looks like they have some great looking products. PS: Go to 2:27 and tell me that doesn't look fun!

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Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Waves

« on: August 03, 2019, 05:08:53 AM »

Waves.

Most people who are riding these things have just received them in the last few months. That means a lot of getting to know you days. There are already a bunch of fun modes and uses for our new toys but we haven't had a winter yet where they were in the hands of a lot of riders. That means limited time in the waves so far and no really good video. This is a natural for this sport. Here are two early vids which show some very skilled kids at summer Hookipa. We are going to see some incredible stuff this winter!

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Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Waterstarts

« on: August 02, 2019, 05:42:55 AM »

Big SUP style foilboards are a necessity to getting started and may always be a big part of the sport. As beginners, we all start on our knees doing a knee start which is functional and sometimes graceful (as opposed to disgraceful, which happens as well

). This requires a board which will float you enough to crawl up, kneel, get situated, and do your start. The full waterstart is really appealing in that it skips a lot of that. I have tried a few windsurfing style waterstarts on the big boards and flying the wing in the water is fine and positioning the board is very doable as well. The sticking point is that the big board (sitting flat on the surface) sits high above the water so with your feet up it is very awkward and there is not enough leverage to get you up there. It is likely possible but it will require a lot. The best answer would be to use the foot straps, set the board on its side (twin tip kiteboard waterstart style) and start like that. The problem there is that with these wide boards the straps are now way up in the air and the board has a lot of float that works against rolling onto it. That is where greatly reduced boards come in. That is the goal. I am thinking that a narrow, sinkable board is going to be critical for this. Of course foiling skills would be mandatory because sub foiling cruising will not be super fun.

You see waterstarts onto little 30 liter boards in these vids. I am confident that a standard waterstart going to become a normal part of this sport. I see it as a given. I remember (dating myself now) picking up a windsurfing magazine and reading about the waterstart. The article called it an "advanced freestlye maneuver"

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Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Sticky Foot Straps?

« on: July 30, 2019, 02:35:42 AM »

I had put some footstraps on my board and loved the feel. The only issue was that the front strap was a bit too far back (no inserts further forward) and it was making it hard to level out. I pulled the straps off to confirm that and I know where I want them now. I am going to try two angled front straps (windsurfing style) and see how that goes. Any experience out there with the stick on's. Are they reliable?

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