Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - Califoilia

Pages: 1 [2] 3 4 ... 101
16
Foil SUP / Re: eFoil Etiquette in the Lineup
« on: January 03, 2023, 11:56:36 PM »
Any motorized surf craft needs to be taking off on swells that human-powered surf vessels are unable to catch. This does not mean go way outside, catch the swell, and then foil through the lineup...it means stay out of and away the f'n line up!  >:(

EDIT: To be fair, I feel like I'm cheating with my Kings 7'10x19.5"x115L DW board, and make sure that I'm not chasing what others on less glidy boards would be able to get into. Yes, the urge is there to turn for everything, because now I can dang near catch everything, but I remind myself that "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should", and what I nicely say to the growing number of "eCrafts" (efoils, tow boogies, and now Foildrives) that we're starting to see in the lineup.

17
Gear Talk / Re: Rail wear options
« on: December 20, 2022, 10:48:49 AM »
I tried several brands of rail tape over the years, and now buy nothing but RSPro. It's well worth any additional cost.

18
Foil SUP / Re: To those who have paid their dues on foil in the surf:
« on: December 20, 2022, 10:45:50 AM »
The 88L FG board is 27" wide. I think it would be lousy as a prone board, it's just so hard to paddle a board that wide. I tried my 75L FG wing board (26" width) when I left my prone board home one day and it didn't work well for me.
You are correct wrt the width, don't know what I was looking at.  :o

But yeah, either way, 88L for a sup foil board under a 175lb rider is too little, and 88L and 26" wide is too much as a prone foil board as you found out.

19
Foil SUP / Re: To those who have paid their dues on foil in the surf:
« on: December 17, 2022, 09:00:38 AM »
The 88L (5'5"x23") board will definitely be a challenge to stand and paddle, especially in lumpy bumpy conditions (another 10L would have been nice), but the Armstrong V1 1550 setup listed was one a lot a number of guys in my area learned on back in the day. Don't see a lot of them now, but as a "take it out occasionally" setup, it'll be fine for you IMO.

20
The Shape Shack / Re: Vunderfoil
« on: December 12, 2022, 12:18:47 PM »
I think current foil manufacturers are missing an obvious bet. They sponsor kids with supernatural talents to showcase their expensive gear, that no kid could possibly buy without willing investment from Dad and/or Mom. The target audience is geezers and sub-geezers, and the marketing message should be simple: "Our wings are so great that even Bill Califoilia can do this". Cut to a video clip of me him wobbling through a jibe, blowing a tack, and straining to get to my his feet during a knee start. Marketing magic. You're welcome.
Fixed it for you, because I know of one company that has done that for a couple years now...and that same "geezer foiler" has demos on the beach for folks to "try before they buy". :-X ;D

21
I would love to see a more detail and specifics on how you set the track boxes and how you do the stringers??

This was before I had Dave making my boards (when I was riding Angledfoils and the reason for the two sets of boxes)...but after cutting in the boxes, we took a straight edge and circular saw, and cut the full depth of the saw blade right along the outside of the box cutouts....

From there, we simple Gorilla Glue(d) in 1/8" marine plywood (or Luan door skin), and then once cured, used a multi-tool to cut the wood close to level to the bottom, and then sanded it the remaining of the way flush with the bottom. We then Gorilla Glue(d) the boxes into cutouts and to stringers. This was the drawing I made to explain to my previous shaper what I was looking to do...

...from a screenshot I grabbed from someone else who was just using Divinycell foam to mount the in boxes as was the method of choice at the time. While it looks like the stringers go the full length of the board, they're actually only about 2/3rds of the way up from the tail.

Dave has used several methods...cutting through the tail end of the board, gluing and strapping the stringers in place, and then cutting the boxes in afterwards....

You'll also notice the we are now only going approx. 1/2 way up the board, and haven't had any problems whatsoever gluing the boxes to that length of stringers.

He's also cut stringers and boxes together on the CNC machine...

...that too has also worked out extremely well on one of my previous sup foil boards; which is over a year old with plenty of misadventures, and the board and boxes are still rock solid.

Hope that helps.

22
Sorry, there is no way to shim the angle of the tail with respect to the front wing.  This is the most fundamental form of tuning.  I have spent plenty of time playing with this, and now understand how incredibly important it is to achieve the feel you want.  I'm sure his foils are great, but you won't catch me on a foil that doesn't allow me to mess around with the tail.  Not just shimming, but also changing to different tails.  I  honestly can't believe racers put up with this when tiny details can be the difference between winning and losing.  I would love to hear Mike's take on this.  I believe it makes great sense for a mass market product to keep things simple.  But high end racing is anything but mass market and simple.
Yep, and same thing with fuse lengths. It's amazing how noticeable the differences with not only using various stab sizes with the same front wing, but then also how noticeably different the performance is changed using the same stab(s), but with different length fuses. Top that all off with a shim under either the front or back stab screw, and you've got a whole other feel to customize your ride depending the the size of yourself, your board, your style, your wave of the day, and so on.

Hell, we were even shimming the rear screw of a prototype front wing while testing a couple years ago, that made iftgo from "blah" to "yeehaw!". A far cry from when I was pounding on a front and rear wing onto a fuse with a mallet, and then sticking the whole thing into a Tuttle box that I hoped was in the correct spot for the setup, and how I wanted it to ride.  :o ;D

PS. Great interview with Jason and Pono, Robert. Both of those guys (and their 3rd amigo Chad) are a hoot to hang out with....the laughter never stops! Great crew for sure.

23
Prone Foiling, Surf foiling, Pump Foiling / Re: Swim Missiles
« on: December 01, 2022, 11:01:47 AM »
I was down at Dave's on Tues., and your boards are looking awesome, and super light! The 15" track boxes are going to be great for dialing in just where your foil needs to be...which I gotta believe finding the exact prone position on a longer board is going to be a bit more complicated than finding it - or adjusting to it via foot placement - on my sup DW board (that also has 15"ers just in case :D).

24
Dave does a couple methods, this is my older 5'4x27" wing foil board where he cut through the entire board, glued in the stringers, and then straped everything all together again...


25
As I'm sure most here are aware, I've been using Dave's talents for quite a few years now. He's a wizard on the 3d software, and always manages to interpret my non-technical nomenclature into exactly what I have so perfectly pictured in my head. Here's our latest collaboration of a sup DW foil board....



7'10"x19.5"x115L...can't wait to get her in the water!

26
Foil SUP / Re: Dock Starting an 8-0 Sup
« on: November 04, 2022, 09:07:01 AM »
Great video Piros, and congratulations on your dock starting accomplishment!

The bloopers reel was/is inspiring, in that it shows what it really takes to accomplish anything...hard work and determination.

I have a new Kings Paddle Sports' first entry into the DW board foil board thing in the works (7'10x19.5x115L), and can't to give all these new foil adventures a try.

27
Thank you,! For your detailed reply on the new PC masts! But I already pulled the trigger on the 860 and it arrived in Mexico today. Hopefully, it will still be an upgrade over the alu.. Although I WILL be using it with the 999 and 1050 and 880 HPS.. I'm hoping the bending and torsion isn't too obvious.
If you're going to be using it for winging, it should be OK with minimal bending or torsional flex. I used the 76 carbon in the surf, where we're being a little more aggressive with our turns, and where the torsional flex was really not noticeable with the smaller wings we use (910b and smaller), but became noticeable with the 980 and larger wings. So as long as you're not trying to hit the whitewater to bank/turn back off of it when winging, you should be fine for the most part...but I'm just speculating, because I've never used the 860 carbon length at all.

Quote
.did you happen to take any pics or videos of the process of "potting" by any chance?
Here are a couple during the process of how the fuse needs to be leveled, and then how the mast must also then be leveled once you insert it into the fuse (acting as the mold) and then must stay that way while the epoxy cures completely...

Note: Those are two different masts above. The last one I leveled the fuse on my bench with the wood shims and tape, and found that I didn't need to use the clamps to help level it.

Also, notice the "painter's tape" around the mast just above the fuse connection. This is to keep the excess epoxy compound off the mast for easier wiping, and cleanup.

Quote
Think I. Could use tefgel. Instead of the release agent putty you mentioned?
I don't know for sure, but my guess would be no, simply because I don't know all of the ingredients in Tefgel, and if they might interfere with proper curing, and bonding of the epoxy onto the mast. Here's a website that gives you some other options the sound better than Tefgel.

Quote
Do you think that JB MARINE 2part epoxy is good enough?
That I don't know, but I personally wouldn't chance it since it's not the normal 2:1 mixing ratio used with regular surfboard epoxy, and is opaque, not transparent like regular resin.  My concern would be that it wouldn't release from the mold, and you might end up with a fuse permanently mounted to your mast. But that's just me being very cautious, and having used JB WELD, but not JB MARINE epoxy, and reading the literature of the two, they sound very similar.

If that's all you can find in your area, I would definitely a test mold and fit, and use whatever mold release you decide on to make sure that the JB MARINE will release from the mold, while staying permanently adhered to your released test part.

Here's the Amazon link to the mold release stuff I use...and this is the Amazon link to 2-part surfboard epoxy that should be more that enough to recast a mast, with enough leftover to do a board repair or two afterwards. This is the clickable link to Amazon for the Cabosil resin thickener, but that is a lot of Cabosil for such a small amount that you'll need, that I wouldn't bother with adding it. The epoxy alone should be strong enough to accomplish the leveling of the top of the mast...if you will even have to do it at all.

Quote
Thanx for any clarification!
You're welcome, let me know if you have any additional questions, happy to help where I can.

28
Did you not get the PM w/ pictures I sent you wrt to recasting the carbon masts? Or are you still looking for something else?

29
Prone Foiling, Surf foiling, Pump Foiling / Re: Swim Missiles
« on: October 18, 2022, 09:17:53 PM »
Sounds like the perfect scenario for a Foil Drive to get you moving and up flying.

30
Picked up a 5.5m Takoon V2 while up at the AWSI this year, and love it so much, that I've since bought a 4m and a 7m (to replace my F-One CWC 7m...that I loved, just like the Takoon that much more).

Apparently I'm not the only one loving them...


Are Takoon wings available in the US?  I'm not seeing any for sale online.
Yes, and no. They have the same direct to consumer business model as Gong eliminating the middleman, but unlike Gong they do have a US distribution center.

So no retailers in the US, but you can order them directly from their website, and depending on your location, it's a couple days delivery (you don't have to wait for your gear sitting for however long in US Customs like Gong stuff)...it took two days from order to my door in CA.


Several friends hopped in on my last order also, and are really happy with their new wings as well.   ;D

Most ordered the 7m for the light winds we have in SoCal most of the time, and 3 of us were out yesterday flying in 7-8 mph winds, with 9-10 mph gusts - with bigger foil wings (I was on the Axis 1060/425P), and had a blast!!

Pages: 1 [2] 3 4 ... 101

SimplePortal 2.3.7 © 2008-2024, SimplePortal