Messages

61

Foil SUP / Re: Foil Videos

« on: July 18, 2018, 02:19:54 PM »

Excellent!  Nice waves and foiling!  Hardly anyone foils where I'm at too, enjoy it while it lasts! 

62

Foil SUP / Re: Seriously thinking about quitting this sport!

« on: July 18, 2018, 02:14:54 PM »

Thanx for posting your foiling vid. enjoyed that and you fly quite nicely. I like how you went frontside and then backside. Is it harder going backside?
Great Whites. I can't imagine seeing one here in NJ. Pretty sure they're around in NE and NY though.

Yea, similar to surfing, backside is a usually a little tougher balance wise.  I'm getting better at it, but I still favor frontside when I have the choice, as you saw in the video   

As bad as the whites seem I'd rather take my chances with the whites than a tiger or bull.  At least the white usually just do one big bite and let go.  Those other sharks are there for the full course meal!

63

Foil SUP / Re: Seriously thinking about quitting this sport!

« on: July 18, 2018, 01:42:45 PM »

What kind of waves are you riding with it?  Short choppy short break?  or more bigger longer swell stuff?

I also found the bigger wings worked better for windfoiling.

64

Foil SUP / Re: Seriously thinking about quitting this sport!

« on: July 18, 2018, 01:28:03 PM »

Very interesting, thanks for the info Dwight.  Can you expand on how you feel it doesn't handle good?  You mean rail to rail transition?  I sort of wondered how it would handle with such a wide and flat center section.  I wonder if it's similar to riding the Maliko 200, which also turns a lot slower than the smaller GoFoils.

65

Foil SUP / Re: Foil AOA Setup and Foot Placement - How to Video

« on: July 18, 2018, 09:57:47 AM »

Good foiling with you guys at Tomales last week Clay, hope to see you guys up again sometime when the waves are better!

Hi Avery (I hope that is correct spelling?),
Stoked to put a face with the handle, your zone name makes perfect sense now.
Your technique for getting into those microwaves is awesome, very impressed!  We are most likely headed your way if this swell fills in Thursday.
See you soon!

Yep, you got it!  Looks like it might be decent the next few days out there.  The period is a bit short, so might be a little more of crunchy surf.  PM me when you'll be there and I'll come surf with you guys again.

66

Foil SUP / Re: Foil AOA Setup and Foot Placement - How to Video

« on: July 18, 2018, 09:49:27 AM »

What I did was build a shim plate about 3/16" thick in the back and paper thin on the front and that goes between my foil pedestal and the track box to lean it forward a bit.  I'm real close to 0deg AOA with the GoFoils and Naish, so I'm not riding nose high all the time.

Curious how you made your shim and what material you used? Also how are you measuring AOA?

Here are some pics of the shim and angle of the foil relative to the board (sort of, hard to photo).  To make the shim, first I wedged material between the foil and board while assembled together until I got the fuselage of the foil to be about parallel with the deck of the board between where my feet are when foiling, and then measured how much I needed to shim it in the rear of the foil.  I needed between 1/8" and 3/16".   Then I laid up some carbon fiber in a stack to make the shim.  The 5.8oz carbon I have is .01" thick so I multiplied out to get just under 3/16".  I took the number of layers of carbon needed for the thickness and divided the length of the shim so I could have evenly graduated carbon sizes.  I think it was something like 1/2" difference between each layer of carbon to get a smooth wedge angle.  I wet those all out and squeezed them between Mylar and granite tiles, you could use glass too though.  After that just shaped the outline and drilled holes for the pedestal holes of my foils/adapters.  Took about 30min of work not counting cure time.  I felt like I had left just a little tiny bit of nose up on the AOA, but I tend to dip the nose in the water when pitching down on drop-ins so it's perfect.  I think Blue Planet makes some sort of shims as well.

67

Foil SUP / Re: Seriously thinking about quitting this sport!

« on: July 18, 2018, 09:27:20 AM »

Wow, you guys are clearly putting more active stress on your stuff than I am. I'm 235# and terribly hard on equipment. My M200 looked like it had been tossed into a chipper--I've hit it on rocks dozens of times. I finally had to do a repair to the trailing edge when I missed with the soft part of a hammer and hit it with the handle. Crap. Sixty years of pounding things and I do that? So now it's been sanded and painted. Other than that my GoFoil has been holding up very well.

But it's clear to me that the engineering of foils needs to be rethought unless a $1400 product is considered disposable.

LOL, man I was thinking about that happening as I was whaling on mine a couple of times to get the wings off.  Maybe I should pad my handles with something!  I have the triple set so more like $2500 disposable.   

68

Foil SUP / Re: Seriously thinking about quitting this sport!

« on: July 18, 2018, 09:24:35 AM »

I didn't feel a thing and had no indication the board hit anything.  The wing was brand new, zero marks, dents, or scratches, same with the mast after the incident. 

SS, I certainly can't tell from pics, but wonder if the wing might have delaminated first.

Yea, I don't know.  When you look at the damage you can see it was just one or two plys of carbon that let go off the wing, the rest of the thick part that cracked was just lightweight filler material.  It looks and feels so beefy, but after seeing it break I'm not as confident it actually is.

69

Foil SUP / Re: Seriously thinking about quitting this sport!

« on: July 18, 2018, 09:22:58 AM »

Really sucks that you had to pay for a warranty replacement! I think my cracks developed after the one and only time I windsurfed the Maliko in flat water. With others reporting similar issues I'm guessing it's only a matter of time before it goes. And that's the only time I used it that I wasn't kiting the Iwa on a 4'6 board in light wind. Funny enough I just picked up a used Kai set because I really do like the damn thing. Just wish I could stop the crazy humming, holly $h1+ it's loud! In the end it'll be between reliability and price for me. This is just too much money to keep dumping for a little better performance.

How do you like the Naish in comparison to the GoFoil wings? I've been looking at the Chinese Naish clone but went with the used Kai set instead. My knockoff Takuma has served me well for kiting but trying it after I spent a few sessions on the Iwa and now one on the Kai, it just doesn't seem to have the same surf-glide feeling.

I only have a few sessions on the Naish and still tuning the decalage (angle of the rear stabilizer), but it seems pretty nice.  It's a smaller wing (I have the large), about the same size as the Kai.  What I'm waiting for is the new XL wings which are due out this month.  The XL's should be about the size of the GoFoil IWA.

70

Foil SUP / Re: Seriously thinking about quitting this sport!

« on: July 17, 2018, 09:50:55 PM »

I guess pics would help...

71

Foil SUP / Re: Seriously thinking about quitting this sport!

« on: July 17, 2018, 09:36:40 PM »

I didn't feel a thing and had no indication the board hit anything.  The wing was brand new, zero marks, dents, or scratches, same with the mast after the incident.  It was the wings 3rd time on the water.  I suppose hitting a large fish or sea mammal could do damage without leaving a mark, but I sure didn't see any that day.  Just a fluke I guess.  It was deep water, and no sand scratches on anything.  I did feel that tug on my calf, so maybe the leash wrapped around a wing and tugged on it just right, I don't know.  There was also no damage to any of my other components.  No bent screws, no torn out boxes, my homemade Tuttle to track adapter is still perfect.  Then again, the wing is the weakest part of the setup and sure to be the first thing to go...  I'm definitely going the Naish XL route once those are here, much cheaper and easier to replace, and I hear they are good about warranty stuff too.  I really like the Lift foils too, 4lbs lighter than my GoFoil!  But the wings and fuse are one piece, so expensive to replace if broken ($800)… but those wings are so dang efficient, I miss them.

72

Foil SUP / Re: Foil AOA Setup and Foot Placement - How to Video

« on: July 17, 2018, 03:27:35 PM »

I put a track foil box in my regular surf SUP so the default AOA of the foil was off due to the rocker in the surf SUP.  What I did was build a shim plate about 3/16" thick in the back and paper thin on the front and that goes between my foil pedestal and the track box to lean it forward a bit.  I'm real close to 0deg AOA with the GoFoils and Naish, so I'm not riding nose high all the time.  My old Lift foil had this angle built into the mast already, which was nice!

I no longer have marks on my pad to show me foot placement, nor any other foot pads or straps.  I get it right 90% of time now.  I think it's just something that comes with lots of time on the foil.  Certainly having something to see or feel the right position is a huge benefit!

Good foiling with you guys at Tomales last week Clay, hope to see you guys up again sometime when the waves are better!

73

Foil SUP / Re: Seriously thinking about quitting this sport!

« on: July 17, 2018, 02:48:26 PM »

I'm 170-180lbs.

You have the most experience breaking the boards/boxes that's for sure!    I've done in three foils in less than a year so far.  We'd make a great team!     We could be QA testers for foil manufacturers.  LOL

My mast had splits several inches long on both ends at the leading and trailing edges, and the fuse was just like you said, but I had huge and long cracks, all the way up to the front wing.  I rode my mast a few more times and now I have cracks going all around the fuse not just along it and it's about to go into multiple pieces.  It was like riding on jell-o, really wobbly.

Yep, the forces involved with foiling compared to how vulnerable the foil looks is pretty amazing.  The first foil I had in my hands I could not believe it was going to hold up to being in the surf at all.  It's amazing more people aren't breaking them all the time.

Sadly, I'm not sure we're going to see that much stronger foils going forward.  It's a hell of an engineering problem, and economics problem.  I suspect we won't see any improvements until warranties exceed profits.

I do have to give a big shout out to Nick at Lift foils though.  When my Lift foil broke I had told him I took it out in big waves, but he warrantied it anyway without any fuss because it had a few defects from the manufacturing process in it.  He had me a new foil in 3 days after I contacted him, amazing service, a very stand up guy for sure!  I'm considering trying out their new "200" foil if my new GoFoil fails me again.

I think everyone just needs to think of foils as a consumable item, like bake pads on cars.  They're going to break, it's just a matter of time.  That means best to get something with cheap replaceable parts!

One month later and $600 poorer I've got a new IWA front wing and mast and can ride the GoFoil again, woohoo! . . .

Sharksupper - How much do you weigh? 

I am constantly on edge about breaking these Foils and Foil Boards. 

My first GoFoil - Showed Cracking at the Mast Head e.g. where the Tuttle is attached to the Mast.  I sent it back to Hawaii and it was 'repaired' I HOPE.

My First foil Board had the Tuttle installed 'professionally' into an L41.  It started to show a crack, and leakage so I added a carbon patch which was not initially installed.  I then got hit by A BIG WAVE and ripped out my Tuttle box.  Reinstalled that myself.  Eventually the board broke in half surfing it normal on a 10 ft Fijian wave  .

Purchased 2nd Mast with New Iwa and Maliko Foils.  Some slight cracking on finish of fuselage.  I have noticed tha the finish appears to be a thick coating, like eggshell but is NOT 100% carbon.  There may be a different modulus to the finish and underlying carbon that causes the finish to crack but leaves the structural material intact.

Purchased 2nd Foil Board - The Tuttle box collapsed in 7 sessions.  I reinstalled the box - It appears to be holding.

Purchased 3rd Foil Board - It appears to be holding

Ultimately we are standing on these wings.  Put the board foil down on the grass and look at how awkward it appears.  Then climb on a ladder and try to STAND on the board, careful to keep your feet in the proper position to balance between the front and rear wings.  Sounds absurd, ridiculous and unwieldy but that is what we are doing.  Water is 'soft' but all 200+ lbs of rider, wetsuit, foil board and foil are riding on a cantilevered front wing.     

74

Foil SUP / Re: Seriously thinking about quitting this sport!

« on: July 17, 2018, 01:28:22 PM »

Excellent you replaced those components...do you have any video of yourself foiling, sharksupper? Not sure I like that user name! Not many sharks around here in NJ where I surf, thankfully!

I just don't get it.  Something is really trying to tell me to NOT keep foiling!

I know the feeling. It's definitely scary. I tried a helmet on today that was in the surf shop that did my foil board conversion. It was WAY too small.

Yes, I was lucky in that my wings still fit the new mast.  I shot a video of flying my Lift 170 foil earlier in the year: 

We have lots of sharks (just great whites though) here, the main spot I foil is called "Shark Pit".   

75

Foil SUP / Re: Seriously thinking about quitting this sport!

« on: July 16, 2018, 06:44:55 PM »

One month later and $600 poorer I've got a new IWA front wing and mast and can ride the GoFoil again, woohoo!

I don't know what to say about what happened.  Based on the damage it seems like the foil saw some kind of major forces, yet I was riding waist high mush at the time in deep water.  Maybe a fish or submerged object hit it?  or the leash wrapped around a wing tip?  I did feel a firm tug on one of my calves on that fall, but I thought it was the leash tugging.  Anyway, I'm a bit nervous taking the thing out in the water now after breaking the wing and mast/fuselage in half on my third day out.  In the mean time I bought a cheap Naish foil so I could at least stay on the water, boy, once you try the big wings it's very hard to go back to small!  With the Naish the parts are interchangeable/replaceable and relatively cheap, so no worries!  I'm going to get the new XL wing set for the Naish once they come out.  $100 mast replacements are looking really good compared to what I went though to get the GoFoil working again.

Happy to be GoFoiling again!!!