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Messages - GL

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31
I have been using a 60cm mast. My longest mast is 75 cm and that's the one I use for windfoiling. If I encounter a large rolling chop with the 75cm mast I have to be careful not to breach. When wing foiling with the same foil the infinity 99. I have no trouble not breaching with a 60cm mast. I find that windfoiling and wing foiling are completely different for me. Using a shorter mast with the wing foil works just fine for me.

32
Stoneaxe based on my experience with an 11-foot Single Fin sup I think you'd be way better off with your 12-6 and a centerboard. I found it really hard to go upwind. If I was really careful I can make it back to where I started but that was about all. I would guess that if I'd had a centerboard better up when angles would have happened much more easily. When I'm not up on a plane on my 7 foot 10 sup with the foil underneath, I can go upwind without much problem. So a bigger board with a dagger board should be similar I would think. I would be interested to to hear how it works for you.

33
I received my Slingshot Infinity 99 wing this morning and it was good timing as it was windy today. I have been foiling with my Infinity 84 and was liking it. I like the 99 even more. I get up on foil, I am guessing, a couple of knots sooner and am able to keep going much longer when the wind dies down. It also feels a faster on the low end and seems to pick up speed quicker. No problems with breaching while going faster and went upwind great. There was nothing that I did not like about it. Keep in mind that I have only about 4 sessions up on foil with the Slingwing so my experience is limited. It does seem to make everything easier.

34
Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Re: F-One Swing
« on: September 01, 2019, 04:43:15 AM »
Most of my launches make it almost impossible to carry the wing and board into the water together. To make this easier I made up a small anchor with some lead weights, a couple of feet of line and a large carabiner. The line floats. I carry the wing upside down into the water with the weights attached to the leading edge handle. I then let it float there anchored while I get the board.  In the water I unhook the anchor and leave it there for the end of my session. This has made my entry and exit from water much easier.

35
I just came in from a great session. The wind sensor close by said 19 knots gusting to 31. 31 was a little testing. Bill your tip regarding pumping was great. It made a big difference, thanks. I can fly constantly without breaching on the 60 cm. mast. Waves were close together and only a little over 2 feet as I was in a bay. Should have pumped up the trailing edge more but the wind jumped a lot after I hit the water. Learned something key about going upwind when it is that windy. At first I tried to muscle my way upwind and exhausted myself soon. Then the brain kicked in as a last resort and and reduced the upwind angle and flew the wing more flat over my head with reduced speed and then it was much easier to head upwind. I will jump to the 75 cm. mast next time.  Thought I would be breaching more often but was not happening. So much easier to control the height than when windfoiling, especially in the gusts. I have not tried any foiling jibes yet as I was having so much fun did not want to waste time starting. I just drop the board on the water and pivot jibe. I really like the Takuma BX 7'10" board very stable and easy to pick up speed. I highly recommend it, although it is the only one I have tried.

36
Thanks Bill. I will try that. It is a little different than what I was doing so maybe that's the problem. I'll let you know if it works. It would be nice to get going a bit earlier.

37
Admin, I have tried bearing slightly off the wind, a lot off the wind, using a swell to increase my speed off the wind but still have not had a lot of success. This could be partially due to the fact that it was so gusty that there just wasn't enough wind and when there was there was lots. I will know more when I've had more sessions, the windy season is coming here soon.

Wetstuff, I have not seen other wings in person so am not sure how how the construction of mine compared to the others. It certainly doesn't seem fragile to me. Sorry I have no devices to measure wind speed at takeoff. All I can say with some surety is that it is at least 16 knots and maybe bit more. All my sessions have been in gusty stormy winds so has been hard to tell. Friday looks good so I will try it again then and try to get a wind reading close by. One thing I really like while up on the foil is how stable the wing is with no flapping or fluttering. It feels very comfortable and seems to get upwind really well on foil.

38
I finally managed to get another windy day. Very gusty but noticed a couple of things. I have minimal sucess with pumping. Maybe just poor technique. It seems either there is enough wind and it is easy to get on the foil or no chance. Once there is enough wind it is very easy to foil up. The thing that really surprised me this time was that once up on the foil on this gusty day I could keep foiling into very light winds. Winds there is no way I could get up on the foil. In that case I could lightly pump the wing and keep my speed up. I also liked that in huge gusts that it is so easy to spill power and foil under control. I am really looking forward to to a day with cleaner wind as so far all windy days have been really gusty and shifty here.

39
I had also read that the Slingwing was heavier. It may be but as far as I am concerned it is quite light to hold and once the wind hits it almost no effort at all until you sheet in a bit. Then of course there is some pull but you get to choose how much the wing pulls on you. It is easy to increase or decrease the pull. So I would not be concerned about the weight in my experience if that was the wing you wanted.

40
Thanks Admin. I am very stoked! Cannot wait for the next windy day.

41
Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Slingshot Slingwing
« on: August 11, 2019, 06:24:29 AM »
Hi. I am long time reader but never really had much to add. Since I managed to get hold of a Slingwing I thought my experiences so far might be of interest. I am a kite foiler and windfoiler. I am not great at either but but can do both. I weigh about 80 kg. The first go on the wing was in about 10 to 15 knots on an 11 foot single fin SUP. I could hold ground but could not make much headway upwind unless it was closer to 15 knots. I found I had to stand back a little on the board and hold the wing slightly behind me to make headway up wind.

The next session I was on 7' 10" by 30", 138 litre sup and the wind was 8 to about 12 knots. Anything above 8 knots and I could easily go upwind, although not high. No problem getting back to where I started.

My third session was in winds from above 17 knots gusting to close to 27 knots. I was on the foil board with and Slingshot Inifnity 84 foil wing and a 60 cm. mast. I was surprised how easy the wing was to manage in those strong winds. I had pumped up the trailing edge a little harder than the rest of the wing. No problem going upwind with the board on the water. After going upwind for a while on the water I attempted to pick up speed and fly the board. Shockingly the board jumped up on the foil and I was easily able to turn further upwind and keep flying. I was doing all this in a bay on a large lake so the wind was very gusty and the waves were small. It was very encouraging. I fly a few more times but did not have the energy for a long session as I had kited in the high winds first. I cannot imagine how hard it must be to have never foiled first and try this. Even with the foiling experience the first flights required a lot of focus.

The fourth session was in very gusty conditions. I am guessing 10 to low 20's. Again no problem holding ground but flying was a problem. Not sure if the wind was to low or the wing was the problem. I did not pump up the main portion enough and it was flexing a lot when I tried to get up on the foil. I did manage some flights but nothing extended this time.

I am not sure what my low end will be on this setup but right now I am guessing I will need 17 knots or above to get flying. On my third session the white caps were being blown air born at times and I still had no problem with controlling the wing. I also found on my last session that if a wing tip was dropping to towards the water if I pushed up on my front hand the wing tip would pop up and avoid hitting the water. It saved me from a lot of crashes. At least for now the 138 litre board is perfect for me and makes everything easy. I do think that I will want a larger wing next year to get foiling in less extreme winds. I am also wondering if a larger front wing on my foil would get me flying sooner with the Slingwing. I am quite pleased with the wing and am really enjoying it so far. Hopefully my experiences will be of use to those reading. If you have any questions please ask.

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