Messages

16

SUP General / Re: SailDrone

« on: July 15, 2018, 05:45:22 PM »

The notion that anyone did anything by themselves is bankrupt. Ayn Rand was an idiot who could write well.

To call a lady like this is not very gentlemanly... Especially if she can't answer... Especially if she wrote Atlas Shrugged, the most read book (in the fiction category) in the history

Sure Bill you was born in United States, the best country on this planet, and there was no merit of yours... Realise however that it is a tremendous luck and a huge advantage on its own.

She was born in the shithole and she saw and experienced a lot... things you can't even imagine... and there was no guilt on her part.
But she had a brain, and a mind and a free spirit and ability to analyse and see the primary and the secondary. And the talent, and she overcame and left a legacy.

and the phrase about the notion, you mean "you didn't build it", right? The true Marxist idea proclaimed by a true Marxist, BTW. And this idea is a real bankrupt.

and if you think for a moment that nothing depends on the individual, just read two pages in this book about what passengers in the doomed train think, the train that goes into the tunnel goes, and ask yourself a Q: who is an idiot? and is it really nothing depends from you?

17

Foil SUP / Re: Kai Lenny Downwind SUP Foil

« on: June 11, 2016, 11:05:15 PM »

another Q is about range. Is it more or less when on the foil than on regular wsrfng?

I don't have the skills to answer that yet. Over powered for me, is going too fast, that high in the air.  I'm able to foil at speeds comparable to windsurfing on the water. Say 25 mph on average. I've raced a kiter. The kiter said he was scared racing me.

If 7.5 is too big of a sail for you... compare your biggest wsrfng setup (I am guessing 7.0 on 110 liters) with appropriate foil setup (I am guessing something like 5.2?) for the purpose of this comparison.

My biggest board sail combo was 123L slalom board and 7.5m sail. My 6.5m sail and foil beats that. It takes a formula board and 8.5m sail to match me on the foil.

I am guessing when overpowered this huge board in the air will be a sail on it, "catching air"...

I am guessing when overpowered the wipe out won't be pretty either??

When over powered, I ride down on the water. It doesn't fly, unless you let it fly.  Stand 6" forward, it's never going to lift off the water.

Crashing is easy and fun. We eject all the time. That's the beauty of strapless foiling.

When I was asking about the range I did not mean who beats whom, or who is faster.

What I meant by range is what increase of the wind will make you uncomfortable so you overpwered and go back to shore to take a smaller set.

Let say you starting on equally comfortable on 7.5+race board and on 5.5+foil board
Let say that increase in 7 knots on windsurfer forces you to come back and derig.
Lets say for the sake of argument that 10 knots will do the same on the foil, than I'd say foil has a bigger range.
If however you'll stop foiling with 5 knot wind increase, than windsurfer has a bigger range

But what you also saying is that foil has a safety back door: increase in wind by 10 knots makes foiling uncomfortable, but you always can get it back in the water, you won't be zipping standing forward, more lake semi-slogging? but you always can come back to shore and take the same 5.5 with regular windsurfing board (without foil, or remove foil and put just a fin) and have fun in the straps with same sail in this stronger wind. Correct?

Thanks,
/a

18

Foil SUP / Re: Kai Lenny Downwind SUP Foil

« on: June 11, 2016, 07:05:05 AM »

so what is so special about the special board you building?
214 x 79 x 127

F4 foils is reporting Tuttle box failures for some people.

So I built a board with super strong deep Tuttle box installation. Because I was building from scratch, I decided to follow the design ideas of the leader (Horue) in windsurf foiling. Shorter than normal. Wider than normal up front. Seems to work well.

In the future (when Neil Pryde releases their Olympic foil) I expect Racing class windsurfers to have foil duty rated Tuttle boxes. Boards will be rated for foil use. Expect more boards with deep Tuttles. Also expect these boards to come with extra strap inserts located for foiling. Current strap placement is not ideal for foiling.

Btw! Foiling at slow speeds is actually more dangerous. It's when the foil is going slowest that it looses stability and flips you off. It's scarier going fast, but foil gets very stable at speed.

You will grow to hate heavy sails when you get your foil.

box failures... make sense... so much stress at this junction.

another Q is about range. Is it more or less when on the foil than on regular wsrfng?
To compare apples with apples...
imagine you using 5.7 m2 sail foiling. You could be just wsrfng 7.5 m2 sail and imagine it is on a proper board (not 105 liters, bigger board for light air, say 130 liters modern board)
Then the wind dies - you shlogging in both cases. But then the wind increases x knots and you overpowered. This x is bigger or smaller for foil?

If 7.5 is too big of a sail for you... compare your biggest wsrfng setup (I am guessing 7.0 on 110 liters) with appropriate foil setup (I am guessing something like 5.2?) for the purpose of this comparison.

And as you said the faster you go on foil the more stable it is. So when overpowered on the foil, it is because of the sail? not because of chop... chop is still below you? I mean is it something different the way it feels and what to pay attention to?. I am guessing when overpowered this huge board in the air will be a sail on it, "catching air"...

I am guessing when overpowered the wipe out won't be pretty either??

19

Foil SUP / Re: Kai Lenny Downwind SUP Foil

« on: June 10, 2016, 08:45:26 PM »

First you mentioned that you changed your sails for the ease of uphaul.
Why didn't you bought a bigger windsurfing board?
The ease of uphaul increases exponentially. I have 3 light air boards, Fanatic Ray 130, Ray 145 and *board Formula

It's not about being "able" to up haul. It's about the fact that you MUST up haul all day long because you are using a sail way, way, too small to water start. Would your back hold up to up hauling all day long? We're not kids anymore.  I designed and built my own foil board. 214 x 79 x 127 liters. Made for strapless foiling. Short and thin up front so the wind doesn't push it around once airborne. Wide for easy up hauling.

Like the main advantage of paddleboard behind the boat is that you can start standing up at zero speed, 1, 2, 5, 8 mph... (the second advantage that you need no more than 10... 12 mph, so you can use a smaller boat, and the wipeouts are gentle for old body)

There are no gentle wipeouts. People are not showing you the "real" learning experience. These foils release their energy when you bail. They can cartwheel and hit you in the head, mouth, face, etc.

With a windsurfer, the sail seems to tame the devil under the water, way more than other ways of foiling.

so what is so special about the special board you building?
214 x 79 x 127

is pretty standard,
like RAy 130: 235*73*130

or as I said Ray 145 is much better for uphaul at
235*81*145 (looks like the width is really critical around 80 cm mark, the volume not so much)

I am not arguing in any way "the MUST of uphaul". You were pretty clear about this in your previous posts.

I was just wondering why change the whole quiver of sails when the board with the width 80cm+ will give you much more drastic advantage in terms of the ease of uphauling than 300 grams lighter sail on the narrow tippy board. And I was thinking that the size of the board is relevant only for uphaul and for few seconds before you in the air. Looks like this is right, if you now building your own board, with similar characteristics. But again why build if you can buy? What is so special about this board except the width? strapless? Take the straps away from Ray or similar board... - you get strapless. Probably all other characteristic of the board (rocker, shmocker, Vee, wide points - are not that important - uphaul easily, let going, boost in the air, forget about the board. No?

As for my words about wiping out you definitely put it out of context. All I was saying that no matter what you foil or ride the wipeouts are gentler with lower speed. Sup wake surfing is done at significantly smaller speeds than wake surfing and even more than waterskiing. Likewise learning on kitefoil behind the boat requires way more speed than behind Piros' construction (kitefoil under sup) - so less boat speed, to start, and gradual start, so yeah less speed and gentler wipeouts (all things being equal)

I had no intention to suggest that wiping on the foil is "gentle". From what I am reading and from general experience - it is the scary thing, for me personally it is probably the major showstopper

20

Foil SUP / Re: Kai Lenny Downwind SUP Foil

« on: June 08, 2016, 09:52:01 AM »

Hi DW, long time no see....
couple questions to you, Ill put them in separate posts.

First you mentioned that you changed your sails for the ease of uphaul.
Why didn't you bought a bigger windsurfing board?
The ease of uphaul increases exponentially. I have 3 light air boards, Fanatic Ray 130, Ray 145 and *board Formula

It is so much easier to uphaul 145 than 130... especially in chop... np up to 8.5 sail, very stable
and of course on formula you can uphaul anything anywhere

I understand you dont like big sails and big boards...
but you will be using big board for uphaul only... the moment you foiling and up in the air it doesn't matter what is the size of your board.
Or I am wrong?
 (which is very likely because I never foiled, only reading this thread that will beat the car thread very soon, and may be even hot chicks)?

There are two vid in this thread, one by blueplanet, another by Piros... both guys foiling on kiteboard foil behind the boat.
blueplanet vid shows a lot of trouble and wipeouts, the Piros' solution is fantastic.
He is foiling the same kiteboard essentially, but he uses big paddleboard to get moving.

Like the main advantage of paddleboard behind the boat is that you can start standing up at zero speed, 1, 2, 5, 8 mph... (the second advantage that you need no more than 10... 12 mph, so you can use a smaller boat, and the wipeouts are gentle for old body)
With foil attached underneath one can still use the same advantage (compare with wake like or waterski like start  from the water on blueplanet clip - it yanks you, you are jerked to too much speed in an instant)

Wouldn't it be the same if you use big wide (say ~80 cm  wide) windsurfing board - uphaul, start moving with extreme ease, then pop on the foil, and then forget about the size of your board. Essentially the big board is like a booster to bring you into the air, afterthat who cares how big it was....

I probably missing something...

21

SUP General / Re: Whoa.... this has possibilities. What say you?

« on: September 29, 2014, 04:00:02 PM »

my weight is something like 170....
generally speaking I think I should be fine.
After all from Mana 9'0" I am dropping just 8" only, plus gaining in width 2", plus probably same volume...
my worries are related to my previous experience with Houka 7'8" - thaaat was too radical...

with custom setup I am thinking may be thri fin vs. quad....
will it be faster?

22

SUP General / Re: Whoa.... this has possibilities. What say you?

« on: September 28, 2014, 11:32:49 AM »

so the step down from 9'3" to 8'4"... is it hard?
both are very wide...33" and 32"...

I am tempted to buy FAQ 8'4" (not necessary quad, tri fin will be good), but I worry a bit it will be too small..

I remember I went from 9'0 Mana to 7'8" and it was unbearable... too small... of course it was more radical than what I am thinking about with ULI (11" difference, vs. 16" in absolute numbers, and relative to the board length it is even less... plus volume wise this 8'4" will be so much floaty than my Naish 7'8"). Again this 8'4" will be probably floatier than my Naish 9'0" and wider too...

what do you think, ULI guys (capo and TD)

23

SUP General / Re: Whoa.... this has possibilities. What say you?

« on: September 27, 2014, 11:11:58 AM »

when I am on my ULI FAQ 9'3" there are two disadvantages (at my mediocre level) vs. my Mana 9'0"

1. I can't push thru the wave with this floating nose when going out. The only way is to go over the white water by loading the tail. From my experience I can cross much bigger and gnarlier whitewater on Mana. And big nose... I am pushed back if I am not precise. Leaves me much more time for surfing per se.

2. When surfing and I make a mistake, catching the nose, Mana is extremely friendly, allows me to recover. No way on inflatable. Big rounded rail in the nose, if it catches, its all over. Mana's nose is narrow enough, points up enough and has narrow rails -  I think those are the reasons.

So, this design with inflatable section in front doesn't address those two points above.

Otherwise - paddling straight, U-turn in front of the wave, takeoff, back and bottom turn, at my level... not much difference between inflatable and hard one.
People say that hard ones are faster when surfing, probably, tough for me to say because I never surfed both side by side, on the same day, same me, same conditions.

Furthermore, the main idea of inflatable and this semiinflatable is travel. But for travel in friendly skys, there is still a hard tail, hard on the wave but not that hard to whistand luggage handlers. I won't handle anything like that to them...

On a similar note, I read about inflatables doing very good in the ocean racing. I had an idea at a time that I think I had shared to some:

For racing boards make the inflatable nose section. This is like soft rockered skis... The soft inflatable nose section may make hitting the back of the wave much easier (rockered skis changed my skiing competely and made me 10 yrs younger, in particular K2 obsethed, very soft, and very rockered - when I hit anything, like a bump, an avalanche debri, a powder slab, it just bends, it like a shock absorber). Of course I am just speculating, because I never raced, lol... But I guess this forum is just for that, lol again...

24

SUP General / Re: 2 boards on the car transport question...

« on: September 08, 2014, 10:46:09 PM »

people like your friend - a national champ, what sport you said? stupidity?, or amateur idiots alike,  - is the reason I try not to sit behind the cars with stuff on the roof...
one strap, eh... will kill the guy behind easily...Lethal weapon, I mean a movie... they have visual illustration...
driving 300 miles with 6" distance between the board and the rough...
non stop,  not noticing it is moving, or not caring... something new you hear every day...

must have really good bladder toooo, and I am talking not about inflatable board bladder... 300 miles... nonstop...

as for putting inflatable on top of the roof - I frequently put my inflatable just on the roof, upside down, tie it with two straps, with enough pressure to prevent its movement...
straps go through the windows...
of course the car is rental... and distance is short... 

25

SUP General / Re: two Qs about Pismo

« on: September 08, 2014, 04:36:47 PM »

back from the trip.
it was half business, half checking around, half SUP... wait, doesn't add up to one... whatever...
business good, central cost is majestic, hwy 46 is one of the most scenic ones, Hearst Castle is impressive (the gardens, the roman art, and how naturally it blends with views, air and environment...)

surfing wise Pismo is definitely not the best.
NW is 100% correct, Moro is so much better.
waves at Pismo close like crazy. 300 meter long section that closes at once...
viciously... and waves were small...
So from the moment it has a pitch enough for take off till where it closes you have ten feet. Max.
So my procedure was - 180 U turn, a take off, followed by immediate stall... repeat...
nice exercise but not exactly surfing...

renting turned out not existing, so ULI served me great... again...

sea otter with a rock on his chest braking clam shells 3 yards away from me and paying no attention was hillarious...
Avila Beach is the most charming character town in the area, but no surf...

26

SUP General / Re: two Qs about Pismo

« on: August 06, 2014, 09:51:12 PM »

ww thank you. google said to me that point conception is half way to St. Barbara from Pismo.
I have few suits, the new one O'Neil Psycho 4-3 and the old one (couple holes), also Psycho 4-3
I probably take an old one.. and I hear you bout the crowds... I don't like them either! I hope if I start at 6 am I shouldn't have any issues by the pier

27

SUP General / Re: two Qs about Pismo

« on: August 06, 2014, 04:20:49 PM »

surf4food, thank you for advice, but I kinda already learn how to use google, ... a little while ago actually, may be 15 years ago? 

I am asking if you guys personally know of some shop that rents quality performance board, not 12' barge, not junk....

28

SUP General / Re: two Qs about Pismo

« on: August 06, 2014, 11:45:25 AM »

thank you WW...

no not interested in flat water...
staying in front of the pier, so hope for few hours very early in the morning...
looks like I'll take my ULI with me...

29

SUP General / two Qs about Pismo

« on: August 05, 2014, 09:00:14 PM »

will be at Pismo beach for a week Sep 1-7

two Qs:

1. is it possible to rent high performance board there? (like ~9 ft.)
2. what kind of wetsuit should I take with me?

thank you in advance for your answers!

30

Wind Powered / Re: Fastest sailing WindSUP?

« on: July 25, 2014, 11:40:56 AM »

thats true, of course if you live in the area that requires a quiver of two or three sails thts great, and even better if the biggest you need is 6.9
its nice to live in the Gorge or on Maui, or in SF bay area.. or in NC...

but the original post was about light air sails, and light air boards, for the area that rarely sees wind, thats the reason I replied about Formula, 145 liters, 8.5 sail 9 (btw this 8.5 is Retro, practically all my sails are Retro, from 4.5 to 8.5)

Also agree that buying the equipment to cover outlier conditions is not the best investment, but we are not talking about investment here.

Yesterday I sailed 100 km winds. I forgot my 3.6 at home (junior Alzheimer?), and my smallest was 3.9 on 75 liters. Massively, massively overpowered. Multiple airs, in the lulls rode a dozen waves. not a single attempt to jibe (couldn't just sheet on the reach, oversheeting for the jibe would be simply impossible. just long (couple miles) reaches, dismount, wtrstrt, repeat...

Two hours of scary fun. Waves head high on the prairie lake. One friend was on 3.3 and another was on 3.1
Am I buying 3.3 or 3.1? may be... may be modern 3.5 to replace my old dacron 3.6 (my 3.9 is newer generation, few years, so I downhauled it really strong yesterday)
but with a clear understanding tat it will be used once in a few years... not the first item on my list...