First impressions of GoFoil Kai Foil

[blueplanetsurf]

Evan from Standuppaddlesurf.net put together this video about foiling with the Maliko Foil on a downwind board:

[Beasho]

Evan from Standuppaddlesurf.net put together this video about foiling with the Maliko Foil on a downwind board:

Robert this is super informative.  For those of us interested it leaves us WANTING MORE.

I am most interested in:

1) The earliest takeoff possible
2) Maximum speed after than early takeoff

I am projecting this into a big wave environment.  I want to get in early and swing wide, really wide.  There is no need to mess with the critical section of the wave if you can prosper in an unmolested playground clear of screaming children and swollen diapers. 

[blueplanetsurf]

Hi Beasho,
I was just looking at your other thread, good to hear that you "pulled the trigger" and will be able to share first hand knowledge soon.  For surfing bigger waves the Kai foil is probably the right choice for you.
Regarding speed, i'm not sure at what speed I'm taking off at on a wave but you do need a wave that is just about steep enough to catch on a regular board. Once you fly on the foil though, friction goes way down and once you get the hang of it you can keep it going with very little push, so yes, getting way ahead of the lip and riding the soft shoulder of a long wall is the best place to be on a foil.  The speed on a steeper wave is too much to handle as the foil creates too much lift and wants to come out of the water no matter how much front foot pressure you apply.
For me a good speed for towing behind a jet ski with the Kai foil is about 12 mph and I can create enough pull by angling away from the ski to fly the foil.  For my friend Jeff it takes about 14 mps to foil behind the ski.  So the takeoff speed depends on the person and obviously rider weight.
A smaller board is much easier to control when flying, I just posted a youtube video where I'm using a 5'6 fish with the Maliko Foil and getting towed into the wake of our surf charter boat on our recent Mentawai trip, I'll start another post for this as well: