Automatic Pumping

[PonoBill]

I was cleaning up my computer desktop when I came across this chart. Maybe it's something I grabbed from Beasho or one of you folks. I was thinking "well, that certainly explains how pumping works" when I suddenly realized it could also be used to make pumping more powerful. I think pumping is two things--adding some energy and changing AOA, and a lot of the value comes from changing AOA. The foil rises in the lift side of the pump because the rider both temporarily lightens their weight on the board and changes the AOA to generate more lift. On the compression side of the pump, the weight comes back on the board and AOA decreases, reducing drag and converting some downward momentum to forward velocity.

If the rider makes those changes too vigorously a lot of the energy will blow away in drag. I can see a couple of design approaches that could minimize that effect and give a broader range of effective pumping. Food for thought.

[PonoBill]

Oops, forgot this: