150 Foil Sessions - Video

[Admin]

Your charging now Clay.  What a progression!

[PonoBill]

Very cool video Clay. The board is indeed, a bigger deal than it seems it would be. I'm close to my balance limit with Little Fugly at 6'11" X 30" for surfing but I can probably go quite a bit smaller for winging. When I look at the numbers they still shock me.

[red_tx]

Good Video Clay, I agree with all of the comments you made with regards to why you like foiling. I am also hooked/addicted.

I have maybe 150 sessions and am to the point where I really dont think about it anymore. I am also looking for a lighter more nimble board, but My starboard allows me to move around quickly on flat water to get in position for the wave. I can move so much faster in the flat on my foil than I ever could with a standie.

All my standup paddles boards are for sale now and all i think about is foiling. My buddies come back from surfing the crowded line and complain about how cold the water felt.

My wind wing is on its way, so I am also stoked there.

Looking for any and every 1 star day from now on.

-red

[jondrums]

All my standup paddles boards are for sale now and all i think about is foiling.
...
Looking for any and every 1 star day from now on.

Totally sums up my feelings as well!

[clay]

Right on, I appreciate all your feedback! 

Foiling changing my whole outlook on the ocean and surfing totally resonates!  The wingding seems like a whole nother level of expansion and possibility.   Exciting!

[JEG]

yeah, nice vid clay and well done on your progression and its soo good to see your ripping on the foil and now the wing 

[Beasho]

Great Video Clay!

You were legitimately the first foiler in Northern California attempting to go out and surf.  I remember walking into STRETCH's shop in November 2016 and seeing your Black Stretch ~ 11 foot downwind foil board.  You were still making Fort Point Stink Eye videos back then.

There is good news and bad news here. 

1) If you put in the time you can learn to foil

2) Foiling is like anything else.  If you want to be Youtube quality you have to put in your time

People often post questions about foiling and I will ask how many sessions they have? ANSWER = 10. 

The reality is the people (mortals & un-sponsored) who have gotten really good at Surf foiling: Piros, Sam Pea, Robert Stehlick, Steamroller, you, me, Jeff(?) . . . have hundreds upon hundreds of sessions.  And worse have endured broken boxes, leaks, cracked foils, fat starter boards, failed attempts at lake foiling, tow foiling, injury, loss, spent $1,000's and $1,000's . . . .  and yet we GLEEFULLY Foil on.   Mutants.

PS: I agree with you on the dolphin perspective.  This past summer I was the guy from California getting up at 4:30 am and surfing one of the BEST breaks in Rhode Island 100% alone, day after day.  Why?  Because I was on a foil and the 2 to 3 feet waves at 6 seconds were absolutely fantastic. 

NO ONE ELSE SEES IT!

Statistics below on my first 2 1/4 years foiling.  Solo Rate means 100% alone in the line up for all or a percentage of the session.

[PonoBill]

It does take time. Fortunately, it's as addictive as crack and I wake up every morning figuring how I'm going to do it today.

[JEG]

it's addictive alright, for some that is.
I don't count sesh and I've been on it for almost 5 months now at once a week and sometimes twice a week if I'm lucy.
Still in the kook stage but I like the progression that I made because "I did it my way" (FRANK SINATRA remember him, such a legend  ) with no tow sesh and no foil instructor and just read/watch and see. Bought a few foil gears to try and hope for the best. I like the challenge and I want to be like Mike 

[clay]

Thanks Denton, I appreciate you acknowledging those early days, I was scared to plunk down 3 grand on something I had no idea how to ride or even if I could ride it, and if I could do it safely.  A lot of frustrating nerve wracking sessions in those first few months.

I agree takes time and is addictive, one good fast straight down the line flight was all it took to hook me in.

Nor cal foilers seem pretty spread out and new adopters scarce.  I have seen more folks in Marin picking it up, some foil paradise up there.  Also I have been to SanO twice this year and saw lots of folks foiling at a high level there.  And I went to Maui in January and holy cow tons of foilers and they are all good, I'm going back for Thanksgiving I'm curious to see what I find foil and wingding wise.

I was rereading my notes from foil session #6, "felt humbled and frustrated and a bit hopeless, having a hard time seeing any light at the end of the tunnel.  Wondering how anyone learns to foil and is able to do so with control and ease?"

Now that I am on the other side of that learning curve it is getting harder and harder to remember how difficult it was to learn to foil.  Foiling really does seem easy and effortless now.  It took me a few years to learn to how to become proficient at short boarding, and a little less for foiling as I already have the wave/ocean knowledge.

[PonoBill]

From what I see on Facebook most of my Maui foiling friends are getting wings. Some of them are very advanced already, some are struggling a bit. Like them, I got really excited about it when I realized that adding a wing meant I could pretty much be up on a foil every day, for most of the day. Surf foiling is a lot more fun than I expected, but the wing kicks the narrow window of conditions that work wide open. Blown out at Ka'a seems like a happy thing now. Please Ping me, Clay, when you get to Maui, it will be fun to meet you and share the stoke. I'll be there from mid-November on.

The main reason I started surf foiling was to get good enough to be able to downwind foil. After a few zillion failed downwind sessions I've realized I'm going to need a new knee and 50 pounds less of me to do that. The wing just moved that back into contention as well. I'll work on the 50 pounds (says the guy who just succumbed to drinking a little egg nog) but I'm planning on more fun in the meantime.

Admin, Chan and I are probably 50+ sessions into wing foiling and we are reliably flying across the river, a little more work and we should be able to downwind. That seems to be a fairly reasonable result for half a summer, much of which was spent waiting for more appropriate gear. Who knew back in June that a 235# guy on a 3M wing needs some pretty crazy conditions? It feels like we're at V1.2 on the gear designs. It should progress briskly from here.