Author Topic: Need Foil Help!  (Read 5133 times)

Califoilia

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Re: Need Foil Help!
« Reply #15 on: April 04, 2019, 04:08:44 PM »
We’d all foil like hero’s if we had power at the bottom.
No doubt. With our weak SoCal waves we have to stay right at the top or you're sunk w/o the constant pump.
Me: 6'1"/185...(2) 5'1" Kings Foil/Wing Boards...7'10 Kings DW Board...9'6" Bob Pearson "Laird Noserider"...14' Lahui Kai "Manta"...8'0" WaveStorm if/when the proning urges still hit.

frenchfoiler

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Re: Need Foil Help!
« Reply #16 on: April 04, 2019, 04:50:39 PM »
I completely understand your frustration with trying to learn how to foil.  We all see the vids of guys flying down line with little to no effort.  Foiling was presented and marketed as the next big thing.  Shitty flat days that you would never paddle out in were the "perfect days to foil".  Total bullshit, guys were being pulled into the waves and or rolling swells.  I feel like there are 5 people who can actually foil, everyone else is just struggling for a couple seconds of flight. 

The reality is foiling is extremely difficult to learn.  The equipment is in it's infancy and peoples sets up are all over the place.  Different board dimensions, different foil manufactures, different wing sizes, different mounting types (track vs tuttle), different mounting locations, etc....  Just getting a setup that actually flies and is stable is a huge hurtle.  By some miracle you actually get a board and foil that works together you still have a figure out how to adjust everything so that it flies and is stable.  An experienced foiler can do this pretty quickly, a newb to foiling... good luck.  Now lets talk about the cost, dear lord...you are looking at $2500 for a good board and foil.  Now get ready for damage costs, product failures, wings, boxes, on and on. 

Assuming you are a unicorn and everything lines up perfectly.  Now you are ready to hit the water and be the youtube foiler.  Wrong...wrong...wrong...it's now time for you to get your asskicked over and over again.  Trying to ride what feels like a unicycle on ice, except the unicycle is trying to kill you.  You also have to figure out where (location), when (tide) and in what conditions (wave height) you can even foil in.  Lots and lots of trial and error, lost days, cuts and bruises from the death cycle.  This is the reality of foiling, do not believe the hype. 

I shelved my setup back in June of 2018.  I just got tired of the constant tweeks, adjustments (searching for a stable setup) and product failures.  I went back to paddle surfing and suddenly I was happy again.  I haven't seen anyone else foiling either.  There used to be 6 to 8 other prone foilers out there with me.  My 10' Starboard Whopper will catch anything a foil will (in the surf zone) except it will do everything a foil can't.  Foiling is nothing but big drawn out turns, nothing aggressive in the face of the wave. 

I will try foiling again down the road but for now I am back doing what I love and enjoy.  The reality of foiling is that anyone who can actually foil has has a huge investment in their time and money into the sport.  If you have a local group of foilers that have it all figured out, you have a chance.  If you are a lone wolf trying to figure all this out by yourself....forgetaboutit...:).

Foiling is not difficult, but you need a good spot, just like San Onofre south side. It takes time as it is different than surfing but I woudn't say it is super hard to learn.

Newps

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Re: Need Foil Help!
« Reply #17 on: April 04, 2019, 05:09:08 PM »
Foiling is not difficult, but you need a good spot, just like San Onofre south side. It takes time as it is different than surfing but I wouldn't say it is super hard to learn.

SanO is a very good spot for foiling but it also can be very costly on equipment.  If you have a board and foil that is dialed in, then the learning curve is a lot better.  SanO has a great foiling community to help a newb out.  If you are a lone wolf getting into to foiling, "You are gonna have a bad day".  At least this has been my experience.  I did swap boards with a guy up here in HB with a GO-Foil Maliko 200.  His set up was easy to lift, predictable and stable to fly.  Mine set up not so much..:(.  I tried sup-positions set up behind his boat a Go-foil Kia.  It flew worst then mine did, go figure?
L41 SIMSUP S4 - 7'4" x 30 1/4" x 4 1/2" 112L
L41 SIMSUP S5 - 7'6" x 27 1/2" x 4 3/16" 106L
L41 SIMSUP S4 - 7'8" x 31"x 4 1/2" 122L - Modded w/ a King's TUT Tuttle box and using a King's foil.
L41 SIMSUP S4 - 7'10" x 30 1/4" x 4 1/2" 120L
Starboard Whopper - 10' x 34" x 4 1/3" 171L - w/ FCS GL-1 fins

PonoBill

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Re: Need Foil Help!
« Reply #18 on: April 04, 2019, 08:58:25 PM »
I understand what you are saying Newps, and I mostly agree. Some people get it quickly, but most don't. Even some people who are great water athletes are struggling a lot. I'm roughly a year and a half in and I still consider myself a beginner--I can't do the stuff that I'd consider intermediate: Turn precisely and reliably, stay in the power, make banked turns that aren't an accident. If it wasn't as addictive as Crack I would have stopped long ago.

But it is.

I figure I'm going to make it, I'm going to be an intermediate foiler, probably sometime this summer. It's stupid hard for me at my weight and with my balance and geezer joints, but I'm making steady progress,

Most of the people I see hanging it up are using something other than GoFoil to learn on. I don't think GoFoil is the best foil to use once you've master the craft, in fact, I'm pretty sure it isn't. But I think it is absolutely the best foil to learn with.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

JEG

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Re: Need Foil Help!
« Reply #19 on: April 04, 2019, 09:12:33 PM »
Thanks for the reality check Newps as I'm about to leap into the foil world and I'm not looking forward to torture.

Dwight (DW)

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Re: Need Foil Help!
« Reply #20 on: April 05, 2019, 03:31:27 AM »
Yeah, big thick wings to learn. Too many guys on small or thin wings.




clay

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Re: Need Foil Help!
« Reply #21 on: April 05, 2019, 08:31:50 AM »
Foiling is not difficult...If you have a board and foil that is dialed in, then the learning curve is a lot better.  SanO has a great foiling community to help a newb out.  If you are a lone wolf getting into to foiling...

I hear your frustration.  It took me 100 sessions to feel completely comfortable, about half of those on difficult to fly equipment.

My experience is that big slow stable wings on a balanced board are really easy to fly.  As soon as I got on the slingshot/ride engine/Moses big 84 wing foiling became ridiculously easier.  I don't ride their foils anymore but I recommend every bigginner try one, or a similarly shaped wing and stabilizer.
Aloha, I welcome and appreciate all responses of positivity and good feeling.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOIE6FWr1SpWvbPJIIiEgog

frenchfoiler

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Re: Need Foil Help!
« Reply #22 on: April 05, 2019, 09:58:08 AM »
Hello, I have been struggling with my SUP foil for about a year now and was wondering if someone can answer one big question. How the hell do you know what wave is good enough to try & get on??  Every time I go to catch a wave it will do one of 2 things, be loaded with power or it goes right under me. Most of the time its the latter. >:(
I was out last week on nice size wind swell & couldn't catch one. Plus the current had my wing doing crazy things while I was trying to line myself up.
I feel frustrated not being able to figure this out by now. Even on clean days with good waves I can only catch a small percentage.  Thoughts?

Riding a Go Foil Maliko 200 W/Naish Hover 120 7-6" in SWFL garbage waves. 215lbs

I would say come to southern california for couple days, foil Sano everyday with an experienced instructor and we will be good !

Beasho

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Re: Need Foil Help!
« Reply #23 on: April 05, 2019, 01:01:21 PM »
Most of the people I see hanging it up are using something other than GoFoil to learn on. I don't think GoFoil is the best foil to use once you've master the craft, in fact, I'm pretty sure it isn't. But I think it is absolutely the best foil to learn with.

I agree with Pono Bill.  If you are trying to learn then BUY THE RED GoFOIL IWA!

It works.  The IWA / Maliko 200 will work for everyone 175 lbs up in 1 to 10 foot surf (eventually). 

If Clay got the Slingshot Moses 84 to work then that is a good sign.  I was wary of trying anything other than GoFoil.   The board question is MUCH less important than the foil being BIG.

We all learned in Northern California on 8 ft and 9 ft boards with GoFoil KAI wings.  We would have been MUCH happier with IWA's.
« Last Edit: April 05, 2019, 01:03:13 PM by Beasho »

 


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