Finally a little progress

[obxDave]

After some dues paying over the first 4 sessions (ok,....more like general flailing) it’s good to have those rare days of minor progress. First toeside rides, first jibes to toeside and back, and a couple of foot switch attempts. Lots of falling in between! Got back to where I launched with no broken bones or gear😀

(Compared to kite foiling everything seems to move much slower, thankfully for this klutzy ole guy)

Blue Planet Carver 5’8”
Gong standard XL foil wing with 65cm mast (now I already want the faster pro version)
Duotone 5m wing (GoPro on the boom)
Wind  ~15-23 mph
Salvo, NC (Outer Banks)
(I’m 77 kg)

[PonoBill]

Wow, you're doing great. I assume you were a kitefoiler. Four sessions is nothing, and your foot position kind of gives that away. You might find a little more stability if you keep your front foot in the middle of the board. Kitefoilers seem to want to stand on the rails. I wasn't a kitefoiler, but cheating my foot to the rail was one of the things Dan Gavere (River) corrected for me. It makes a big difference both in getting up easier and in controlling the foil. If you press down on your front foot to correct trim you'll also turn the board if your foot is toward the rail.

You're also bending your arms way too much, which comes from using the wing like a sail or a kite. If you straighten your arms you'll get used to flying the wing as a wing a lot quicker. Let it get up high and point the nose where you want to go. Much easier on the arms and shoulders too. That was pretty cool getting toeside and the hop to switch. I'm having better luck moving to the middle first and then hopping to the switch position. I've been surprised how stable the foil is when I'm standing with my feet parallel if I do it in the right spot. I start by sliding my front foot back a little while keeping pressure on it, then bring my back foot forward while relaxing pressure on the front foot. Bring the front foot slightly behind the previously back foot, then hop into position. I've seen better wing foilers do the whole maneuver with sliding their feet--no hop. I can almost get there if I bring the back foot far enough forward on the first switch to semi-parallel, then slide my new back foot back to the mast, and then kind of wiggle my front foot forward while keeping pressure on it.

That all reads poorly, but it's what I'm trying to do, I want to be able to switch feet as smoothly as I used to in a planing jibe on a windsurfer. I think it's critical for downwinding, which is my ultimate goal. I'm going to do wingfoil Malikos this year, by george. Or maybe southside, we'll see how my chicken reflex does.

[obxDave]

Hmmmm, interesting comment on foot position. I kinda feel better with a little offset; front a little to windward and back foot slightly to leeward, when riding heel side. Just seems to give me much more roll (carve) control rather than both feet really close to center line. When they’re both on centerline all I have is heel-toe pressure to control roll/initiate carves with that massive wing.  With offset I can weight or unweight either foot just enough (without diving or breaching) to carve. But what heck do I know! Maybe you have some video of your foot location?

Yeah, still trying to figure out most efficient (restful) arm position. Got a long way to go on that. For  pointing upwind I end up bringing my forward hand back on the boom a bit to even the load on both arms and stretch them out more but,......I always feel like I’m pulling the rear arm in to “sheet” the wing for pinching as high as possible (windsurfing/sailing brain talking). For downwind riding and jibing it feels like I want the forward arm more forward to easily luff the wing. Oh well, much to learn!

Huge admiration for people learning this without any previous foil background. As an ok kite foiler I thought 5 two hourish sessions to get to jibing and toeside was pathetically slow

[Dwight (DW)]

Hmmmm, interesting comment on foot position. I kinda feel better with a little offset; front a little to windward and back foot slightly to leeward, when riding heel side. Just seems to give me much more roll (carve) control rather than both feet really close to center line. When they’re both on centerline all I have is heel-toe pressure to control roll/initiate carves with that massive wing.  With offset I can weight or unweight either foot just enough (without diving or breaching) to carve. But what heck do I know!

You know a lot. This is exactly how you should place the feet for maximum control strapless.

[Admin]

OBX!!!!

You are killing it.  Amazing for 5 sessions.  Dwight is spot on about your foot position.  Almost everyone rides with the front foot offset.  This is true in straps as well.  Early on we got the advice (it is common advice) to get both feet centered on the centerline.  That really set us back.   It can be close to true for some of the really advanced guys using really narrow boards but for these wide SUP's we are all starting on offset is needed. 

Check this out.  Find a straight line on your floor (edge of a wood plank, tile, etc).  Center your feet on that line.  Now bend your knees into riding position.  Where is your weight in relation to the line?  It is way over the toeside.  You have to offset to allow you to bend your knees and center your weight.   You want to keep your weight centered, not your feet.  How you will get there will vary by rider.  I have my front toes just over the centerline and my back foot centered.  On Chan's narrower board (25 inches) my front foot is more over the line.

[obxDave]

Check this out.  Find a straight line on your floor (edge of a wood plank, tile, etc).  Center your feet on that line.  Now bend your knees into riding position.  Where is your weight in relation to the line?  It is way over the toeside.  You have to offset to allow you to bend your knees and center your weight.   You want to keep your weight centered, not your feet.  How you will get there will vary by rider.  I have my front toes just over the centerline and my back foot centered.  On Chan's narrower board (25 inches) my front foot is more over the line.

Cool, never quite thought of it that way. When we first started kite foiling getting your feet in exactly the right position from the get go was critical since trying moving them around on the board while up on the foil felt really unstable, and usually meant a quick wipeout. Now that a lot of us have been riding for awhile we refer to the “sweet spot” since we are switch footing and shuffling around up on the foil all the time. Has to be a fast switch/shuffle and sometimes you hit it perfect (maintaining just right the centerline offset), and sometimes you don’t! As long as you are generally in the sweet spot you can stay up on the foil and reshuffle into a better stance. Took me almost a whole season to get it on a 15 L kite foil board. These monster SUP foil boards and monster foil wings have a big sweet spot and react slow. Temporary touchdowns seem to have less consequence.  Otherwise an old spastic klutz like me would never pull off a foot switch without a full season of pain first

Wing foiling be fun! Want a new Dwight board next spring and a faster foil

[VB_Foil]

Looking good OBX!  I can't wait to head down your way for a session.  Is the sound tricky with the shallow factor?  Any tips as to where to target?  I have a 28.5" mast.   Thanks!

[obxDave]

Is the sound tricky with the shallow factor?  Any tips as to where to target?  I have a 28.5" mast.   Thanks!

Yeah, sound depth is always an issue with foiling here. From Rodanthe right down to Hatteras and Ocracoke you can always find deep enough water if you get out far enough from shore. There are a few spots with deeper holes close to shore (in front of Real W, Avon bay, the “channel” at the Canadian hole), but I’d just choose based on wind direction for side to side-on directions. E to SE directions are kind of crappy for any of the typical soundside locations, but great for ocean riding.

28.5” is workable, just means getting father out. I was on a Gong 65cm at Salvo Day Use Area. Not too bad after ~150 yds out. I’d still sometimes bump knee starting in a shallow spot. Having a stubby 24” mast is great if you’re lazy, but not essential.  Down winding from the new horse shoe bridge at S-curves to Day Use Area (or the other way) would be a great wing foiling session I’d luv to try. No working back upwind required

The day I shot this video there were at least a dozen kiteboarders, windsurfers, and even a couple of kite foilers at the same spot. For all the wind sport/surfing stuff that goes on in the OBX there is virtually no one here wing foiling yet. The local shops are kind of laughing at it under their breadth so far.....

[PonoBill]

Offset always feels better, but when I find myself struggling to get the board off the water I generally find my front foot offset. I move it to the stringer and come up a lot easier. I'm not good enough yet to be banking my turns, so I try to keep my weight centered and turn by twisting. I'm certain my substantially greater weight (65 pounds more) means my observations apply mostly to me, but if I'm going upwind with my front foot offset it's easy to get into a feedback loop I don't have the skill to break out of. I turn a little more upwind and bank the board over, which increases the apparent wind and I speed up, which banks more, which...  ends in a yard sale.