Wing foil sessions - beginner

[PonoBill]

Next week looks pretty good according to iWindsurf. I've moved to La Jolla Shores now so Mission is pretty handy. It would be cool to get some wind here in La Jolla, but so far I haven't seen much.

[surfcowboy]

Ok so now able to start riding on foil switch. Still not pretty and not consistent but knowing how this all works I’m probably 2-3 sessions from getting that to where I’m comfortable. I’ll start trying toe side then but for now I’m going to start practicing on land since I seem to be pretty stiff in my waist and shoulder rotation.

One limitation to learning is that I really can’t head upwind strongly switch so for now I have to only try when I’ve made good progress on my good side.

Yesterday was steady 15 mph with gusts to 20 (I think) and it felt overpowered at times with my 5m. I am learning to “fly” the wing and depower and power it up as the wind shifts. I even used that second handle on the swing a bit. Lol  But man, I could use some steady Hawaiian wind. (Couldn’t we all here in mainland winter?)

Got an Apple Watch and used Surfline Sessions to track my rides. Fastest speed I show was 13mph. I’m assuming that as I get better I’ll make more speed? I will say that when the speed hits 13 feels crazy fast with a strong wind blowing you. Must be wild in 30. It looks like I was going about as fast as the average wind with the gusts. Is this to be expected? And will speed come with experience (and yes, I think I’m about to try moving down to my faster foil on better days too.)

I want to also report that with my feet in the right position I can fully control this XL Gong Rise. I can see how the speed tops out but between managing my wing angles and keeping the front down, a small person can 100% learn on a big wing and it’s is fun now to pop onto foil immediately. So I’m glad I have this wing to start with. Also, for switch riding it’s been great to have the stability and slow reaction speed for sure.

[PonoBill]

Fastest speed I show was 13mph. I’m assuming that as I get better I’ll make more speed? I will say that when the speed hits 13 feels crazy fast with a strong wind blowing you. Must be wild in 30. It looks like I was going about as fast as the average wind with the gusts. Is this to be expected?

Or 40, but that's heavy guy territory until you get some smaller wings.

When you can trim well, the highest speed angle is about 100 degrees to the wind. At that angle you can go quite a bit faster than windspeed if the wind is fairly light.

[surfcowboy]

Ok, I gave it a few days but I can’t interpret “100° to the wind “

On a 360° plane, where is the wind from? And where is my nose aimed?

For example if wind is from 0° (North) I’d normally go across it at 270° W or 90° E as an easy angle. What would you say my nose could reach if I was headed 90°and turned North?