Blue Planet Show- Wing Foil interviews

[Solent Foiler]

I appreciate the video, but I'm suspicious of the wind speed claim. Really looks more than 10 knots to me. 10 knots is a gentle breeze which doesn't pull at much as it appears at the start...

I am a bit suspicious because there were what looked like wakes/whitecaps coming off the back of his board to leeward.  HOWEVER Gunnar is a Wind-Ding superhero.  And he showed the wing graphs. 

You have to compare your number of sessions and experience against his. 

I am not calling BS on anyone that has 4X or 10X the number of winging sessions that I have (I am around 30).  At this point I have to sit by their knee and listen.   

For sure. I'm not denying he can do it, but I'm just calling what I see. I've been involved with wind sport for over 20 years wasted many hours waiting for breeze to fill in, so know what 10 knots looks like. Not calling BS either - perhaps the images are misleading or there were 10 knots periods during that session, but when compared to Balz's video of getting going on his 4.5 on his sinker with barely a few ripples this does look significantly windier. Whatever, I'm on my own journey, and would be massively grateful to have just 5 mins in Gunnar' body just to feel how he does it!

[blueplanetsurf]

I would say that you can get up on foil in pretty light wind on a 4M wing with the right foil and good pump technique, but you might need to wait for a 12 knot gust.

These are my first impressions of the Wasp V2, can you believe how easy the setup is?

https://youtu.be/gCGic1x6BMk

[blueplanetsurf]

In this episode#6 of the Blue Planet Show I talk to Sam Loader, the designer of the PPC Wing which is my favorite wing.
Watch it on youtube or listen to it as a podcast, just search for the Blue Planet Show in your favorite podcast app, thank you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO222jWvCJM

[blueplanetsurf]

We are posting a new Blue Planet Show this morning, an in depth interview with Kane De Wilde about wing foil design and technique.  We are posting it as a video premiere at 7 am Hawaii time with live commentary and Q&A, please join use here:
https://youtu.be/NtJ0bWpw41Y

[surfcowboy]

Robert, thanks for doing these.

I’m not even jibing on foil yet but I can tell you one thing I’ve learned is getting on foil in light wind. My wind speed needed to fly drops monthly. If you’re struggling, be willing to get help and spend some time on flat water on light days practicing. It’s not super fun but it pays off. Also if any of you are still flapping the wing when you pump instead of keeping it full of air and pulling, that will help a ton. Someone needs to make a video of this because I thought I was pumping the wing until I reeeeally pumped the wing. All of a sudden the world opens up and it feels like you are paddling your board. Smooth pumps are a whole different thing. (Insert dirty joke here.)

And now, thanks to Kane there, I’m evaluating my foil and board position and setup. I have a strong suspicion that a wind wing allows you to overlook a lot of issues with your rig as far as balance, box position, etc. You can power out of bad setups with wind. But if it’s right it’ll be easier. I’ll bet all our rigs could be tweaked for easier riding. Damien LeRoy talks about this on a recent video too.

But I have to warn you guys, do NOT watch the Kane video. You will lose a whole day since you will want to watch it about 4 times to get all the info. I’ll be going back to this one for a while. Thx Robert.

[deja vu]

Robert -- at the 32 minute mark of the video you talk about a method you use to determine where your mast should be located in the track to balance the board and foil.  Is this just a starting point or is this a foolproof method of finding the right spot for your foil every time?  This works for both HA and LA foils? 

As soon as I get a chance to get back on the water I'm going to give this a shot -- find the thickest part of the front foil and using that spot lift the board off the ground.  The board should be parallel to the ground.  If not, move the mast either forward or backwards until the board is parallel to the ground.

[Hdip]

That was a theory KDMaui talked about on "the progression project" a year or so ago. It's a nice way to find a starting point. He has since clarified that point. You can start there, then if you're digging rails in turns, you move the mast back towards the tail for more lift. If you're getting launched off the board and can't keep the foil in the water, you move the mast forwards towards the nose for less lift.

[deja vu]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm a little confused.  My experience has been that moving the mast (foil) forward gives me more lift, not less -- by moving the mast back (foil) there is more body weight in front of the foil to counter the foil's lift [front foot heavy move mast (and foil) back -- back foot heavy move mast (and foil) forward].  Am I out to lunch?

[Dontsink]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm a little confused.  My experience has been that moving the mast (foil) forward gives me more lift, not less -- by moving the mast back (foil) there is more body weight in front of the foil to counter the foil's lift [front foot heavy move mast (and foil) back -- back foot heavy move mast (and foil) forward].  Am I out to lunch?

Here you go,from KD himself:

https://www.foilfeed.net/forums/topic/foil-placement/

[Solent Foiler]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm a little confused.  My experience has been that moving the mast (foil) forward gives me more lift, not less -- by moving the mast back (foil) there is more body weight in front of the foil to counter the foil's lift [front foot heavy move mast (and foil) back -- back foot heavy move mast (and foil) forward].  Am I out to lunch?

Here you go,from KD himself:

https://www.foilfeed.net/forums/topic/foil-placement/

Yeah, think you got that the wrong way round Dontsink. KD says:
"In conclusion, breaching tips in turns = foil back and touching rail in turns = foil forwards."

[Hdip]

That was a theory KDMaui talked about on "the progression project" a year or so ago. It's a nice way to find a starting point. He has since clarified that point. You can start there, then if you're digging rails in turns, you move the mast FORWARD towards the NOSE for more lift. If you're getting launched off the board and can't keep the foil in the water, you move the mast BACKWARDS towards the TAIL for less lift.

I typed that up to fast and had it completely backwards. Sorry about that. Couldn't edit old post.

[blueplanetsurf]

You can also move your foot/ weight placement in relation to the foil but having the center of gravity line up with the center of lift seems to make everything feel easier to control and more balanced and is a good starting point.

I'm working on a video on setting up your wing foil gear that will cover this as well as foot placement, using footstraps, etc.

If you lift up your setup from the thickest part of the foil, the board should be more or less level to the ground and not nose or tail heavy.  This seems to be a good starting point for most size boards and different foils, try it!

[bigmtn]

https://kdfoils.myshopify.com/blogs/foil-info/hydrofoil-balance-tuning

Some good info here!
https://kdfoils.myshopify.com/blogs/foil-info

[blueplanetsurf]

https://kdfoils.myshopify.com/blogs/foil-info/hydrofoil-balance-tuning

Some good info here!
https://kdfoils.myshopify.com/blogs/foil-info

Those are good tips from Kane.  I also posted this new video on foil placement, what board to use, where top place feet and using footsteps:
https://youtu.be/4_Fyom6kerw

[blueplanetsurf]

Whether it's swimming with sharks, wing foiling in big waves a day before giving birth, or "toiling" on smooth North Shore walls with her smooth, flowy foil surfing style, Glennel Jordan lives a full life and openly shares about her background, surf foil and wing foil technique and equipment, her Macaw, her husband Zack and baby Raven, adventures, stories and how she keeps a positive outlook.

https://youtu.be/qkG0wtXKFwI