Day 1 downwind training, questions and Barracuda impressions.

[B-Walnut]

Day 1 training and questions!

Rider:
190lbs 5'6" avid kiter and sup surfer. Crappy winger. I get 100+ days a year in the water.

Gear:
Kalama Barracuda 8'0" x 21" 112l
Takuma Kujira 1210 75cm mast
Black Project Surge Paddle.

First day out on a downwind board and I spent an hour practicing prone and paddle pop-ups (to my feet, not foil, no swell or wind). I was really comfortable in the calm waters. No balance issues, pop ups all went really well and this board paddles fast! I have to admit, I was mentally prepared for a disaster but that wasn't the case. I know wind/swell are going to change things dramatically, but I'm glad I'm learning on a board that is so user friendly in the calm waters. It definitely encourages me to keep at it.

My questions are:

1. Do you place the foil in relatively the same position as you do with a wing board? Or do you have to find a different sweet spot for it? I also have a 1500 foil which when there is swell, I plan to learn on. This 1210 seemed fine since I wasn't trying to get on foil today.

2. How many sprint strokes does it typically take to get up on foil in the waves or in swell? I was practicing 20 stroke sprints but wasn't sure if I should push longer?

Thanks for any/all advice!

[leschisup]

Wow! if your getting 20 powered stokes that's great. I'm in Ocean swell and popping up in 4-6 stokes as ref. 145lbs, GoFoil 1150. Kalama 7'10x20". Do the balance test, board flipped place hand on the center part of front foil. you should have board balancing flat. If not move forward or back until then. That should get you 90% there and then just tweak forward for more lift less/rear foot pressure.  or vs verse. I'm going to post vid of average guy popup on my Youtube "destination360" soon.

[B-Walnut]

Wow! if your getting 20 powered stokes that's great. I'm in Ocean swell and popping up in 4-6 stokes as ref. 145lbs, GoFoil 1150. Kalama 7'10x20". Do the balance test, board flipped place hand on the center part of front foil. you should have board balancing flat. If not move forward or back until then. That should get you 90% there and then just tweak forward for more lift less/rear foot pressure.  or vs verse. I'm going to post vid of average guy popup on my Youtube "destination360" soon.

Thanks! I do start to drift off course a bit with 20 strokes, so working on the J is on the list as well. Hoping for some mellow surf soon and/or the return of west winds to the gorge. It's still a bit early season and unpredictable at the moment. I'll keep my eyes peeled for your video!

[jondrums]

I have the same board and am figuring it out at the same time.

My initial observation is that the balance point of the board fore-aft when floating and at low speeds is well ahead of where you need to be when foiling.  The bumps in the deck pad seem to be in the right spot for my feet with my foil mounted center of the boxes.  But if I put my feet there at slow speeds, it sinks the tail.  So I need to get paddling slightly split stance with my back foot forward and slide it back when there is enough speed to engage the foil.

[B-Walnut]

Day 3:

We finally got some wind in the gorge again so I grabbed the barracuda and my wings. I wanted to get a feel for where the foil wanted to balance at, as well as spend some time on foil before I paddle up onto foil.

I went out in 18knots with a 2.5m slick v1 and tried to get up. ALMOST but not quite. I swapped out the 2.5 for my 4m and it pretty much put me on foil instantly. Using my kujira 1500 and then kujira 1210 I found the board to be surprisingly nimble, super fun to ride, excellent with touchdowns, all around great. I decided to ditch the majority of my wingfoiling gear after this session. I never cared much for the wing, and the barracuda shoots you up on foil so much easier, that I decided I'm done with wingboards.

Also spent time paddling in extreme chop and current. Difficult, but doable. The current was overwhelming though. Even with wind and swell pushing me, the current was still overwhelming any forward progress.

Demoing some new foils this weekend, hopefully getting good downwind conditions to try things out, and then hopefully heading to the coast to try and get a few days in the ocean. Still loving everything about this board!

[SUPeter]

You will eventually become accustomed to the boards balance thresholds.  Just a thought here. --  As far as how many paddle strokes it typically takes, well, maybe you're looking at it in wrong way.  You more likely should be asking yourself, "How many hops and downward pumps does it take to get up onto foil".  As has been shown, certain mutant quality individuals can actually use leg and body pumping alone to get up onto foil.  Very few if, any, individuals, as far as I know, have ever paddled up onto foil with no board pumping(excluding sprint kayaks with foils).  Looking at it this way, we could assume that more speed is generated by the foil, than by the paddle.  Focus your concentration on getting really good hops and aggressive downward pushes to engage the foil, in an ever increasing cadence. Coupling this with some well-timed and powerful paddle strokes will have you up and flying with far fewer paddle strokes.   Typically I am up and flying with approximately 5-8 "paddle strokes/pumps.  You may want to hold off for a few extra pumps for even more speed to build before climbing higher on the mast.

[SUPeter]

Forgot to mention- having a very large foil will help greatly. That 1210 Kujira may be a bit on the small side for beginner paddle ups. I can only paddle up on the Axis 1150 , 1300 and one homemade foil.

[B-Walnut]

You will eventually become accustomed to the boards balance thresholds.  Just a thought here. --  As far as how many paddle strokes it typically takes, well, maybe you're looking at it in wrong way.  You more likely should be asking yourself, "How many hops and downward pumps does it take to get up onto foil".  As has been shown, certain mutant quality individuals can actually use leg and body pumping alone to get up onto foil.  Very few if, any, individuals, as far as I know, have ever paddled up onto foil with no board pumping(excluding sprint kayaks with foils).  Looking at it this way, we could assume that more speed is generated by the foil, than by the paddle.  Focus your concentration on getting really good hops and aggressive downward pushes to engage the foil, in an ever increasing cadence. Coupling this with some well-timed and powerful paddle strokes will have you up and flying with far fewer paddle strokes.   Typically I am up and flying with approximately 5-8 "paddle strokes/pumps.  You may want to hold off for a few extra pumps for even more speed to build before climbing higher on the mast. Forgot to mention- having a very large foil will help greatly. That 1210 Kujira may be a bit on the small side for beginner paddle ups. I can only paddle up on the Axis 1150 , 1300 and one homemade foil.

That's actually really good/useful info. I think since I have so much SUP surfing experience I was definitely more focused on the stroke, than the pump, but I hadn't considered how much more weighted the pump should be, although that makes sense.

Everyone has been confused by the 1210, haha. The goal isn't to get on foil with that. It's just to go out and work on my balance and paddling. My largest foil, and the one I'll be using at the moment, is a helium 1500. However, I think I'm going to move over to unifoil this summer and am eyeing the Hyper2 250 which has a surface area of 1613. I'm hoping the extra speed/glide/pump will be useful when I actually get  up on foil!

[Hdip]

Paddle with board flat on water for a few strokes. When you start to feel the foil engage do small, tiny, pumps. 2-3 more paddles minimum in this stage to continue building board speed. Upping your cadence will be better than digging deep here. Keep fast paddle cadence increase pump effort.

If you try to hop and jump like a mad man on the board you'll stall the foil and lose all your speed.

Watch Kane paddling up the lift ha90 video. Start the pumps very small, build the pumping.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CsClyx3MFpW/

Flatwater starts are a party trick though. So just whack on a truly massive foil and make life easy. AXIS PNG 1150/1300 Kujira 1440, GoFoil GT2200

[Beasho]

I have the same board and am figuring it out at the same time.

My initial observation is that the balance point of the board fore-aft when floating and at low speeds is well ahead of where you need to be when foiling.  The bumps in the deck pad seem to be in the right spot for my feet with my foil mounted center of the boxes.  But if I put my feet there at slow speeds, it sinks the tail.  So I need to get paddling slightly split stance with my back foot forward and slide it back when there is enough speed to engage the foil.

Jon I tried Josh’s barracuda.  Similar deal.  He had a front strap and when I put my foot in it and paddled the board wheelies nose up.  Then I remembered josh saying that with flat water take offs it requires total weight on front foot.  As in 100 % or so it feels.  I then caught the wave and balanced out.  The point being: That is the way it is.  New school take off.  Heavy front foot, where it feels too far back.  Then fly! and

[Hdip]

When paddling a SUP you're supposed to lean your weight forward and onto the paddle. Most people incorrectly move their hips back when paddling.

[B-Walnut]

After 5 days of flatwater paddle training and two days of winging on the cuda to demo various foils, (Takuma, Unifoil) wind finally arrived at the pumping level in the gorge. I swapped out my Unifoil demos for Cloud IX demos and specifically got a hold of the FS1780.

I did two 45 minute paddle sessions in 15-30knots of wind (averaging around 20). Probably would have done more but the current is still raging and it's stressful trying to avoid getting swept downstream. First session I got my first popup onto foil. Probably 5th try. After that I just got more and more tired fighting the current. Second session I got another popup and a short flight. Too gassed to stay up! Regardless, I was thrilled.

I took the 1780 to a lightwind spot afterwards and had fun with endless glides and easy pumping. Closed the river out with everyone watching from shore while I ran lap after lap out there with the whole thing to myself. It's not a "high performance shredder" but if you want to get up with the paddle or in light winds with the wing, then that is a pretty nice foil.

[Hdip]

Nice job on the paddle ups! My buddy did 10 minutes at a closed out shorebreak wave on that big Cloud 9. Looked effortless for him. He finally got greedy and came in a little to far and caught a wingtip on the bottom kicking out of a wave. Would've kept going otherwise.

[B-Walnut]

Nice job on the paddle ups! My buddy did 10 minutes at a closed out shorebreak wave on that big Cloud 9. Looked effortless for him. He finally got greedy and came in a little to far and caught a wingtip on the bottom kicking out of a wave. Would've kept going otherwise.

10 minutes!? Awesome. I can believe it, even with the current absolutely raging right now this foil just wanted to stay up. I also have the 1150 and 700 to demo over the next couple of days. After having been on Takuma for the last 1.5 years and having demoed F-One, Unifoil, and now Cloud IX, I have a feeling I'll be switching to Cloud IX by end of week!

[jondrums]

I have to say, light wing winging on the barracuda is AMAZING.  So much fun