Advice for Beginning Foilers

[windrider99]

How to Foil (feedback appreciated, assumes the board has front footstraps):

1. Face downwind, board flat on the water perpendicular to the wind. Hold the board with your back hand grasping the far rail, forearm resting on the board. Hold the bar with your front hand, kite at 12, sheeting out to minimize power. Using your back hand and forearm, tilt the board up and put your front foot securely in the front footstrap. Then, put your back foot across the centerline of the board directly over the mast, and simultaneously move your back hand to the bar. Bend your knees to get closer to the board, which will help you stand up.

2. To start, direct the kite back past 12, then forward past 12. Let the kite drop no lower than 45 degrees, then redirect it upwards. Keep an eye on the kite to make sure it doesn’t drop too low. STAND UP WHILE THE KITE IS RISING. Gain some board speed, working the kite if necessary.

3. Keep the board level: level side to side (using heel/toe pressure; don’t edge the board!) and level front to back (using weight evenly distributed; don’t weight the back foot!). Bend the knees a bit to maintain balance and keep your back vertical. This level, evenly weighted, vertical stance is very different from riding a twin tip (which requires you to edge the board, weight the back leg, and lean back).

4. As you gain more speed the board should rise up on the foil. Once you’re foiling, drag decreases substantially, so sheet out and keep the kite high to reduce power.

5. As you’re foiling, control the board’s altitude above the water so the board doesn’t drop too low (causing it to hit the water) or rise too high (which brings the foil out of the water, causing a certain crash). To decrease altitude: weight the front foot, extend legs, sheet out. To increase altitude: lessen weight on the front foot, bend legs, sheet in.