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First time foiling, very happy with my choices

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slowboat
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First time foiling, very happy with my choices

Postby slowboat » Sat Jul 01, 2017 9:02 pm

I spent a lot of time gathering information about foiling and finally did it. This forum has been extremely helpful and I wanted to make a contribution. First session, I was able to go back and forth for long distances with rare crashes. I was up and down a lot but definitely did a lot of flying. Towards the end of 2 hours, I was able to transition to toeside in one direction. I am a very average kiter and so was pleased with how things went. I think these are the things that really helped:

1. Floaty board. (2016 Alien Air) Allows slow touchdowns without sinking.

2. Foot hooks. (NSI) Provided perfect amount of support but feet always came out quickly during crashes.

3. Short mast. (Slingshot flight school) Can't imagine why one would not learn with a short mast

4. Low aspect foil. (Liquid Force Rocket Foil). Fat wing and long fuselage which really helps.

5. BRM Cloud. Used the 10.4. Kite behaved perfectly allowing me to focus on the board.

6. Experience with directional board. Especially strapless, helps with getting weight forward.

My first session was super fun and now foiling is all I want to do.

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IainMacaskill
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Re: First time foiling, very happy with my choices

Postby IainMacaskill » Sat Jul 01, 2017 9:16 pm

Glad to hear a positive first time experience, I totally agree regarding the short mast, I went from a 90cm to a 70cm and the learning experience took off.

I was riding today in winds under 10kts and I was thrilled to relaunch my Airush Ultra 12m after the wind dropped to zip. I was about 600m offshore wishing I was a better swimmer.

For a back strap I'm using a coat hook wrapped in pipe lagging and electrical tape and it's working really well as a marker for my feet.

Also I bought a Dakine Option Sliding Hook for my rope spreader to allow me to post launch and I'm happy to say it works a treat, you can buy it separately for about £15.

And wear a helmet.

Keep on trucking.

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Re: First time foiling, very happy with my choices

Postby BWD » Sun Jul 02, 2017 2:49 am

For a back strap I'm using a coat hook wrapped in pipe lagging and electrical tape and it's working really well as a marker for my feet.

Hope it's a plastic one or weak metal, have heard of hooks (neighbor, slingshot etc) ripping inserts through the deck and delamnation from crashing. I think hooks are cool but would want one that functioned like a spring, not a prybar...

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Re: First time foiling, very happy with my choices

Postby Eltreato » Sun Jul 02, 2017 7:00 am

Sounds like a great initial setup.

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abel
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Re: First time foiling, very happy with my choices

Postby abel » Sun Jul 02, 2017 10:50 am

IainMacaskill wrote:
Sat Jul 01, 2017 9:16 pm
Glad to hear a positive first time experience, I totally agree regarding the short mast, I went from a 90cm to a 70cm and the learning experience took off.

I was riding today in winds under 10kts and I was thrilled to relaunch my Airush Ultra 12m after the wind dropped to zip. I was about 600m offshore wishing I was a better swimmer.

For a back strap I'm using a coat hook wrapped in pipe lagging and electrical tape and it's working really well as a marker for my feet.

Also I bought a Dakine Option Sliding Hook for my rope spreader to allow me to post launch and I'm happy to say it works a treat, you can buy it separately for about £15.

And wear a helmet.

Keep on trucking.
Can you please elaborate about the Ultra 12...
Why you're using a 12 instead of a 15 for under 10 knots?
Why swimming effort and not using the kite as a sail?
Did you test/compare the Ultra with other kites in light winds <10 knots?
Any further insights?

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IainMacaskill
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Re: First time foiling, very happy with my choices

Postby IainMacaskill » Tue Jul 18, 2017 12:18 am

I bought the 12m rather than the 15m as I do not intend to foil in lite wind.

I live in Hampshire, Great Britain and Hydrofoiling round here in less than 8kts is dangerous as our lite wind days have a tendency to swing or stop blowing and turn off. In the comment above I'm referring to just such an instance, the wind dropped and I knew I was in trouble, I learnt the wind strength from checking a local wind gauge and was surprised the forecast was out by 35%.

I bought the 12m to be able to foil when its blowing 12kts when I'm rigging up as I know once I'm out on the water the wind will have holes and drop but I did not expect the kites performance to be as good as I have found it to be.

I weigh 95kg and can launch the foil with the Ultra and the Zeeko Blue/White without down looping in 8kts, if I grew some balls and down looped it I could probably launch in less with the 12m. I'll admit I don't like flying big kites, they feel slow, cumbersome and unwieldy but in my opinion for foiling you don't need the 15m. Once I'm launched and on the foil I'm pulling on the depower in 12kts on the Ultra 12m.

Regarding relaunch the centre strut is a great design, its thick enough to support the canopy by itself when the kite is wet and stops the kite from sticking to the water, especially when water is collecting around the leading edge on the trailing wing, the water escapes easily.

You asked about other kites my mate, who (probably) has better kite skills than my own was unable to relaunch his Ocean Rodeo Flite 10m when I got the Ultra 12m in the sky, again this was due to a hole in the wind resulting in the kites dropping out of the sky. There is always a bit of luck in relaunching but the Ultra lifts off the water so well you'll be impressed.

On 15-25kt days I use my 2013 North Evo 9m for foiling, I find its a good kite for foiling although I have an 8m Storm Kitesurfing Voyager on order.

As for sailing in rather than swimming, you cant if there is no wind, when it turns off on the Solent there is not a puff so its swimming time followed by a walk along Cliff Road.

The best advice I can give is 'wear a helmet', last Saturday I managed to clatter El Stubbo off the back of my head as I was getting glides riding in the swell and performed a superb cartwheel.

To sum up, I choose the 12m as its the best size for where I ride, when I ride. If you have consistent 8kt days the Ultra 15m will do you well for riding in the lightest of winds.

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Re: First time foiling, very happy with my choices

Postby Dspace » Fri Jul 21, 2017 11:10 am

slowboat wrote:
Sat Jul 01, 2017 9:02 pm
3. Short mast. (Slingshot flight school) Can't imagine why one would not learn with a short mast
I think there are a lot of forum regulars who pooh pooh the whole short mast progression learning thing but I am also a strong believer, if your location and conditions permit it. Definitely worth it to find a short mast location/conditions (flatish water). It really forces you to perfect your vertical adjustments with such a limited range between touchdown and stall.

I would even argue that staying on the short mast for a few additional sessions is worth every minute. You can start to dial in touches, touchdowns, stalls, down winding, wipeout technique, touchdown transitions, toeside, etc.

Many would say you can do the same thing easier on a longer mast with more vertical range. So why stay short? Simple, less injury prone wipeouts and way more total "uptime" per session while your developing all that muscle memory and expanding your skillset. You can actually progress to where you're inevitable touches are almost always soft, brief non-stall touches, and your wing-surface-breaking-stalls all but disappear. Maybe not in 35cm chop but certainly at 20cm or less.

FWIW I'm learning on an RRD h-flight (free-ride aspect ratio versus low aspect shovel) with plenty of gusty 15-25 knot sessions in 1.3 meter deep water, and a basic 6m Airush DNA. Works awesome....The 11-14 knot sessions on a 10 meter are even more funner....

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Re: First time foiling, very happy with my choices

Postby iSupply » Fri Jul 21, 2017 11:35 am

Nobilefrance have best foil Pack I ever seen.
Easy for transport and reasonable price for all set.
Awesome.

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Re: First time foiling, very happy with my choices

Postby iSupply » Fri Jul 21, 2017 11:38 am



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