Total beginner advice

[justkite100]

Hi All,
If this has been posted before please point me in the right direction...

I'm a total newbie to hydrofoils but have decided to jump straight in and buy one.

There is such a lot of choice on the market - can anyone recommend what I should be looking for as my first hydrofoil and board ?

Also, I keep hearing different opinions on straps vs strapless. Would it be too much of a challenge to learn strapless straight from day one?

Thanks

[dylan*]

I recently switched to strapless and I wouldn't recommend it for learning. Water starts are 100x more difficult, and as a beginner you're going to be doing them a lot.

For the foil setup, something with a lower aspect wing will be the easiest because you can foil at much lower speeds. I just learned foot changes without touching down, and am glad I didn't upgrade from my hover glide yet because I can do them at 5 knots without stalling and sinking.

I'd also recommend getting something that supports a half-size mast, it makes learning very easy and the additional mast is usually not very expensive. Seems most brands are offering this option these days.

[toyletbowl]

Hi Justkite......I'm a dealer, but get a chance to ride and evaluate a lot of foils.
In all my years of being in business, making a recommendation for a foil to start is one of the easiest recommendations.

Kites? Tons of choices. Hard to choose sometimes.
Foils? Slingshot is killing it. Easy choice and here's why.

A lot of beginner foils have a lower aspect wing set up which make them easier to get up on the foils at slower speeds, but these foils can often bottom out for progressing.
When you get better, it can feel like you are trying to go 65mph on the highway but the car can only go 45. They will limit some of your progression.

The cool thing about the Hoverglide foil is that it's really stable and easy to foil at slower speeds and it WILL go faster which is hard to find in foils.
It's not a racing foil at all which can be very demanding and twitchy to ride, but a really good combo of a beginner foil that rips.
Add the shorter masts with a choice of 3 or 4 really good boards and it's an awesome set up.

Remember, I'm a dealer, so I am biased, but for good reason.
I do carry other brands, but the SS foils are by far the most popular.
I'd be glad to help out, but if you have a good local dealer, I'm sure they'd appreciate the support.
If not, I'd be glad to help.

I just got restocked with my foils and boards.

I hope this helps,

Bob
www.kiteridersllc.com

[gbrungra]

Reposting what I just wrote in a similar thread:

Definitely foothooks!

SOMETHING to help you ride on the surface (weight so far forward the board dowesn't foil right away). So a. a board with tracks, b. foothooks mounted all the way forward, or c. a shimmed rear stabilizer. Or some combination of those three things, until you get a feel for front foot pressure control.

Ideally, a short mast for learning. Lots of people learn without one. But it's faster and safer to learn with one. Be honest with yourself. Are you the kind of person who can hop on a new board and just ride, or do you need practice? If you aren't a top 10 percentile natural athlete then get a short mast to learn on.

Personally, I went with slingshot hoverglide because I got a great deal on it. No regrets.

[DukeSilver]

I've learnt to foil on a SS Hover Glide and it has been great. The short mast options offer a real benefit for learning too.

[Strekke]

I bought a Sroka Freeride set up, great bang for your buck. I love it because the foil itself is super-stable, also when going downwind, yet very maneuvrable and superfun to ride as it turns on a dime. I also had a few sessions on a "beginner's" low-aspect foil, and these might start foiling a earlier/at lower speeds, but are much harder to turn and don't get a nice top speed once you start progressing. Low-end wise, the massive board that comes with the Sroka has been great: it floats nicely so you have plenty of time to send the kite a bit up and down to build speed, before popping out of the water. Also for jibes / tacks it's nice to have some float and surface for when you are still learning and touch down. It's just a great affordable option for beginners that want to have something they can still have fun on when they progress.

Anyways here's a review of the one I bought: https://www.iksurfmag.com/reviews/board ... oard-2017/

[justkite100]

Wow thanks for all the advice, Ive just noticed my post has been posted twice on this forum but with separate titles.
The browser crashed when i clicked submit so i reposted but with a slightly different title. Sorry and perhaps an admin could combine them.

So far Im thinking Slingshot board and foot hooks ( tempted by the cabriha double agent due to the current promotional prices )

Im on 9m and 12m cabrinha FX's.... I'm guessing they're not the ideal kite for hydrofoiling. Not looking to change all my kit but I'm assuming they will get me started.

[gbrungra]

Haven't tried a Double agent, but I did hear some negatives.

Thin board, so less flotation makes learning surface transitions harder. Also hurts more when you fall on the edge.

No short mast option.

Low profile foil means you may outgrow it faster. Most people now look for medium aspect (slingshot, lift, sroka, zeeko, keetos, etc) for learning and progression.