Strapless foiling

[SpaceRacer]

Hi, I am up and riding in all directions and on-water jibing. Id like to start foiling strapless. Any basic tips or advice would be appreciated.

Thank you

[Starsky]

There is no secret to it. The only thing you will need to learn is the waterstart. I think its easier to sink a rail and control a low volume board, but its all the same foot positioning provided your straps are in the right spots.

[Peter_Frank]

Exactly - no secrets at all when riding.

But the waterstart is impossible at first, if you are new and havent seen how it is done.

On surfboards we just put our feet up on the board and push the edge a bit down while pointing downwind, no hands used - and off we go
Does not work here

IMO it does not matter if a small or big board, I find no difference in the "ease" of waterstarting.


Tilt the board up on its side with your rear hand, and then dive the kite down with your front hand while you position both feet before the foil sinks, and you also let go with your rear hand to steer the kite now.

If using a smaller kite, you dont have to dive the kite down before you let go of the board with your rear hand - as it dives so quickly that the board is still on its side and you can swoop up and foil in one go


That is all there is to it - but if you have tried without putting the board/hydrofoil on its side, you havent got a chance.

The timing might take a while to get bullseye as you have to coordinate three things, the kite dive and the feet placing and the board angle.
Practice till it sits on your backbone, and it suddenly feels easy !
You will also fail the start sometimes, in waves, even when experienced - but feels SOOOOO good strapless

PF

[jespin4845]

Rear hand tilt the board, front hand loop the kite to waterstart, maybe bear downwind a bit depending on how strong the loop was in relation to the wind strength

[SpaceRacer]

Yep. Makes sense. Thank you. Can't wait to feel it!

[SparD]

Hi, I posted a topic about strapless hydrofoiling some time ago, you can find it here : http://www.kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=196&t=2389515

This video from IanNJ is a excellent tutorial for strapless hydrofoiling :





Here are my videos, you can see the progression between the two :








I am working on the "flying" duck tack and it's very hard ! My next video will be when I master it.
I was not even sure it was possible strapless but this video proved it possible :