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Zeeko Spitfire Hydrofoil

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gbrungra
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Re: Zeeko Spitfire Hydrofoil

Postby gbrungra » Wed Jul 10, 2019 8:42 pm

Good to see people experimenting w new foil setups.

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Re: Zeeko Spitfire Hydrofoil

Postby zerogee_ca » Fri Aug 02, 2019 12:35 am

Curious, if anyone has shimmed the base on a Spitfire in order to compensate for the rocker in the board they have it mounted to?

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Re: Zeeko Spitfire Hydrofoil

Postby flying doctor » Sat Aug 03, 2019 10:39 am

3InletsWindsports wrote:
Tue Jun 18, 2019 5:37 am
I moved from the Zeeko Black&White to the Std Spitfire
The main difference using the Zeeko Pocket Air board was that with straps in the two inline positions I had only used the front strap and was slowly moving it back , my rear foot was always in front of rear strap. On going to Spitfire this stance made pitch control very hard. But putting back foot in strap pretty much solved the problem.
The XLW and XXLW wings are easier but jumps are best and bigger waves on the STD wings
You can’t use the Spitfire mount plate with XXLW or jump the XXLW.
Note the same strap position is fine on all Spitfire and Bullet and Blaster foils on my Pocket Air which has only one set of inserts for mounting foil.
I have some questions regarding the footstraps on the zeeko pocket air in combination with the std spitfire; do you prefer the inline 2 straps instead of 3 straps in V? And where are they positioned?

And a few remarks because the question was raised in this thread whether the spitfire is a good foil to learn on so I'll share my limited experience:

I only started foiling 2 weeks ago with a borrowed North combo on a 65cm mast. Conditions where quite ideal for learning with flat seas and 15 knots and I was able to get up on the North in the first 15 minutes and was able to do flying gybes after an hour. Had a total of 3 sessions and really enjoyed learning and experiencing something new!

My main focus being wave riding the spitfire seemed like a good choice for me because I really like the carving feel and pressure on my back foot in carves when on a SB. This thread really got me interested in the spitfire, and I was able to buy a used one last week with the standard wings and a Zeeko pocket air.
Yesterday was my first session on the spitfire in less than ideal conditions: 25 knots, waves 1-1,5m. The exact conditions I would be hoping to use this foil in in the future but miles from my current level of experience; I had a lot of crashes. It really is a different animal compared to the North. I was surprised at the speed and pressure that seemed necessary to get it out of the water, but then again the high waves and first time on a 90cm mast made the whole situation rather complicated. I really got a spanking! It is really safe that the foil never jumps up to the front, it made me more confident in trying it's limits. Breeching the front wing leads to a touchdown that is usually manageable but sometimes had me crashing hard. The sensitivity to pitch did make it tilt over at speed sometimes and having the foil jump out of the water sideways did feel unsafe.
When on foil it seemed very different in how my feet had to be placed. I had two straps in V shape, no backstrap but I felt that my front foot had to be more centered than possible with this configuration to get a good balance.
The foil was twitchy at times (lively as some people put it here) but stabled out at speed it really felt smooth. A lot less draggy than the North. I was on a 5m Naish Slash 2019. First time foiling with this kite, hard to keep adequate power but being so focused on the foil it was hard for me to give the kite much attention. I never felt overpowered, more often underpowered actually.
Where the North gave me the confidence to gybe and could stay flying at slow speeds I couldn't manage any of that on the spitfire, I'll need a lot more practice.

So from my limited experience I'd say this is not the easiest setup to learn, but then again the conditions weren't really in favor. And I'm curious whether a XLW wing would make it easier for me to progress. Any thoughts on that?

Thanks everyone in this thread for giving me the preparations to try this foil and having a bit of knowledge on foot placing, it probably made all the difference in managing to foil for some lengths at all. And despite of all the crashes I was really stoked from the smooth ride I had a few moments!

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Re: Zeeko Spitfire Hydrofoil

Postby Peter_Frank » Sat Aug 03, 2019 12:08 pm

flying doctor wrote:
Sat Aug 03, 2019 10:39 am
Snip...

I only started foiling 2 weeks ago with a borrowed North combo on a 65cm mast. Conditions where quite ideal for learning with flat seas and 15 knots and I was able to get up on the North in the first 15 minutes and was able to do flying gybes after an hour. Had a total of 3 sessions and really enjoyed learning and experiencing something new!

Snip...

My short answer would be: Just ride on a few days more, you are even more talented than Kai Lenny, being able to foil after 15 minutes, but most impressively to make jibes after an hour - many use years to learn the last part, actually some never learn this :thumb:

But yes, the bigger Spitfire wings makes things easier and IMO also a lot better in waves eventhough not fully as agile as the std.
I found the std wing too small for waves.

8) Peter

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Re: Zeeko Spitfire Hydrofoil

Postby 3InletsWindsports » Sat Aug 03, 2019 12:45 pm

I use two straps inline and now those straps are as tight as I would normally have them on non foil boards.
I have given up worrying about getting away in crashes and just aim to keep both feet in during a crash so as to be ready to get going quickly before next wave.
Start with straps in central hole position then fine tune.
The Spitfire for me reacts better to the firmer contact straps give.

I think the Std wings suit a faster moving wave and like close spaced turns. It’s the going straight bits that it gets away from you. Also the bigger waves give more room to do stuff on the face.
The XLW wings dampen the action down and are better in the smaller waves ( 3 footing). The XXLW are best in more outside swells, they (for me) get overpowered by wave in relationship to kite and you end up being over focused on kite control.

Running down the line on a shaping wave on the Std. At speed is a buzz but the end in my experience is a spanking but worth it enough to keep getting sucked in.

As PF said, your progress is very impressive but maybe you are pushing a bit ahead of yourself and need some skill consolidation.

I might add that the ability to cope with being overpowered is best on XXLW and least on Std.
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Re: Zeeko Spitfire Hydrofoil

Postby 3InletsWindsports » Sat Aug 03, 2019 12:53 pm

zerogee_ca wrote:
Fri Aug 02, 2019 12:35 am
Curious, if anyone has shimmed the base on a Spitfire in order to compensate for the rocker in the board they have it mounted to?
I use a Std Spitfire mast on my Std wing Spitfire but a Windfoil mast on my XXLW and don’t notice anything about board attitude.

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Re: Zeeko Spitfire Hydrofoil

Postby flying doctor » Sat Aug 03, 2019 1:38 pm

Thanks a lot guys, I think my first progression had a lot to do with ideal circumstances, a lot of strapless SB experience, and preparing with YT tutorials. But that's the way I like to learn. Actually having some Kai Lenny genes would make it a lot easier :P

Trying the spitfire made me realize just how hard foiling can be but I welcome the new challenge, what a great sport this is with all the innovations going on!

I'm tempted to order an XLW wing right away (too bad Zeeko doesn't seem to have the option to buy only the main wing) but maybe sticking to this combo for a while will serve me better.

In the end I'd also like a pronefoil setup with the XXLW but that's another challenge for the future :wink:

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Re: Zeeko Spitfire Hydrofoil

Postby Sgallian » Fri Aug 23, 2019 2:14 pm

Well, finally bought mine, standard set-up, a bit used, I got to try to fly with it a couple sessions, and the important word there is "try".
Haven't been foiling in more than a year, so I might have been rusty, but my first impression was that you really need some wind and/or a good kite to get going (9kn with 11m, not enough). I could fly some meters before crashing down, but man, this thing is really pitch-sensitive...
Got the XLW wings a few days after, and a bit more wind (10-12kn), and then I was finally able to foil over the water more than 100 meters. Curiously, with the XLW wings (AVS version), the foil "hummms", not that it annoys me that much, it is just that I thought that the mast was the main suspect for that phenomenon.
I use the Nobile Split Foil 2019 for the board, just enough volume, with V straps on the front, no straps on rear, because I feel safer this way, and in any case, it looks like the back foot would be too far behind if I put the straps.
But what surprised me is that I still feel that 75% of the weight should be on the front foot, not really that different from the usual foils, so a bit disappointed by that: maybe I should try with another board with US rails and/or multiple positions for the straps, would that help in this regard? Also, looked a bit roll-sensitive, I feel like it would be better with a center front strap.
And yes, definitely need to tighten those straps...

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Re: Zeeko Spitfire Hydrofoil

Postby flying doctor » Fri Aug 23, 2019 4:38 pm

I've just received the XLW wings, but no wind the coming days to test them.
If you go through this topic you'll find you're not the only one experiencing the humming.
I guess the pitch sensitivity is what helps it carve and during turns the pressure should be more on the back foot.. I'm hoping to find out soon!

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Re: Zeeko Spitfire Hydrofoil

Postby max » Fri Aug 23, 2019 10:22 pm

Sgallian wrote:
Fri Aug 23, 2019 2:14 pm


I use the Nobile Split Foil 2019 for the board, just enough volume, with V straps on the front, no straps on rear, because I feel safer this way, and in any case, it looks like the back foot would be too far behind if I put the straps.
But what surprised me is that I still feel that 75% of the weight should be on the front foot, not really that different from the usual foils, so a bit disappointed by that: maybe I should try with another board with US rails and/or multiple positions for the straps, would that help in this regard? Also, looked a bit roll-sensitive, I feel like it would be better with a center front strap.
And yes, definitely need to tighten those straps...
your front straps are in the wrong position if it is 75% of the weight on the front foot.

Zeeko give the recommended bootstrap positions relative to the foil mount on their website . . . or used to. From memory, the rear insert for the front strap should be 370mmm ahead of the front foil mount bolt. Hope that helps.

My friend is selling his Nobile split board as the choice of footstrap positions does not work with his Axis foil that he now rides. The split board worked well with his Nobile foil.
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