skideeppow wrote: ↑Wed Dec 13, 2017 11:19 pm
So, ereytime i go out i hit something. I am destroying my front wing.
I was in mex, wave riding, i came off of foil and hit a coral head.
I was bakers bay bahamas, fell off my foil, and it got hung up on the reef and just sat there.
I came into the event site this summer a little hot, and came down and hit the bottom, scratched the shit out of my foil.
Obviously i know it is operator error, but Jesus, my wings look like shit and I am sure it is not helping their performance.
I guess i need to be riding in deeper, sandy spots.
Anyone else here hammer their foil.
No, I have never hammered a foil...
Extremely cautious not to ride much in spots I dont know inside out, as hitting something is the last thing I want to experience
Eventhough riding in new spots is also one of the most amazing experiences, so one have to do this too yes.
So if I ride in spots a bit more "uncertain" - I always ride further out and check in details what the depths are all over on nautical charts beforehand, so the risk is almost non existing, at least minimized.
The reason I am so cautious is not the cost as such (not only at least) - it is one thing yes, but if you damage your foil a lot, you can not ride for a long time, till you get a new one which can take some time, depending on country and delivery time and stock etc.
It would be horrible not to be able to foil because you had to wait for gear, right ?
The only time I have needed a small repair on my (first, got two) 4 year old fuselage, was my own fault, trying to start in too low water in 5-6 knots of onshore summerwind for too long, thus standing sometimes on the board, foil sinking on the (sandy) bottom with the big long span wing a bit tilted because I WANTED to ride....
A more common thing is when the wings get small cracks on the tips and leading edge, if the foil wash ashore before you or you have to get ashore with your kite in "no wind" really fast, thus wings are sometimes rubbing on small rocks on the bottom cause of even small waves, which happens occasionally, but one can ride on without doing anything about this damage, or you can sand or fill it up - no big deal.
But I can see at many spots one can risk hitting reefs (where good waves so can easily happen) or hidden rocks - but nothing one can do about it, it is just repair or pay for new parts then
PF