TomW wrote: ↑Fri May 03, 2019 10:14 pm
2. Don't know why you'd want to control power by surface riding. Just point upwind or go downwind while flying.
My spring/fall local lake for an after work session has extremely turbulent wind. We have had kiters show up there who can throw tricks that I cannot even name, but they still get blown downwind and can't keep up with those of us with local experience. I also frequent some destination lakes (2-5hours away) that have very clean wind. There, the foil game is much different.
So the problem with running on my home lake is that you will get a 1.5 second gust, build up tons of speed, and then over run the kite as that speed pulls you into the lull. Going upwind takes you too close to the trees on the windward side of the lake and you lose wind, along with the ability to relaunch the kite. So just heading upwind to shed power for more than 1 run is a no-go. Currently, my strategy on my home lake is to go as far upwind as will still have clean wind, ride there, and have to put the board on the water to run downwind if the wind comes up or gets "crazy impossible" to ride with a foil.
I am not saying I am the best foiler, but I don't have anyone else to compare to on my home lake as no one else foils there. At the cleanest wind destination lake, there are lots of foils there. In the summer, I do get ocean clean winds in swell and the waves. But I still do not have a larger foil for waveriding. But the difference riding in steady wind vs turbulent wind is night and day with a foil. On a surfboard, I guess I am just used to it. While my foil is low aspect, it is decent sized and considered a slower foil, but I suspect it is not sized to my 100+kg weight. Thus I am looking into bigger foils for the reasons why Kami says he believes they are better.
The big experimental payoff will be if trying a bigger foil on my home lake in turbulent wind makes for a more comfortable ride. That is my hope, anyway.