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Who's (still) riding fast foils?

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TomW
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Re: Who's (still) riding fast foils?

Postby TomW » Sat Jan 11, 2020 1:43 pm

I am looking to downsize from the 1200cm Moses 633. The Gong M Pro is slightly smaller and higher aspect. It's a nice change.

Foil
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Re: Who's (still) riding fast foils?

Postby Foil » Sat Jan 11, 2020 2:09 pm

Peter_Frank wrote:
Sat Jan 11, 2020 11:20 am
It seems like those riding with straps are the only ones (taken in general...) that use the small fast wings?

Early days we used these small faster ones 550 to 650 cm2 strapless, no issues when used to it.

Today these just feels wrong to me, strapless, its like you have to rig a different kitesize and also turn very different in the carves somehow, especially if on the low powered side.

So going up in size 650 cm2 and up for the average weight strapless rider seems the standard now somewhat, is my take on this.

Whereas with straps, definitely go smaller and faster, soooo much fun to blast along and jump, yes :thumb:

8) Peter
exactly,
even using the two front straps with the back strap either removed or never used, you can never really lock the board down for maximum speed and stability, and all feet locked down enable you to lever in the tiny pressure adjustments to prevent or reduce the chance of exploding off into your own cloud of spray.

But for me converting to using all straps all of the time was not easy, sounds easy, but just going from 2 straps to 3 on all sea states at maximum speed takes a lot of getting used to, feeling like a complete beginner in the first wobbly attempts, it took me maybe 3 months and my weak side is still not as fast as my good side, measured at 5 knts slower which is a lot, big improvement still to make as well for jumping on my weak side
but now after many many sessions later, I wonder why I never started this 3 strap foiling years ago, maybe I did and just found it too hard to master.
but of course for jumping big, there is little choice.
I did say at one time I was not interested in ever trying to jump, that changed very quickly with my first very feeble attempts.now I am totally hooked.

one strange fact from my foil jumping experience is,
why is my bad weak side the complete opposite side to when I used to boost big on my Ttip, my foiling weak side is the side I could kite loop on landing full chat, even double loop if you count the little landing loop,
my old good side is now flipping useless at boosting the foil, but I am working on it, so it will get better, I hope.

cwood
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Re: Who's (still) riding fast foils?

Postby cwood » Sat Jan 11, 2020 3:23 pm

Foil wrote:
Sat Jan 11, 2020 2:09 pm
Peter_Frank wrote:
Sat Jan 11, 2020 11:20 am
It seems like those riding with straps are the only ones (taken in general...) that use the small fast wings?

Early days we used these small faster ones 550 to 650 cm2 strapless, no issues when used to it.

Today these just feels wrong to me, strapless, its like you have to rig a different kitesize and also turn very different in the carves somehow, especially if on the low powered side.

So going up in size 650 cm2 and up for the average weight strapless rider seems the standard now somewhat, is my take on this.

Whereas with straps, definitely go smaller and faster, soooo much fun to blast along and jump, yes :thumb:

8) Peter
exactly,
even using the two front straps with the back strap either removed or never used, you can never really lock the board down for maximum speed and stability, and all feet locked down enable you to lever in the tiny pressure adjustments to prevent or reduce the chance of exploding off into your own cloud of spray.

But for me converting to using all straps all of the time was not easy, sounds easy, but just going from 2 straps to 3 on all sea states at maximum speed takes a lot of getting used to, feeling like a complete beginner in the first wobbly attempts, it took me maybe 3 months and my weak side is still not as fast as my good side, measured at 5 knts slower which is a lot, big improvement still to make as well for jumping on my weak side
but now after many many sessions later, I wonder why I never started this 3 strap foiling years ago, maybe I did and just found it too hard to master.
but of course for jumping big, there is little choice.
I did say at one time I was not interested in ever trying to jump, that changed very quickly with my first very feeble attempts.now I am totally hooked.

one strange fact from my foil jumping experience is,
why is my bad weak side the complete opposite side to when I used to boost big on my Ttip, my foiling weak side is the side I could kite loop on landing full chat, even double loop if you count the little landing loop,
my old good side is now flipping useless at boosting the foil, but I am working on it, so it will get better, I hope.
that is interesting for sure, kind of like my golf shooting one way and a hockey shot the other way.

blu
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Re: Who's (still) riding fast foils?

Postby blu » Sat Jan 11, 2020 4:47 pm

TomW wrote:
Sat Jan 11, 2020 1:43 pm
I am looking to downsize from the 1200cm Moses 633. The Gong M Pro is slightly smaller and higher aspect. It's a nice change.
I find my Lift 150 which is similar in size (967 cm2) to Gong M Pro more fun than 633 in general.

Huib
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Re: Who's (still) riding fast foils?

Postby Huib » Sat Jan 11, 2020 5:56 pm

I have 2 wings, an 800 cm2 and a 1200 cm2. I rarely use the 800. With the large wing I can use a smaller and therefore faster kite which I like a lot much more.
Playing on small waves with a large wing is also much more fun.
By going less fast, falling is also less painful.

grigorib
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Re: Who's (still) riding fast foils?

Postby grigorib » Sat Jan 11, 2020 6:02 pm

I sometimes debate whether 545 wing I got years back as a replacement for my 2013 Lift (~830 sq.cm) would be nice to ride again. The first impression was “it flies so fast and smooth”, like getting a skateboard off beaten black top to polished indoors concrete. Second impression was “I’m sure I can ride, why am is failing transitions and suck at my weak side”.
Then came 548, 590, 633, another 633, and finally 683s which I alternate with 590 - anytime I get to huge body of water like La Ventana or Lake Michigan I find my 683s somewhat slow to cover distances. I could push 25-25 MPH from both 633 and 683s but it’s having to “push it” made it less fun. The 590 goes fast naturally but than when I try to push 590 I lose stability and think of race wings which would stall at low speeds.

Hopefully one day I’ll find “big dude race wings” - with more wing area to carry my 200 lbs, but thin and stable and I’d love to play with those. 720 is not - it’s too thick

The “need for speed” feeling is so tempting
Last edited by grigorib on Sat Jan 11, 2020 6:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

oregonkiter
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Re: Who's (still) riding fast foils?

Postby oregonkiter » Sat Jan 11, 2020 6:10 pm

I have come to hate high speed crashes on foil. I think I have a glass jaw...

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Peter_Frank
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Re: Who's (still) riding fast foils?

Postby Peter_Frank » Sat Jan 11, 2020 7:39 pm

Huib wrote:
Sat Jan 11, 2020 5:56 pm
I have 2 wings, an 800 cm2 and a 1200 cm2. I rarely use the 800. With the large wing I can use a smaller and therefore faster kite which I like a lot much more.
Playing on small waves with a large wing is also much more fun.
By going less fast, falling is also less painful.

Average weight?

I had it like that for a period when I got a 1200 wing, loved it and used it the most.

But over longer time I now prefer my 800 the most when windy no doubt at all.

Perfect to have both :thumb:

I am 77 kg.

8) Peter

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junebug
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Re: Who's (still) riding fast foils?

Postby junebug » Sat Jan 11, 2020 8:42 pm

I like going fast, but where I live is very sharky, and when I used to ride a faster foil (Lift 110), I was hitting sharks about every other session (4-5 foot bull sharks mostly) and I would go flying off the foil. Since switching to a slower foil (Lift 150), I haven't hit a shark once, at least that I know of. I'm aware I wasn't breaking any speed records with the Lift 110, but the speed was enough that, for whatever reason, the sharks couldn't sense it in time. On many occasions, I would look down just in time to see a shark's body curled to dart away, but I hit it before it could snap.

Since sustaining a neck injury, going flying off the foil at speed is no longer a viable option. Thus, it is slow foils for me from this point forward.

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Re: Who's (still) riding fast foils?

Postby Texaskiter » Sat Jan 11, 2020 11:57 pm

I have standardized on Moses due to the interoperability. I own the following wings: 548, 558, 637, 645, and 683. Stabes- 325, 330, 420, 421, 483. Masts- 101 and 91cm. And I have ridden my friend’s 633. My point here is I know the Moses line up pretty well. My strapless surf set up is a KS 37 inch pocket board and a 683 on my 91in mast. Perfect for the typical sandbar slop we get in Galveston.

On flat water I go with strapped Sync from Temavento and now my 645/421 on a 101. It’s fast, stable, but still fun to carve and ride freestyle. I found that the 645 is a bit more stable than the 637 giving me more confidence on high speed jibes. On flat water I like big air and big rotations and going fast. So to answer your topic question- I am!!!


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