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Foil board

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PeaBody
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Re: Foil board

Postby PeaBody » Mon May 16, 2022 4:22 pm

I wanted to be strapless, but for my first few sessions (maybe 5 or 6, until I could ride in both directions) went with front footstap only, and very loose.. just helped enough for me to hold the board where I wanted it for water starts. Then came the carbon, then the smaller board.. then the lightwind foil kite :o

Enjoy.

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Re: Foil board

Postby Nak » Mon May 16, 2022 4:54 pm

Avoid straps like the plague, as they can cause serious injuries. One strap is especially dangerous. Given the swing weight of a foil, during a crash the board can twist, tightening even a loose strap. The physics takes over: will your ankle have sufficient strength to stop the board rotation? Often times the answer is no. Also, being tied to a set of spinning Ginsu knives is just not the optimal way to maintain your health. A hook will not tie you to your board, and has all of the benefits of a strap.

Two hooks on centerline are great for learning, but you do have to have the board set up properly so that the hooks are in the right position. Have an experienced rider ride your board first to confirm the hooks and mast are located properly. High board volume is not a detriment at all for water starting if you are running two hooks, and in fact the higher volume will make it easier to learn. From two hooks it's easy to ditch the rear hook as soon as you're ready. Then you can either remove the front hook entirely, or you can move it forward so that you only use it for starting.
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Peter_Frank (Mon May 16, 2022 5:42 pm)
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downunder
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Re: Foil board

Postby downunder » Tue May 17, 2022 3:44 pm

Ok

Ive got broken ankle from kiting 3y ago, broken collar bone from bad jump too, 7y ago. Plus heaps more. So I should not use a strap? ;) Started jumping with a foil this season.

But, everyone is different. I would strongly suggest to relax. Nothing will happen. Straps are fine. One knows how to kick off the board, if we can do a board-off, this is easy too. Sure, straps should be slack. And flexy. Can be anything, releax, everything works just fine, can be a rope or a webbing. It justs works.

However, you WILL bounce your board on the hook. And hook might crack the board on many places. Infact, it might make a complete hole in it. Yep, it happened to many.

Sliding rope is a no go when learning, imo.

Why? Because you will fight the board. Hence, smaller board, easier to fight and hook is in the same position all the time. Add a slider and everything changes to worse.
The foil just wants to go upwind. It has its own mind :)

So, a TT style build board is easier to grab. Again, you will fight the board which will turn many many times into any direction. This is why Moses 633 helps heaps, because it floats. So no need to fight it when water starting, since the mast is in position to start.

Other, non floating wings and masts sink. So you need extra energy to position the board. Over and over. And over...

And people report to ride the board for as long as you can to get in the air. I am the opposite.

I do not ride the board. Not for long anyway. It is quick movement with the legs, almost like slicing a bread, and off u go. It is that fast, the foil can lift you in that split second. Providing you are powered. If not powered, sure. But we only need power when starting. That tiny moment. And after that is irrelevant when learning. This is where bigger kite helps because it is slow. But needs a lot of depower on the bar, like 80cm or so.

Hope this helps.

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Re: Foil board

Postby ieism » Tue May 17, 2022 4:16 pm

Ok, I disagree 100% with advising to start out strapless. It's way easier to handle the board, and to keep it on its side in position with even a single strap or hook. For me the best was a single strap placed perpendicular on the board and so tight that you can only get your toes in.

No risk of injury that way and very easy to practice footswitch or moving feet around a bit. Then change to a hook after that.

I ride surfboards strapless, I even snowboard and snowkite strapless but still learning foiling without straps is not worth it in my opinion.
Also both my ankles are junk from other sports, so I would never do it if it wasn't safe. It's just a matter of getting a good strap setup.
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Peter_Frank (Tue May 17, 2022 9:13 pm)
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Re: Foil board

Postby junebug » Tue May 17, 2022 4:24 pm

It's very simple--learning to foil with straps is more dangerous than without, and with almost no added benefit over foot hooks or a perpendicular strap. Is it possible that a serious fall torques the hook and pulls out the inserts? Yes, but the same fall strapped could seriously damage your ankle. Easier to replace inserts than fix a broken ankle.

Once you've gotten the hang of it, if you want to put straps on, more power to you. For some people, the benefits--easier learning advanced maneuvers, able to hold speed better, and jumping--outweigh the risk, but it is simply unnecessarily risky to learn with straps.

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Re: Foil board

Postby wallydog » Tue May 17, 2022 4:39 pm

:thumb: +1 on the perpindicular single front strap.

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Re: Foil board

Postby andylc » Tue May 17, 2022 4:55 pm

Sorry so you mean one front strap but sideways so you can only get the corner of your foot in it?

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Re: Foil board

Postby mirza23454 » Tue May 17, 2022 5:40 pm

I learned to kite foil strapless with a 35L prone surf foil board and a big 1200 cm2 surf foil on a short mast, took a few days to ride in each direction and do foiling gybes. It was very frustrating to get the board and feet in position to water start, but it won’t stop you. If I was starting from scratch I’d recommend a smaller board (like 20L) with a single front half hook, it’ll save you a lot of hassle on water starts and will be easier to control in the air (a big board can sometimes want to go wherever it wants).

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Re: Foil board

Postby ieism » Tue May 17, 2022 9:53 pm

andylc wrote:
Tue May 17, 2022 4:55 pm
Sorry so you mean one front strap but sideways so you can only get the corner of your foot in it?
Yes, one strap across tight enough so you can really only get our toes in. A friend of mind told me to this, and it was one of the best advices he gave me because I was scared of the straps but couldn't get strapless to work after a whole session trying. This helps a lot waterstarting, but you can still position you feet almost as well as riding strapless without stuff getting in the way. A single hook works much in the same way.

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Re: Foil board

Postby watercamper » Wed May 18, 2022 2:02 am

+1 on the perpendicular tight strap


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