Why am I breaching so much on my new foil?

[martrench]

Not sure what board you have, but I needed to drill 2 holes in my Axis baseplate to get my mast in the right position (further back) on my 4’ 6” Dwarfcraft. The tracks on the board don’t go back far enough on the board.

It really help even out the foot pressure. Not running any shims.

I’m (73 kg) running a BSC 810 front, 400 Freeride rear, Short black fuse and 90 cm mast.

[kct]

Wind speed and kite size?

BRM Cloud 6.2 was my last try. Around 15kts

[Axis1050]

BRM Clouds are excellent kites for foiling and I have them from 4.8 to 10.4m with 8m and 6.2m most used.
I am 76kg and use Axis BCS 810 in very light wind but 90% BCS 740.
For improved light wind I use 32m long thin race lines which reduce wind drag on the lines making lines straighter for instant response.

[lifeinthehood]

Wind speed and kite size?

BRM Cloud 6.2 was my last try. Around 15kts

I didn't see your weight posted anywhere but as other mentioned 6.2 may be too much kite. I'm around 75 kg with a Sabfoil 633/483 (slightly less surface area with huge lift) and I use a Cloud 4.8 in 15-20 knots but I'm a beginner foiler. A foiler friend says I could be on a 3.7 once I get more skilled. Trying a smaller kite might be a good starting place if you haven't already done so.

One other thought that perhaps someone with more experience can answer - perhaps the mast position should be different for prone vs kite foiling. I assume you don't change it. With the additional power in kiting, I'm thinking maybe the mast needs to be further back, assuming you have tracks and the mast isn't already at the most rearward position.

[kct]

Oh, 80kg. 15kts feels ok on the 6.2 to me. Actually I think I had the smallest kite on the beach yesterday at Belmont Shore

[lifeinthehood]

Oh, 80kg. 15kts feels ok on the 6.2 to me. Actually I think I had the smallest kite on the beach yesterday at Belmont Shore

Cool, well if you get it figured out please update the thread with your findings. I’m still working out how all the variables contribute and interact so I can figure how to optimize my setup in the future when I progress to the intermediate stage.

[kct]

Tried again. Nice wind 14kts and steady, foil all the way in the back, plenty of sleep the night before. God-damn this is impossible.

I was on my cloud ix s24 in similar conditions the day before yesterday and doing great. This? Not a chance. If I manage to waterstart then I can ride no problem but the waterstart is just too hard. A tiny bit too far forward and the board submarines, a tiny bit too much weight on the back and I breach as soon as I stand up. Also the 420 stabilizer is sharp as hell so every botch is much scarier than I'm used to.

Maybe a longer fuse would help but I'm just going to stick to the cloud ix and use this setup for prone.

[leeuwen]

If there are any locals that are properly experienced you can ask them to have a go at it to check if it is rideable.

An experienced foiler should be able to ride away immediately on pretty much anything and can maybe give you some helpful feedback on the setup.
Could well be that it is just a bit to twitchy for your experience level and it will “come to you” over time.

[drsurf]

Tried again. Nice wind 14kts and steady, foil all the way in the back, plenty of sleep the night before. God-damn this is impossible.

I was on my cloud ix s24 in similar conditions the day before yesterday and doing great. This? Not a chance. If I manage to waterstart then I can ride no problem but the waterstart is just too hard. A tiny bit too far forward and the board submarines, a tiny bit too much weight on the back and I breach as soon as I stand up. Also the 420 stabilizer is sharp as hell so every botch is much scarier than I'm used to.

Maybe a longer fuse would help but I'm just going to stick to the cloud ix and use this setup for prone.

Go for a smaller kite that just gets you out of the water and makes you work it to get on the foil. That will reduce the breaching. If you can't stop the board from submarining get a board with more surface area.

You should be able to ride the board on the surface without engaging the foil for as long as you like. If you can't do this you need to practice until you can. You need to control the behaviour of the foil not have it control you.

[AndersP]

If you are used to a foil that immediately lifts after the kite dive it can be quite a challenge to control a more high aspect wing. A slow high lift foil is more of a step up to foiling mode at slow speed, compared to finding the surface speed and then eezing the board out of the water.

The solution in that case is to get some surface speed and then very gently lift your frontfoot and slowly let the foil lift you up to fully foiling.
It can actually be easier with a kite that is a bit larger since the take off speed is higher and you can rely on the kite pull without sining the kite to much.

If you have a really small kite you have to be very efficient in moving the kite in the right directions to get just enough power to take off and foil.

Once you master a small kite is great but for learning a bit larger kite will make it easier to control the board and foil.