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viron 4m in waves with hydrofoil

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Regis-de-giens
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viron 4m in waves with hydrofoil

Postby Regis-de-giens » Wed Dec 12, 2018 3:22 pm

25 knots , quite tricky session last month for my limited experience in waves with a foil (the first with so high waves), but memorable in the end ; foil is a 1200 cm2 Ketos large wave foil;
https://youtu.be/GlrlCCfIVO4

plummet
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Re: viron 4m in waves with hydrofoil

Postby plummet » Thu Dec 13, 2018 8:54 am

I felt your pain getting out back... onshore and any sort of wave power sucks balls breaking through!...

Also welcome to my world. That sort of condition is not uncommon around here. Other than we are usually more cross on which makes it a lot easier to get out! Its hard work on the foil for sure.

mikesids
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Re: viron 4m in waves with hydrofoil

Postby mikesids » Thu Dec 13, 2018 9:53 am

Good on you for showing the struggle in all its glory Regis - I was having flashbacks to the stormy onshore conditions I have tried to get out in on the foil. So damn frustrating , you hate the whitewater so much , if you try to start too soon your mast hits bottom, and you think it is never going to end, wave after wave after wave.Then just as you are about to give it away you finally get that one clear patch which you know will be the only chance you get for some minutes, and you know you have to take that opportunity otherwise you are likely to have your foilboard washed out of your hands and back to the beach. You work your little kite backwards and forwards and get up for a moment, then the board touches down , uh-oh, you see whitewater approaching and you hold your breath, somehow you get through and then magically you are up and sailing free . You get out the back and it all calms down and you can ride the swells, and the pain of getting out becomes worthwhile.....

The most frustrating kiteboarding experience I have ever had , and also the most rewarding

mikesids
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Re: viron 4m in waves with hydrofoil

Postby mikesids » Thu Dec 13, 2018 9:55 am

PS: The out of control Optimist made me laugh out loud - glad it didn't clean you up !

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Re: viron 4m in waves with hydrofoil

Postby tomtom » Thu Dec 13, 2018 10:29 am

If you have straps i found best way to hold board is hold on front strap and drag it behind you. Now im stricly strapless so it isnt possible anymore. Also surviving whitewater is much easier with strap.
How do you find viron? I also practice manipulate with board only without kite /on no wind bigger waves day/.

Regis-de-giens
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Gear: Conceptair pulsion 18&15&12S, OR Flite 10m , Airush One 9&6, peak 5M , Rally 6, Elf 11 &7, 19m2 single skin proto.
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Re: viron 4m in waves with hydrofoil

Postby Regis-de-giens » Thu Dec 13, 2018 12:30 pm

mikesids wrote:
Thu Dec 13, 2018 9:53 am
Good on you for showing the struggle in all its glory Regis - I was having flashbacks to the stormy onshore conditions I have tried to get out in on the foil. So damn frustrating , you hate the whitewater so much , if you try to start too soon your mast hits bottom, and you think it is never going to end, wave after wave after wave.Then just as you are about to give it away you finally get that one clear patch which you know will be the only chance you get for some minutes, and you know you have to take that opportunity otherwise you are likely to have your foilboard washed out of your hands and back to the beach. You work your little kite backwards and forwards and get up for a moment, then the board touches down , uh-oh, you see whitewater approaching and you hold your breath, somehow you get through and then magically you are up and sailing free . You get out the back and it all calms down and you can ride the swells, and the pain of getting out becomes worthwhile.....

The most frustrating kiteboarding experience I have ever had , and also the most rewarding
You would make a very good suspense book author ! you describe very well the mindset of the moment and the reward ...

I had 2 additional perturbators : the Optimist boat indeed ! unexpected "meeting" :o , and actually I saw him very late and had to "run" out of its way to avoid it ... but also a lot of seaweeds located in the 20 first meters that were slippy on the ground and twice stopped me just after waterstart success .... I had to fully come back to beach 3 times before escaping this battle camp.

I am not tall, so I learned starting with foil directly inclinated at 45 degree (and foil-up directly at 45 degree) to limit the risk of impact with ground, but this requires quite grunty kite, so not easy here with such a small trainer kite. Maybe with a loop, but building proximity + discovering the kite + high shore break = I avoided loops at this moment.

global view of the site during my first ride-out
Image
we can see near the big Castle wall (Antibes old city) some > 3m waves ; that was a frightening reward !

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Slappysan
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Re: viron 4m in waves with hydrofoil

Postby Slappysan » Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:25 am

tomtom wrote:
Thu Dec 13, 2018 10:29 am
How do you find viron? I also practice manipulate with board only without kite /on no wind bigger waves day/.
I used to have a Viron 6m Delux that I took out with a surfboard in 30 knots years ago. It sits way too deep in the window for non-hydrofoil use but it might be okay for foiling.

My main issue with it though is that it barely generates any extra power by working the kite. This is actually a great feature for a trainer as it's really friendly to accidentally send it through the power zone. But when you are on a board you want the ability to work the kite back and forth to generate extra power.

Regis-de-giens
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Re: viron 4m in waves with hydrofoil

Postby Regis-de-giens » Fri Dec 14, 2018 2:31 am

Ok interesting. On a HF now, still 4m2 :

Positive :
- very safe at launch and in the sky (below 40 knots then wings shakes as a bird (in my memory of the 6m dlx, and it seemed to do the same in highest gusts like we see at the start of the video). Nothing dangerous.
- stable and no closing in two. If it re-opens in the middle of the window it is smooth and safe
- excellent drift : stable and go rapidly downwind with slack lines
- relaunch is known to be excellent in medium/high winds. Not tested but at the start we see that the kite touches the water with almost no disturbance.
- no peak power when the crossimg of the window
- loop still generate more power (so useful for HF waterstarts in lulls say above 17 knots). But limited power.

Negative :
- stay deep in the window even depowered. This complicates the bodydrag upwind for either get out from shore-break and/or recover the foil in the water when it lays on its tail (it happens with big wings , once i needed 2 minutes to come back to my HF and by swimming backward , kite up to zenith). This also kills its use with a TT IMO.
- it does not turn (Or far too low) when depowered, with distrubs the HF riding in high winds and in waves.
- bar pressure is high so a bit physical when riding toe-side with only one hand. In gusts it required efforts to drive the kite and avoid getting in the water.

Conclusion
Due to above 3 drawbacks I do not consider the Viron as a wonderfull high wind tool , specially in waves with HF. However the safety basics are present so it does the minimum job safelly in such harsh conditions.

After this good session I decided to buy a Conceptair Pulsion 3.69m2 , which I tested last week-end. It gives the same safety with better upwind, turn and lightest bar pressure even in +40 knots. The peak power when crossing the window is higher , so requies more pilot skills. Stability is even better.

Now I need to test the Viron 2.5m of my son in winds >25 knots.

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Re: viron 4m in waves with hydrofoil

Postby tomtom » Fri Dec 14, 2018 8:57 am

thanks!

Regis-de-giens
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Posts: 2006
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2014 2:58 pm
Weight: 62 kg
Local Beach: France: St Laurent du Var, Cannes, Almanarre
Style: 62 kg , light wind, waves
Gear: Conceptair pulsion 18&15&12S, OR Flite 10m , Airush One 9&6, peak 5M , Rally 6, Elf 11 &7, 19m2 single skin proto.
foil Ketos, RCS Supreme, TBK Mana, snowskis, kite-boat
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Re: viron 4m in waves with hydrofoil

Postby Regis-de-giens » Tue Apr 23, 2019 10:41 am

For info : it is now in dooblon with my Pulsion 369 that I prefer in winds above 30 knots , so I am selling it, 220 Euro (see "second hand " on this forum)


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