Learning on monofoil

[mede]

Hi all
What's the take of the experienced mono-foil users out there when it comes to learning on it?

A bit of background about myself: Very experienced kiter, mostly riding strapless surf.
I'm also riding a OneWheel for several years now, doing offroad trails and all.

So far, I did one day of foiling. I was up and foiling after 3 tacks with the 60cm Mast and a Cabrinha school foil (Alu). Found it very intuitive.
After a couple of hours switched to the long mast, and totally hated it... everything was kind of slow and draggy.

I had no issues at all with the balance point or the wing shooting up, so I thought a monofoil might be what I need for progressing when I buy a foil now.

What do you think?

[slowboat]

Hi all
What's the take of the experienced mono-foil users out there when it comes to learning on it?

A bit of background about myself: Very experienced kiter, mostly riding strapless surf.
I'm also riding a OneWheel for several years now, doing offroad trails and all.

So far, I did one day of foiling. I was up and foiling after 3 tacks with the 60cm Mast and a Cabrinha school foil (Alu). Found it very intuitive.
After a couple of hours switched to the long mast, and totally hated it... everything was kind of slow and draggy.

I had no issues at all with the balance point or the wing shooting up, so I thought a monofoil might be what I need for progressing when I buy a foil now.

What do you think?

Very interesting question. Experienced foilers have no trouble switching to the Delta monofoil (I don't know about other monofoils). I would think an experienced kiter and athlete could go directly to a monofoil but it would be a difficult and painful experience to get to the point where it becomes comfortable, IMO. I would say spend more time on the Cabrinha (at least till you are able to do carving turns in both directions comfortably) before going mono. I strongly recommend the Delta at that point.

[mede]

spend more time on the Cabrinha (at least till you are able to do carving turns in both directions comfortably) before going mono. I strongly recommend the Delta at that point.

Unfortunately I don't own the Cabrinha foil.
The school had one.
At the location where I kite, there are no schools though, so I need to buy a foil.
And I would preferably not buy one just to change to a mono after a couple of weeks....

But again, not sure if it's doable to use a mono straight away...

[Cefirmeza]

Never seen before but these monofoils look like the most difficult thing to ride with a kite.

Perhaps if it grow and more users adopt this monofoil style new models with bigger mono wings may appear from bigger brands making it more accessible to beginners. Dont know but maybe this Delta model is already a beginner friendly as sugested.

[foilfun]

Learning the basics with a back wing will be much easier. However, if a person is willing for a longer learning curve, mono is possible. I love mono (I have several), but sometimes my stubby (very short fuselage with back wing) comes in handy--bad water or very gusty winds.

I suggest at least starting with a stubby that can easily be a mono by just removing the back wing. I let some beginners ride my CRX stubby and they were making progress. And the CRX is not the best foil. My NP Surf medium is very easy and fun as a mono, but I didn't find it easy to learn mono on.

Good luck!

[Peter_Frank]

Yes, as foilfun says, it is possible with a longer learning curve of course, so if you really want it, do it.

An advantage not to get the normal foil into muscle memory in fact, so if you believe in monofoil, go for it straight away

Personally I like conventional foils more, just with a small stab for agility and still pleasant stability.

Peter

[windmaker]

Compared to the average foils on the market, the Cabrinha foil is heavy slow and draggy. Their board (double agent?) is also soft and weighs a ton.

If you want lightweight and responsiveness try a carbon freeride/pocket foil. Never tried a monofoil as there are very few but I guess they are specific to freestyle. If that's what you want why not? The only drawbacks are it will be less versatile than a traditional shape and certainly much harder to resale if you realize it's not for you.

[Hpr]

You're gonna buy the monofoil anyway right, even if you start on a 'normal' foil? So just buy it and try it. If you struggle too much, then you might need to buy a traditional foil, but hopefully you wont have to. In any case if you really get into foiling it wont be long before you have a few of them anyway.

[slowboat]

Get the the Delta as mono. If too difficult, you can add a regular Delta fuse and back wing at a relatively low cost. Discuss all this with George, he may be able to work something out with you.

[mede]

Good hints, thanks everyone for chiming in.

What's the feeling regarding the wing size? If I look at the Delta Mono, it is relatively large with 1500cm2.
Is this rather an advantage, or an incovenience?