Large foil floats, any ideas?

[BigSky]

Hi. I've been foiling exclusively for 4 years. I've been on lift foils for the past 3 years and love them. I have the 110, 130 and 170 - all fantastic. I recently purchased the lift 150 and 200 2-piece surf foil for travel. My first day with the 200 I mounted it on a small Kanaha Shapes super light pocket board. The foil will not sink and it was an issue. It was a high wind day and after wiping out the foil took off on it's side at ~8 to 10 knots. I body dragged for 20 minutes trying to catch it but couldn't. It was close to 40 minutes before I could retrieve it and it never sank. Thank God I had my boat so I could retrieve it.

Any ideas? I'd love to use the bigger wing. Is it only possible with a heavy board that will force it down? That would suck as I prefer light, simplistic boards. Open to any ideas.

[a99]

The same bad situation with moses onda 633 and 790 and 873 wings. Not sinking. Always write phone number on foilboard!

[Trent hink]

How about a drogue leashed to the strut base or the tail of the board? Stick it in your pocket or something so that it will deploy when you fall off.

[slowboat]

A common problem with no really great solutions. Whether it will sink when attached to my board is an important consideration when I am tempted to try a new foil. For example (when paired with a small board), the Lift 170 sinks but the 200 floats, Armstrong 800 sinks very slowly, while the 1200 floats. The older 633 sinks, the newer 633 floats.

A different board may make a difference but there is no way to really know without trying. You can limit use of that foil to very specific conditions where the risk of a problem is less or if you really want to use that foil, you could use a leash. The best leash option would be the system Robert of Blue Planet uses when he wings.

[merl]

I have a 633-like wing on aluminium and it floats both with a heavy no volume 3.5kg board as with a 1.8kg board. Maybe more likely to float with the lighter board than the heavier ones, but not much difference in my experience, so don't expect to "fix" this by changing the board...

[BigSky]

Thanks guys. That sucks! One of the best parts of foiling is waiting for it to just porpoise down to you. Guess I will try it again when it's not nuking out but that is really disappointing. My 150 2-piece will sink eventually but it's clearly slower

[br44]

Thanks guys. That sucks! One of the best parts of foiling is waiting for it to just porpoise down to you. Guess I will try it again when it's not nuking out but that is really disappointing. My 150 2-piece will sink eventually but it's clearly slower

When you bought your nice and expensive foil, it’s good that you remembered to bring your boat so you can retrieve it after a fall.

I am waiting for a deal - buy a foil, get a boat for free - before I consider a foil that doesn’t sink. I find that “feature” abhorrent, and a complete session and fun killer. Better stay away.

[grigorib]

Some people (not me) like that feature

[Peter_Frank]

Which kite did you use, and how good is your body drag technique?

Might sound like a lousy question, I know, but I think many "think" they can bodydrag well, but they can not...

As said very often, many try to bodydrag upwind, which wont work - you gotta superman sidewind, to go upwind.

NEVER point your body/arm upwind, and you wont get anywhere really, only because most boards go downwind, you get the illusion you can go upwind yourself.

A good exercize would be to go out when onshore, and bodydrag close to the coast, around a buoy.

Then you can practice going fast upwind very easily, because of your fixed point and no current.

Current does not matter though, only when using an anchored point like a buoy.

Most will be amazed at how high and fast they can bodydrag upwind, once they get it right "not" pointing upwind

Peter

[br44]

Body drag upwind? For example with a Peak4 11m, in marginal winds? I don’t think I can do it.