Sinker Kneestart for Low Volume Boards

[gmb13]

Yesterday a lot of people asked me how I got up and foiling with small low volume boards. So here is some raw video of the technique I use.
I am using the Indiana 4'5" 40L Board in this video. I have even managed to start boards down to 15 liters (North Scoop) with this technique.
It is important to note that this needs power in the wing and won't work if you are underpowered.

I am using the North Sonar 1650 and 4m WaspV1 in this video. Wind is about 23knots.

I hope you like it and it can help others get going.



--
Gunnar

[jakemoore]

The video does not play in Safari in a Mac (Catalina). A you-tube or Vimeo link would be awesome.

[fluidity]

Yesterday a lot of people asked me how I got up and foiling with small low volume boards. So here is some raw video of the technique I use.
I am using the Indiana 4'5" 40L Board in this video. I have even managed to start boards down to 15 liters (North Scoop) with this technique.
It is important to note that this needs power in the wing and won't work if you are underpowered.

I am using the North Sonar 1650 and 4m WaspV1 in this video. Wind is about 23knots.

I hope you like it and it can help others get going.



--
Gunnar

Hi Gunnar, wind looks deceptive to me because it seems to be barely whitecapping. So 15 Litre isn't far off neutral bouyancy, do you think you could waterstart a floaty kiteboard with a foil fixed underneath for example? I'm remembering 18 years ago when I would sometimes sail a sinker windsurf board so I was up to my knees in water and still just manage to control the board in marginal wind, is it comparible? At that low bouyancy, is it better to have a sleek board than a slightly floatier one like an inflateable?

[gmb13]

Yesterday a lot of people asked me how I got up and foiling with small low volume boards. So here is some raw video of the technique I use.
I am using the Indiana 4'5" 40L Board in this video. I have even managed to start boards down to 15 liters (North Scoop) with this technique.
It is important to note that this needs power in the wing and won't work if you are underpowered.

I am using the North Sonar 1650 and 4m WaspV1 in this video. Wind is about 23knots.

I hope you like it and it can help others get going.



--
Gunnar

Hi Gunnar, wind looks deceptive to me because it seems to be barely whitecapping. So 15 Litre isn't far off neutral bouyancy, do you think you could waterstart a floaty kiteboard with a foil fixed underneath for example? I'm remembering 18 years ago when I would sometimes sail a sinker windsurf board so I was up to my knees in water and still just manage to control the board in marginal wind, is it comparible? At that low bouyancy, is it better to have a sleek board than a slightly floatier one like an inflateable?

It is hard to see whitecaps on 360 Cam footage. That board in the Video is a floaty board with 40L Volume. I find that easier than a super low or no Volume board like the 15L. I find that having a bit more width helps a lot to get the board up to the surface once you get power. The good thing about being on the knees compared to a standing start is that even a very low volume board will barely be under the surface and once you get power on the wing you surface very quickly and won't have to deal with balancing the board under the water.

In regards to inflateables. I find them the easiest low volume boards to start. The actually are more buoyant for the given size and volume. I find starting by 44L Inflateable Prototype just as easy to start as by 58L Surffoil Carbon board. So at least for the knee start that I do it seems to help having a floatier board.

Another thing that really helps when learning is to use your biggert foil as this will add some buoyancy, but also stabilize and lift the board as soon as you start moving forward. And of course once you stand you have to work a lot less to get it flying.

--
Gunnar

[gmb13]

The video does not play in Safari in a Mac (Catalina). A you-tube or Vimeo link would be awesome.

Hi Jake,

Thanks for letting me know. It plays fine if you go to the link

@Toby the facebook video embed does not seen to work in the posts with Safari and Catalina.

--
Gunnar

[gmb13]

The video does not play in Safari in a Mac (Catalina). A you-tube or Vimeo link would be awesome.

I just uploaded it to Youtube.



--
Gunnar

[windmaker]

Yesterday a lot of people asked me how I got up and foiling with small low volume boards. So here is some raw video of the technique I use.
I am using the Indiana 4'5" 40L Board in this video. I have even managed to start boards down to 15 liters (North Scoop) with this technique.
It is important to note that this needs power in the wing and won't work if you are underpowered.

I am using the North Sonar 1650 and 4m WaspV1 in this video. Wind is about 23knots.

I hope you like it and it can help others get going.



--
Gunnar

Thanks for the video, I have only been Winging for a month but it is very addictive. Having windsurfed for 20 years and kitefoiled for 15 years progress is very fast and feels as if the sport was made for me.

Regarding the volume for the sinking knee start, I understand that not going too low helps with getting on the plane easier, but how important would you rate the width of the board? Do you think that keeping a good width (55cm +) is still necessary ?

Thanks for the input and keep up the good work!

[gmb13]

Yesterday a lot of people asked me how I got up and foiling with small low volume boards. So here is some raw video of the technique I use.
I am using the Indiana 4'5" 40L Board in this video. I have even managed to start boards down to 15 liters (North Scoop) with this technique.
It is important to note that this needs power in the wing and won't work if you are underpowered.

I am using the North Sonar 1650 and 4m WaspV1 in this video. Wind is about 23knots.

I hope you like it and it can help others get going.



--
Gunnar

Thanks for the video, I have only been Winging for a month but it is very addictive. Having windsurfed for 20 years and kitefoiled for 15 years progress is very fast and feels as if the sport was made for me.

Regarding the volume for the sinking knee start, I understand that not going too low helps with getting on the plane easier, but how important would you rate the width of the board? Do you think that keeping a good width (55cm +) is still necessary ?

Thanks for the input and keep up the good work!

It helps for balancing a bit and getting planing once it is up on the surface. So yes. However a 55cm board would need to be a bit longer and will end up with a pretty large volume again.

The Board in the video is 20" or about 51cm wide.

--
Gunnar

[ronnie]

Wingfoiling with a 10 litre board. The battery of his Gopro ran flat before he could film it, but he promised to make a video of winging with a 10 litre board.
There is a short clip at about 7 minutes of him waterstarting the board onto the foil.

[joekitetime]

I'm confused. That fanatic 5'0" is 75L. 10? Now I see it, at the very end.