Foil Boarding - Loyal to the Foil

[giroux68]

Right on!

 

[J-RAD]

Dusted the foil off for the first time this season and made 4 short runs yeasterday evening. It was a bit like riding a bike, I did a bit of tooling around hence why they were short... lol!

I'm still running the Time Code 57cm wing (H5). I'm anxious to switch it up to the Gamma 68 (H2), but I was holding out to see if my wife would give it a shot. I think that's going to be my goal the next time I'm out, you guys are making me jealous.

 

[Jgorm]

This is awesome! What board and wing would i need for slow speed wake surfing? The kind that people pump off the dock. My goal is to surf the second wake on an io boat. My Yamaha is on a shallow river where hitting a sandbar with the foil would be likely.

 

[spatty99]

@Jgorm the Slingshot Infinity 84 (along with larger rear wing) is the monster tons of low speed lift wing set.

 

[J-RAD]

This is awesome! What board and wing would i need for slow speed wake surfing? The kind that people pump off the dock. My goal is to surf the second wake on an io boat. My Yamaha is on a shallow river where hitting a sandbar with the foil would be likely.

I'm 99% sure @JDub is riding the Infinity 84 wing in that video. If I'm not disclosing to much, he purchased one during the group but earlier this season.

Your options would be to build a custom package with board, mast, and wing set or purchase a package and add the wing to it. If you get serious, let me know, I'll ask you a few questions and we can build one out with a decent discount.

 

[buckbuck]

I am going to have to find my binoculars to watch you guys surf.

 

[JDub]

I was on the infinity 84 with the small rear wing. I am going to try the larger rear wing next weekend if i can get out. There is a ton of power in that second wave its just kind of hard to see the wave when your out there. That was my first successful ride. My daughter got side tracked and loaded my phone up with selfies of herself instead of videotaping dad. I was able to ride the second wave for a good 10 min by the end of the weekend. I would deff get the 76 or 84 if you want to surf and are only getting one wing.

 

[giroux68]

Bolted on the DIY foil. It ride SO different. Seems to not have any downward lift on the rear wing at all, so the board nose dives. I moved it to the forward most position on the board and that helped a bit. I could only stay up for 20 seconds tops. Even my daughter couldn't get it.

 

[giroux68]

My son got on the foil today. Tried a few times standing, then kneeling and rode for a while

 

[Nakk]

Hey everybody! New owner of a 2017 AR240 here, and avid kiteboarding foiler. I foil behind my boat too, but only when there's not enough wind to kite foil. (About 7mph or better.) Anyways, I thought I'd pass on a few tips...

For those of you having problems keeping the board in place while getting up, a great solution are the foot hooks. Straps are dangerous as you don't want to be attached to the board in a fall, but foot hooks (some call them half straps) allow you to grip the board with your feet, and release cleanly in a fall. Half Strap 2.0 | Slingshot Sports

When you're foiling, STRONGLY consider wearing a helmet. After a fall, a foil board can travel much farther and faster than a wakeboard or a surfboard.

When approaching your foil board in the water, pretend that you are paralyzed from the waist down. Leave your legs hang, don't kick or try and maneuver using your legs. That will help prevent "foil bites." (Gouges or cuts caused by striking the foil with a foot or leg.)

Here's a great website for learning to foil: Foil Academy

Bolted on the DIY foil. It ride SO different. Seems to not have any downward lift on the rear wing at all, so the board nose dives. I moved it to the forward most position on the board and that helped a bit. I could only stay up for 20 seconds tops. Even my daughter couldn't get it.
View attachment 99483

As big a fan of DIY as I am, I'd still have to advise against a setup like this. I don't mean any offense, I think it's great you're building stuff yourself. I've watched--and ridden with--some of the guys who got this sport going, and playing with DIY is really for expert foilers. Stall speed, trim, center of lift, etc all have to be taken into account for a successful foil design. Proven designs like the Slingshot foils have the advantage of years of development and testing by riders from beginners to the world's best. You'll find learning on a foil like a Slingshot will be way more fun, and you'll progress way faster.

If you want to save a few bucks, look for used foil setups on kiteboarding forums. The Slingshot hoverglides are well regarded beginner's foils in kiteboarding, but most move on to full carbon setups. A lot of the advantages of the advanced foils don't really matter behind a boat, but are critical in kiteboarding. That leaves a lot of great foils for sale cheap.

 

[giroux68]

The design i made was from clearwaterfoils.com. the parts were already made. All i did is glass it.

 

[JDub]

Due to some foil issues I wasn't able to get out this weekend. However I would like to say J-Rad was quick to get me in touch with the right people at sling shot. I would also like to report that sling shot tech and warranty were second to none taking care of my issues. Super fast and responsive. I would recommend them both to anyone looking to buy a board or foil. That does mean my camera girl got to ride a slingshot board this weekend though. I've created a new addict.

 

[J-RAD]

Due to some foil issues I wasn't able to get out this weekend. However I would like to say J-Rad was quick to get me in touch with the right people at sling shot. I would also like to report that sling shot tech and warranty were second to none taking care of my issues. Super fast and responsive. I would recommend them both to anyone looking to buy a board or foil. That does mean my camera girl got to ride a slingshot board this weekend though. I've created a new addict.

As I said in our conversations, Slingshot is a company that really had their act together. As a dealer they are the easiest company for me to deal with. They're just awesome!

Their Coaster board is legit. Great job dad!

 

[giroux68]

 

[Cambo]

@JDub great job you make it look so easy. Please post your set up

Board
Wedge type
Ballast
How many people on board
Fuel level
Speed
Body placement on the boat

No transom bag ? Nice

 

[JDub]

I'm riding the slingshot coaster 5'3" Its the yamaha version that comes with the wake booster. Otherwise I would have bought from @J-RAD. This is only the 2nd time I've been surfing this year. I have been foiling, but had some issues with the foil and my wake booster just happend to show up the same week. With that said I am running the thrustvector wake in combination with the wake booster. I have 250 lbs lead on the surf side top swim deck. 100% ballast on surf side 25% ballast on non surf side 100% ski locker. Somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 tank of fuel. Driver "Boss Lady" 120 lbs. 52lbs moving all over he's 5. Camera guy "Dad"190 lbs center rear seat. I usually like 10.5 to 11.5 mph. I haven't really tried different ballast placement with this setup The booster just happened to finally show up and we decided to give it a try. I'm sure there is room for improvement. I might mess with it this weekend. My new foil wings showed up though so we shall see. As far as foot placement I move all over the board when I ride alone. I was with my daughter so we were pretty far forward I couldn't tell you exactly where though. I will say that the wake booster is pretty impressive. The TVW's cleaned up the wake, but the booster def adds size and push.

 

[JDub]

@Nakk Whats the learning curve like for kite foiling. I would love to learn, but the mid west isn't great for kiting if you can imagine that. Are you riding the carbon mast? I cant tell from the pics.

 

[Nakk]

@Nakk Whats the learning curve like for kite foiling. I would love to learn, but the mid west isn't great for kiting if you can imagine that. Are you riding the carbon mast? I cant tell from the pics.

Kite foiling is a pretty different animal than boat foiling. You really need to already be an expert kiter to start foiling. I started kiteboarding in 2003 and was pretty thoroughly proficient when I started foiling a year ago. Instantly I was a beginner all over again. You learn on a 61 or 71 cm mast and then progress on to 91 cm or longer. That's a big step, because you can be pretty darn good on a 71cm and then the 91cm mast kicks your ass. You need the length though for the choppy conditions you'll encounter when kite foiling. Then if you want to get a lot of air you move up to a 110 cm mast. That length gives the wing time to accelerate and point higher as you leave the water. I have a couple of buddies that are regularly getting over 60 feet of air on the 111 cm mast. (Of course, they also are among the best foilers in the world...) Kite foiling is exponentially more dangerous than boat foiling; there is so much more that can go wrong. That's why you need to be an expert kiter to start foiling.

The 71cm masts are better for wave riding, as it's easier to keep the wing in the wave. It's much harder to keep the wing in the wave on a longer mast. You tend to ride right across the wave on a long mast, without tapping into the energy of the wave.

I'm riding the Slingshot Ghost whisper 91cm setup. Carbon mast and wings, Aluminum fuselage. It's actually made by Moses for Slingshot, and is identical to the Moses Onda 91. The carbon setups are nice because they'll float on their side, making it MUCH easier to start. After a year of kite foiling, I'm a solid intermediate, no better. So pretty steep learning curve for me!

 

[J-RAD]

Breaking news! The 2020 Slingshot Hoverglide foils just landed and already available! (Checking on availability)
http://instagr.am/p/B01rWb6Dawa/

• New design for the WF-1 board
• New color scheme
• New 71cm (28") mast with FSURF V3 package
• New neoprene wing covers
• New travel case

It just keeps getting better! Here's some screenshots:



Updates on availability and pricing from Transom Watersports SOON!!

 

[2kwik4u]

@J-RAD I want to see you do a dock start like this guy.

https://www.reddit.com/r/oddlysatisfying/comments/cose1n
Watch for the hilariously ironic ending.