Hi guys, I'm 5 sessions in on a Liquid Force Foil Fish and have just started to get some half decent rides. My advice is to ride with both straps as this helps alot with getting the board in position but have them very loose as I've almost sprianed an ankle when falling. Also be ready to kick out of the foot straps as early as posible as the foil, espeicialy when the board falls towards the toeside and your kness fold towards the board, doesn't allow the board to pop off your feet easily and I've got the front foot trapped more than once hence the almost sprained ankle.

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smitasam said..
Hi guys, I'm 5 sessions in on a Liquid Force Foil Fish and have just started to get some half decent rides. My advice is to ride with both straps as this helps alot with getting the board in position but have them very loose as I've almost sprianed an ankle when falling. Also be ready to kick out of the foot straps as early as posible as the foil, espeicialy when the board falls towards the toeside and your kness fold towards the board, doesn't allow the board to pop off your feet easily and I've got the front foot trapped more than once hence the almost sprained ankle.

Try it with just the front strap. It provides enough support to position the board for launching. This will also allow you to move your back foot forward closer to the mast. Makes it just a bit easier IMO.

Or have the rear strap back and just use it as a handle for maneuvering board.

Should the back foot be forward or over the mast on initial startup?

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dafish said..
Should the back foot be forward or over the mast on initial startup?

It depends on the design of your foil. Refer to the manufacturer for that information

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dafish said..
Should the back foot be forward or over the mast on initial startup?

I have just gone through inital learning curve and am really starting to get to fly. I have a Sroka foil and the advice given by Sroka was to have the back foot over the mast and front straps fully forward. This brings your centre of gravity forward and keeps the front of the board down. The advice then was to gradually move the straps/back foot backwards as you get used to the board. Centre of gravity more over the mast will potentially amplify the porpoising effect, rather than gradually working up to a smooth flight.
I witnessed a learner foiler a few days ago on a LF foil doing exactly that (porpoising alot). His back foot was in the back strap and the board was up and down alot. My Sroka board is very floaty and allows centre of gravity forward without sinking whereas a less floaty board like the LF may have problems allowing this. Having said that I saw the same learner a couple of days ago and he was getting a somewhat smoother action.

Although I'm still in the very early stages I think following the Sroka learning advice closely really was the best thing I could have done as it was a gradual progression over quite a few sessions to get used to all the new skill requirements

Cheers, thanks for that. I had a look at this clip, will work on that. I am taking the rear footstrap off even though it is super loose, seems its not helping either way.

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dafish said..
First run out today. Good thing I had no expectations. Body dragging to get to deeper water was a challenge. Only spend about 40 minutes but managed to ride 15 feet. Every aspect is like learning all over again.

This pretty much sums up my first few sessions too.


Zeeko have released the first dedicated hydrofoil inflatable kite. Interesting to see if it's any better than any other inflato.

issuu.com:443/zeeko-kites.com/docs/zeeko_notus_air_2016_uk

The GPS data is interesting . . . up from 12, cruising at 18 knots. How many times the wind speed can we ride?

Which watch or tracking device allows you to put the live Data on the Video? Pretty cool.

Hey Kami, nice vid.
So enlighten us about the vid watch GPS,+ GoPro ?Man you have picked up foiling Quick.Or someone else.?

Its the Garmin Quatix GPS watch

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LeighMajor said..
Hey Kami, nice vid.
So enlighten us about the vid watch GPS,+ GoPro ?Man you have picked up foiling Quick.Or someone else.?

Someone else! Been looking for interesting videos...

But watch this space...

Yep cool vid very smooth no white caps.Good luck with it.

Update..... flying smooth and long on the port tack and starboard tack is getting much better. Upwind angle is insane. I really have fine tuned my kite control to be able to keep flying smoothly for the most part. Keeping the kite high helps alot. I will start attempting some wide arc gybes next sesh.

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snalberski said..
Update..... flying smooth and long on the port tack and starboard tack is getting much better. Upwind angle is insane. I really have fine tuned my kite control to be able to keep flying smoothly for the most part. Keeping the kite high helps alot. I will start attempting some wide arc gybes next sesh.

You have progressed a lot lately and making slower and more controlled water starts. The reason why you're still loosing ground is you're overpowered by 3-4m of kite size. Once the foil goes up you're going downwind as a result of being overpowered and in an effort to help control your speed. With the correct kite size you could start going upwind comfortably without being forced to lean forward and being pulled downwind.

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cbulota said..

snalberski said..
Update..... flying smooth and long on the port tack and starboard tack is getting much better. Upwind angle is insane. I really have fine tuned my kite control to be able to keep flying smoothly for the most part. Keeping the kite high helps alot. I will start attempting some wide arc gybes next sesh.

You have progressed a lot lately and making slower and more controlled water starts. The reason why you're still loosing ground is you're overpowered by 3-4m of kite size. Once the foil goes up you're going downwind as a result of being overpowered and in an effort to help control your speed. With the correct kite size you could start going upwind comfortably without being forced to lean forward and being pulled downwind.

Thanks for the advice Christian. I am mindful that I should be using a size down and have on a couple of occasions gone that way. Yesterday with the wind flukey at 15knts I went with the 12, although I had my 10& 8 with me in case the trend was for increasing wind strength. I make the final choice when I'm just about to pump up based on the available wind at that moment. Additionally I like to have a TT sesh after the foiling and am a bit lazy to rig a second kite, so I tend to try and get away with something that will suffice for both. This is obviously always gonna be difficult and as you say I should probably just choose the right size for foiling only or for TT only...

Quick release footstraps for foiling have emerged - could be a good thing, save some ankles..

www.facebook.com/hubert.alexandre.bubu/videos/10153370957448992/


Straps Larguables by UB - Nature Kite . Protect your ankles and you are déb GUEnoux in foil and surfing, or foilers confirmed repeating transitions mast top mac12 . Some artisanal way we made ??it work and perfectly ; is available in shop for 60 euros for 3 straps adjusted to your weight , but especially the idea makes available to those who want to quickly find solutions to some brittle shoots ! Hopefully we will make it brands Series for the upcoming season. The idea is not patented but " intentioned " available for all ... so until further notice. See u .

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kiteboy dave said..
Quick release footstraps for foiling have emerged - could be a good thing, save some ankles..

www.facebook.com/hubert.alexandre.bubu/videos/10153370957448992/


Straps Larguables by UB - Nature Kite . Protect your ankles and you are déb GUEnoux in foil and surfing, or foilers confirmed repeating transitions mast top mac12 . Some artisanal way we made ??it work and perfectly ; is available in shop for 60 euros for 3 straps adjusted to your weight , but especially the idea makes available to those who want to quickly find solutions to some brittle shoots ! Hopefully we will make it brands Series for the upcoming season. The idea is not patented but " intentioned " available for all ... so until further notice. See u .

I suffered a high speed crash this season resulting in a mid foot fracture off the LisFranc joint putting me out of foiling and racing for 3 months. The cause was the Velcro strap that trapped my foot as the Velcro has no give all the energy has to go through the foot with a very unpleasant result. These straps look very good and should release under high loads before physically damaging loads are in parted to the foot. I have not seen this product up close and have no affiliation, but from the video it looks good and given my experience this season I would not foil without straps that will mitigate high loads in the future.
Safe foiling

Interesting product

What he's basically saying in the video is that the strap won't release with any lateral forces (foot twisting side to side) or with any vertical force (heel lift or toe lift) under 30 degrees of angle. So in case of a crash where the foot lifts up higher than 30 degrees with force, the strap will easily release therefore preventing injuries. He said it will help for beginners getting into foiling and also advanced foilers who ride at high speeds. He says he's now testing those straps with all foil lessons and with advanced riders and it seems to work great so far.

If this works as well as described it's fair to say it would've save PilotPete's foot from a fracture...

Hey thanks to Dave & Pete for informing us of the benefits of these straps.Will try to order some for my foiling adventures.
To think Petes foot injure could have been averted by the straps separating under load.
I 'm sure other kite Foilers have injured their feet regards the foot straps locking you in if slightly tight and not allowing your feet to release totally when crashing.
Hopefully some company can make them more available to all concerned.
Speedy recovery Pete!!!!

Leigh I will try to find more info on those straps - but I'm keen. I got more or less 60 Euro ($100) to choose a b'day pressie a while back from my wife's parents, so I'll spend it on those. I'm just waiting to see if a local foiler wants to split postage with me..

As I said earlier, I had a close call after jamming my feet too far into loose straps and limped for a day or two. but definitely way easier (for me at least) to learn with straps. So release under load could be the best of both worlds. Plus I've seen PilotPete's FB pics and they're not pretty, poor fella

Hi Dave,yep will absolutely go a couple of sets.
Will go you halves in shipping.Pete's injure and your close call is enough for me to use them on the foil and also on the directional surfboard.
I have messaged the shop and Hubert on FB
Just waiting for a reply.

Another possibility are foil hooks

www.northshoreinc.com/store/pc/msg.asp?message=95

Never used anything like these before.
Any thoughts?

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Apparently Predator's don't work well out of the box, I'm not sure exactly why but I've seen a few threads with people modifying them for foiling. Hole orentation could be an issue if you have a 3 footstrap layout.

I've also been told the foot hooks are so soft as to be useless - on page 5 of this thread I was saying I'll get some for sure. I can't remember who/where but someone talked me out of it in the meantime

There is a foiler down in Torquay making elastisized straps for foils.

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kiteboy dave said..
Quick release footstraps for foiling have emerged - could be a good thing, save some ankles..

www.facebook.com/hubert.alexandre.bubu/videos/10153370957448992/


Straps Larguables by UB - Nature Kite . Protect your ankles and you are déb GUEnoux in foil and surfing, or foilers confirmed repeating transitions mast top mac12 . Some artisanal way we made ??it work and perfectly ; is available in shop for 60 euros for 3 straps adjusted to your weight , but especially the idea makes available to those who want to quickly find solutions to some brittle shoots ! Hopefully we will make it brands Series for the upcoming season. The idea is not patented but " intentioned " available for all ... so until further notice. See u .

Cracker of an idea. What's shipping worth?

Easy to make something very similar....

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shodan said..
Another possibility are foil hooks

www.northshoreinc.com/store/pc/msg.asp?message=95

Never used anything like these before.
Any thoughts?

Quite a few people using similar things in one of the other forums. I'm playing with some DIY magnetic connections on regular footstraps at the moment. I saw the french idea and wasn't convinced on how easy that would be to reset on the water. Its only $20 worth of magnets if it doesn't work out - and at that price I don't mind replacing them every 6-12 months if it turns out to be a decent solution.

3 storms in the last 3 weeks have kept me from testing them out yet so can't say whether this is going to be successful in practice.

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RAL INN said...
There is a foiler down in Torquay making elastisized straps for foils.

There are foilers in Perth developing exactly the same thing....