Had another fun session this morning on the Naish Malolo Foil. Big thanks to Robby Treharne for filming.

Enjoy,



Ride safe,

JB

looks fun.......but maybe the average sup guy who has a board and a paddle and a leggie might feel like they are happy......even without a foil?

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GizzieNZ said..
looks fun.......but maybe the average sup guy who has a board and a paddle and a leggie might feel like they are happy......even without a foil?

Not often I agree with Giz but here I do.

First off JB thanks for sharing you look like you are having fun. I understand the commercial side of posts like this as well.

Ahh the stoke of the foil, well here is my foil story - Bought a kite foil 12 months ago, gave it a few goes and sold it. Why? What a PITA to get to the beach compared to a kiteboard. On a SUP it would be even worse. Plus the pumping thing just looks wrong, same as pumping a surfboard. If you had perfect conditions for foiling I can understand it (like downwinding which is similar story) as Kalama does on Maui. But seriously why bother if not?? especially when the sup I have works really well in the above, less than ideal foil, conditions. Not many long unbroken lines in Perth. More like a closeout with 50 of your closest crawler mates ready to be beheaded by the blades of your new craft. Just my 2 cents not disparaging if you love it, as do some of my mates.

The Naish web site shows the Malolo foil as a short downwinder style board. This video and all the recent pictures show a surf style board. So what's correct?

The excitement of foiling is the opportunity to ride "un-ridable" waves (or in conditions that would normally be deemed as too small or not powerful enough). It will definitely not replace surfing, SUP'ing or Kiting at all. It is it's own sport for sure and an amazing feeling.

As you mentioned above, if you do not have the conditions for Foiling then you will likely not get into it or appreciate it. I have many waves near by that hardly break but travel for kilometers which is heaven on a foil.

The best way to visualize were the Foil fits into the picture is to think of the waves/swells you would normally catch on your 14' race board and imagine being able to catch these on a smaller board, ride at 2 or 3 times the speed and have maneuverability like a short board, plus once you're up on the foil you will stay on the swell much easier and longer than you ever could on a raceboard.

Taking it out your local beach break in usual conditions will not only be dangerous for other users if crowded but also challenging as a breaking wave is very hard to control on a foil. This video i am riding into a very deep gully with only mates in the line up with me, and I am trying to replicate those swell conditions I aim to be riding in the future and practice/learn my skills.

I am still some way from mastering foiling hence a lot of pumping and bouncing around, but I find that when I get a good run I am a lot smoother and gliding stable without moving up and down so much. The learning curve is large, and it will take a while to get dialed, and finding the right conditions can be hard. Speaking to someone with experience will help a lot as will spending some time behind the boat. Going behind the boat will likely become a sport of it's own, as surfing the wake is a tonne of fun also.

Yes it all started with downwinding and I think it will still go there largely, but the wave/swell riding is amazing. It will open a lot of doors for many people.

Ride safe,

Regards,

JB

Feelings on foiling are bound to become mixed. I enjoyed your vid, obvious work and determination has got you going.

I've enjoyed all the vids on foiling up to the first one to make me cringe. And that was our beloved Laird visiting France. The spot he foiled is the most heavily surfed on the coast. The day he was there, though not on fire, was probably one of few rideable lineups at the time.

This is is my favorite break but it is a localized, very sup unfriendly spot that I enter on tip toes, my best behavior and ear plugs for the love sent my way. The homeboys weren't sharing the stoke to see a standup foil swooping across the lineup, I'm sure.

So so you say this foiling is for the unridden realm. I hope that's true, but at a time when I'm doing my best to get standups accepted in the lineup, this isn't a welcome development for all.

Very appropriate song for the clip.

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surfinJ said..
The homeboys weren't sharing the stoke to see a standup foil swooping across the lineup, I'm sure.

You bet, I heard Gibus de Soultrait (famous controversial local figure, long time director of a French surfing mag) went ape**** over this and wrote an angry formal letter to Laird on the tune of "Never again!"

For me, the Foil appeal is in the technical challenge. I am not sure I will keep doing it once I have proven to me that I can do it. The good news is that the road to master it seems quite long :-)

As JB said, it depends on the spots at hand. Foiling in surfable waves is a bit "Meh"... but foiling on choppy, fast, non-breaking swells has a definite kind of magic.

From what I experienced, and by discussing with experts, with foiling you are "walking on eggs" constantly and in a state of control. In modern style surfing, you can get loose by pushing of all your strength on the wave force, a different kind of pleasure, more primal. I guess foiling may appeal more to people that already like downwinding and noseriding, that are a bit also precision-oriented.

As for weak mushy waves, I don't know. Modern light SUPs (ultra-short or ultra-long) are now able to make these conditions quite fun also, you do not need a foil. Plus small waves are not so fun with a foil: you need some minimal speed, and hitting the bottom can be very bad news... Monday I had a session in crappy, choppy tight-high waves, me in foil, and a friend on a small SUP, he was definitively having much more fun than me, the waves were too slow for my level (Kai Lenny would have pumped all over them), and the stress of not hitting the bottom plus avoiding being in the wrong place at the wrong time when a wave tubed unexpectedly was not really my idea of having fun in the long term, once the technical challenge is overcome.

Add to this the danger of it. Nothing compared to using a kitefoil, but still present: Hitting the foil, and choosing either to use straps with their potential danger of getting stuck, or not using them, and raising a lot the number of dangerous falls on the foil. Plus the costs...

Yet, I definitely think that foiling will attract the kind of bozos that will endanger themselves and others to show off. Just like with kiteboarding, people coming close to the beach to jump over bathers to impress the chicks ... and have kiteboarding banned after the first accident.