Hi,

Interested in trying down wind foiling and looking for tips and advice on work works. With the cost of new gear would be good to hear some opinions from people who are DW foiling to help get a proper set up. Looking to DW foil across local lake & off the beaches.

Been SUP foiling waves for about 6 months (Kite foiling 12 mths) & have that pretty sorted (still working on proper pump tech) but have not had much luck or experience DW foiling.

Currently running a Naish Thruster large wing & I'm sitting around 90kgs.

What wings & boards are the DW foilers running or recommend?


Thanks


Scott

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spartacus said..
Hi,

Interested in trying down wind foiling and looking for tips and advice on work works. With the cost of new gear would be good to hear some opinions from people who are DW foiling to help get a proper set up. Looking to DW foil across local lake & off the beaches.

Been SUP foiling waves for about 6 months (Kite foiling 12 mths) & have that pretty sorted (still working on proper pump tech) but have not had much luck or experience DW foiling.

Currently running a Naish Thruster large wing & I'm sitting around 90kgs.

What wings & boards are the DW foilers running or recommend?


Thanks


Scott

Scott you will need a big wing maybe the new XL naish wing might work or we mostly use the 280 and 200 gofoil wings.

you will need bigger that you have now forsure.

Board side of things smaller is better, a board built for foiling also works better but a crossover board will still work if it has to. I have been using our 7'3 but now have a 6'1 x 26,

You have to learn to really read the ocean bumps and learn how slow you can go, there are times you are not moving but still on the foil and this is the key as it's not all speed and going flat out. It's also very important to work on angles as the angles you have to take are crazy.
If you have the right gear and done the time in the waves then it's not that hard but you will get leg pump like never before. Try and start with say 5km runs otherwise you will not be able to walk the next day!!

Here are the DW boards we now use, you can click on the board pick to get bottom and side profile shots.
http://www.onestanduppaddle.com/boards%20page/Foil

If you have any trouble getting it feel free to message me and I will help where I can to get you up and going. By the way DW foiling leaves foiling in the waves for dead once you get it.

here is a vid on the 7'3 ONE and 200 gofoil.

Jacko

Firstly you should be able to DW your Thrust Surf Large, It will pick up chops and swells quite well, however it is challenging to stay on them.

The Thust Surf XL however is awesome for DW surfing/paddling/pumping.

This said though, I would not embark on a decent journey until your pump is 100% dialed, as you will be doing a lot of it (I suggest being able to pump and paddle in unison effectively enough to pump back out the back while surfing as a minimum).

Whilst the gear helps a lot, it is still mainly technique, knowledge, skill and a lot of fitness that will get you down wind. I assume you have done downwinders before on a 14'er or similar with success (being lot's of glides maintained for a decent distance)?

Here is a vid from quite a while a go when I tried my first SUP Foil DW attempt. It had mixed success and the wind totally died on me by the time I got out into the swell, but I did get a couple a short glides and it taught me a lot. This was on the Hover 120 and Thrust Surf Large.



Good luck with it, work on that pumping, and enjoy the glide,

Ride safe,

JB

Plenty of size in the new Naish XL
1572cm2Photo below shows comparison to the Large.

Looks like about the same size as a 200 Gofoil which you can down wind on no worries if you are good enough and have enough wind. The bigger 280 GF is so much easier for most of the east coast Down wind conditions to learn on. I think if I had to learn on a 200 to DW I might never have got it in the winds we have as it's not Maui here that's foresure!!

Maybe it has more lift than the size shows but to me it looks like you would be able to get up and going for a while but to keep it up for 10 km would require a bit more skill so maybe it's a bit more of a adavanced DW wing the Naish? Sometimes it's hard with companies that come out of Maui as the winds are so good that they sometimes forget that the rest of the world does not get the same kind of epicness and that the sport is still so young and everyone is still learning. I still say if you want to learn DW then start with the biggest foil you can as staying up on the foil is the key and going fast will come later.

Looks like you can downwind if you have a GoFoil Maliko 200 and a Kalama Board in the Gorge:

"Dave says that it is easier to Downwind Foil on the Columbia than riding (here) on the North Shore of Maui!"

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Beasho said..
Looks like you can downwind if you have a GoFoil Maliko 200 and a Kalama Board in the Gorge:

"Dave says that it is easier to Downwind Foil on the Columbia than riding (here) on the North Shore of Maui!"

I will tell you in a few days as I will be in Hood from Tomorrow with all my foil gear so will let you know what works for me.

I agree with Jacko & JB, the key is working on your paddle technique & quick pumps to get started....I'm on Maui now doing downwinders everyday training for M2O & my first go at DW foiling sucked.... But i'm back out there today & everyone says it'll take half a dozen goes...The GoFoil M200 is perfect & I'm using a 7'3 JL Overboard but I think a smaller board would be better for initial liftoff if it's stable enough for you..

Just did my first run here in Hood and used the 280 and my 7'3 as I am still waiting for my new 6'1 to turn up and it was so crazy easy!!!
foiled from the very start to the very end just over 12km with 4 falls after hitting weed patches it otherwise it was 2 or 3 strokes and up and going.
I have a SUP race tomorrow but after that I will do a few vids of how easy somewhere like Hood river is to foil and maybe a few vids on timing to pump it up.

Could easily use a 200 here today as it was pretty windy but the 280 did fine just a bit over powered in the middle part of the run.

Hi Jacko
thanks for your tips on sup foiling. Could you let me know which paddle you've found best for DW sup foiling?
The smaller surf paddle or longer race length paddle?

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glennc said..
Hi Jacko
thanks for your tips on sup foiling. Could you let me know which paddle you've found best for DW sup foiling?
The smaller surf paddle or longer race length paddle?

A bloody strong one!! haha I have snapped 3 blades now so I decided to make a new paddle just for foiling that is a bit stronger should have production on these starting in about a weeks time after I test the last round of protos that are due at home any day now.
Small blade is fine I use a 84sq blade kind it's perfect. In saying this I snapped my blade today and only had at best a 1/4 left and I could still get going easy.

will do some filming tomorrow as it is crazy windy here at the moment so flying is super easy it's just the slowing down part that is hard!!lol

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paul.j said..
A bloody strong one!! haha I have snapped 3 blades now

Is it always by hitting the foil, or are there others factors?

Thanks Jacko
my main question was relating to paddle length.
Had my first go today in a bay was blowing 30 knots. I rode a JL 73 and the go foil 200. Paddled the whole way and didn't get up once. Absolutely buggered.

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glennc said..
Thanks Jacko
my main question was relating to paddle length.
Had my first go today in a bay was blowing 30 knots. I rode a JL 73 and the go foil 200. Paddled the whole way and didn't get up once. Absolutely buggered.

paddle length is head high.
Trust me get a bigger wing and life will be 100 times easier to learn DW IMO the 280 is the smallest you would want to learn on unless maybe you have skills like Kai lenny!!

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colas said..

paul.j said..
A bloody strong one!! haha I have snapped 3 blades now

Is it always by hitting the foil, or are there others factors?

some have been from miss timing and hitting the wing the last one was from falling and slapping the blade super hard on to the water was crazy how hard it hits. We build our blade extra tough as well so can show the force sometimes and I am yet to break one just paddling ever!!

How big is the Naish Large compared to the Go Foil 280?

The Naish large is the equivalent of a Go Foil Iwa 160. (Targeted at surfing not downwinding)

Here is a vid of some foiling in Hood river, it starts about 20 seconds in. A mix between the 200 and 280 wing as it was filmed over two runs.

HI Paul,

Awesome video, were you running a 55cm mast?

How do these conditions compare with the Gold coast DWer's?

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Eaglelad said..
The Naish large is the equivalent of a Go Foil Iwa 160. (Targeted at surfing not downwinding)

Thanks - but I am curious, if you used a 280 in the surf what would happen? Unless you were trying to genuinely surf the wave (as against just cruising along the face which is what I see most people doing) wouldn't the 280 just make it easier to get up and flying? On bigger waves I guess you wouldn't want/need the larger size. I don't know diddlysquat about foiling; I am just curious.

Hi, I would love to try a 280 for downwind. But I dont think I need it in the surf.

I often ride the Maliko 200 in really tiny surf. It is all you need. Even at my big size, once the surf grts above waist high, you worry a lot more about keeping the foil in the water than having fun.

I will use the 200 today in ankle to knee high surf. I have never used a 280, but I dont think its necessary in basically any surf.

I prefer the GoFoil Iwa now for "fun". But a day like today is a 200 day for me.

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cantSUPenough said..
Thanks - but I am curious, if you used a 280 in the surf what would happen?

You will most certainly bend or break the mast :-)

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spartacus said..
HI Paul,

Awesome video, were you running a 55cm mast?

How do these conditions compare with the Gold coast DWer's?

Yeah just the stock gofoil mast, it works fine but could feel a little longer would be nice as well.

DW here in the Hood is pretty easy if the wind is steady the whole way, I have been using the 200 most of the time and find the start and the finish a bit of work but the rest is super easy and just flying the whole way if I take the 280 I can not go to the real fast bits like the Hatchery as it's to hard to control but it does make the start and end easier!!
How does it compare to home well it is easier but I still love the feeling of gliding in the ocean and that bit more randomness you get from the ocean but if I was learning to foil I would come here as you will learn much faster!!

Some of the things I tried and what worked for me:

DW foiling is gathering momentum, that's for sure. And it's heaps of fun.

Wanted to add some runs I did last week when I got totally skunked by the weather, but still had some fun.

Initially I thought we were about 4kms out from Palm Beach, but upon checking my location, is was more like 10km. There NE'er was building nicely when I was doing all the boat filming (aiming to make a few videos from this session), but unfortunately as soon as I hit the water all but disappeared. I got a few runs on the SUP, but thought I'd just share this one, as it shows my paddling up onto the foil to catch the tiny bumps. It was a lot of hard work, but amazing what was achievable in these light and tiny conditions. Here's where I foiled from,


The wind was forecast to reach 20kn, but sadly I think I had about 10-12kn whist in the boat, and about 5-10kn whilst paddling.



After some frustrating shortens rides (300-400m), I opted to quickly change to my prone board and get towed onto the foil to surf the bumps. It is way easier to pump and go faster on the prone, and I got some fun runs. The down side of the prone is not being able to pump paddle when you need to linkup swells that are a large distance apart. I definitely want to work on my swell reading skills some more as this is key to efficient DW foiling. Different to SUP, you are traveling super fast even on crappy swells, so it's easy to go the wrong way and surf yourself into a dead zone.



The prone foiling looks like it's much windier, but it's actually calmer, we're just filming into the sun. Here the boat is traveling between 30-35km/h.

Conditions - NE swell at 0.5m 5sec. Wind NNE around 10kn.

Gear,
- SUP, Naish Hover 120 Surf and Thrust Surf XL.
- Prone, Naish Hover Comet 5'2" and Thrust Surf XL.

Trim - Mount position SUP, all the way forward. Mount position Prone about 2" left in the tracks at the rear. Rear wing was the XL rear and set at 2mm of positive lift (trailing edge up).

I am really looking forward to some decent conditions to video a full length run.

Enjoy,


JB

Does anyone have a photo of the Naish XL side-by-side with the Gofoil M200?

It would also be good to hear from anyone that has been lucky enough to try both.