Got any secrets for getting out through solid shorebreak without risking damage to your foil or yourself?

I'm getting much better on the foil... which means I'm getting out in bigger surf.

I've also learned that in more solid waves, the REAL fun is during the higher tide when the waves are softer out the back.

The problem is, as the tide gets higher, the shorebreak gets bigger, and it gets deeper to get off the beach. The danger and difficulty escalates.

Up until this point, I haven't had much technique... Just bull through the shorebreak holding the board so the foil doesn't get jammed with force into the shallow sandbar. But I have a feeling my current brute technique will end up either hurting the foil or me eventually, especially in bigger waves / higher tides.

Pointbreaks aren't an option. It's all beachbreak.

Got any ideas? Thanks!

My secret to handle the shorebreak with a foil:

Don't do it. Plain and simple.

The risks are too high. Plus shorebreak are much more tricky when coming in, so if you hesitate going out, coming back will be a disaster.

On a related note, seeing/hearing of all the foil breakage (all brands, or bending for the aluminum ones) that happened around hossegor and basque country, it seems that foil breaks most often just by being tumbled in the whitewater, without even hitting the ground. The forces applied randomly are then huge. And thus, if the waves are big enough for the shorebreak to be intimidating, the risk of breaking the foil will be there.

It is just like longboarding in hollow waves: don't do it, unless you accept the high risk of breaking your board.

PS: I must admit I sometimes went out in some size with the foil. I just walked 500m to find a place without a shorebreak, and memorized it to come back there at the end of the session.

Yeah I have to deal with Shories all the time. I leave you leg rope off and walk into the water still carrying your board like you would on the beach. Pending size of first wave you can generally get to foil depth water this way . The rest is timing stand beside your board with your hand in the Handel holding paddle same hand . If a big one comes simply lift the board side ways over the foam . Stay on edge of impact zone don't move forward untill you get your break , lay down and paddle like hell . Once out and clear then put on leggie. The leg rope is what ties you up around your foil also stops you from lifting it up over a wave. Try it works really well for me ,make sure you put the leggie on as sooon as you can. Coming in same deal leggie off just before shore break , again sit just outside impact zone (don't get caught) watch the swell pattern and simply paddle in on the back of a smaller one , paddle hard get as close you can jump off and carry the board same way you walked in. It's better to have the foil close to you so you can control it.

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Piros said..
The leg rope is what ties you up around your foil also stops you from lifting it up over a wave.

I must say the waist leash helps for this, the anchor point being higher. Plus you can put the paddle handle in a cord loop on it.

Hossegor shorebreaks are much nastier than what you describe however. They are risky even without a foil :-)

Piros, thanks! That's basically what I do. Came those conclusions on my own... just seemed a random set of conclusions.

But it's great to hear I'm "doing it right" -- or at least the same as someone who's done it more than me.

It's also great for others to hear who are just figuring it out...

Yeah, Colas, it's not Hossegor here!

Thanks guys!

Steve

Hi Steve our beach breaks runs for 18 miles straight so there is no walking around it and yes we get some big nasty shore breaks, I was born here and dealt with it my whole life . Timing is everthing