A short edit of my first experience into the world of foiling. A bit ugly but it has definitely brought the stoke back. It can only get better from here......... (I'm behind the boat this weekend ;)

Nice! Especially since the waves were a bit tricky (jacking up) to foil on. The non-breaking ones at the end of the video were better suited.

I would try to put a small piece of pad where your front foot should be. When things get hairy, we tend to instinctively move back instead of weighting even more on the front foot. Having this piece of pad underfoot may act as a reminder to keep your front foot (and weight) forward.

But frankly, you are making good progress. If you can find gentler waves, you will be flying consistently in no time!

Thanks Colas, I appreciate your previous thread and learned a lot from it. Yes it does seem to be a lot about front foot pressure and controlling the buck (lift) from the wing. Keeping constant board speed seemed to help. The roll (yaw?) of the foil is a totally new consideration as well. Much to learn. Hopefully a session getting towed will help smooth the learning curve.

Ripping G, well done!

Agree with Colas, find a much more chilled out wave, or take off way on the shoulder. And definitely get your front foot further forward. Another important thing, and a lot of newbies have this first few times, is to get your front foot as centered on the board as possible (on the center line). You'll notice the best flight you had, you started to do the serpent dance, this can be largely due to not being on the center line.

Just slow everything down, try keeping the foil down for a few waves, then only let it up tiny bits at a time, this will teach you pitch control and front foot pressure.

Definitely some great progress, well done.

Ride safe,

JB

p.s. During these early stages I always recommend a helmet and impact vest, at least just until your get control. You'll be amazed at how fast you progress once it clicks.

Thanks for the vid.. It's acually good to see a vid that doesn't make it look easy-peasy..

You are my new hero. No way in hell anyone was going to watch my first two sessions on a foil..:). I've been learning in the same type of conditions, breaking waves 3 to 4 foot. You are missing one more element though, wind chop. Keep it up, your time behind a boat will drastic reduce the learning curve. Keep this always in your mind, "Never ever try and save it. If there is any doubt just jump away." If not, you will quickly amass a bunch of battle scars.

Nice one , I reckon it helps a lot to try catch waves already in surf stance. I would also try a much wider stance and jeep both feet more centered on the board. Keep at it, the more you do it the better you get.

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gspotxtreme said..
Yes it does seem to be a lot about front foot pressure and controlling the buck (lift) from the wing. Keeping constant board speed seemed to help.

Yes, what is counter-intuitive on a foil is that the pilot has to do all the work by himself to keep the board parallel to the water surface. And this means forcing the board to nosedive on the wave face when it steepens, where our years of surfing experience urges us to move back on the tailpad to raise the nose...

So you want to find waves with a constant face steepness, to remove this variable from the equation.

Enjoyed that. Thanks.

Ive got my 9'0 Starby ready and am waiting for the foul to arrive at WSnS and I'm then into it.

Can't wait

That is about as foilish as it gets in WA

Thanks everyone for the great advice. i really appreciate it. Didn't get a chance to have a tow behind the boat but have had 2 more paddle sessions in more mellow waves with steady progress. The Serpents Dance is becoming less frequent and the froth is increasing

Hey Tim, charging mate. The BIG tip really is to get your front foot on the centreline of the board.
Enjoy watching you progress so fast

You are progressing nicely! The gentler waves helped.

Do not worry if you are still not always airborne, your body learns the balance even with the surfing with the foil submerged. And you will fly where now you aren't with more experience. The board staying in the water does not means you are doing something wrong (apart from the feet position :-) ), just that your body does not have yet all the unconscious micro-adjustments that will make it fly.

Just focus on putting your feet on the exact same position each time, especially the front foot, which must be on the stringer.

Towed sessions are not mandatory if you can get on the water often with these kind of conditions.

Yeah doing really well , some good advice above get your front foot over the stringer. My advice is get in your car and drive and find a longer wave. You improve super quick on longer waves it gives you time to find your feet and adjust. You can touch down a couple of times and recover , once you get a 5 to 10 sec flight it comes together really quickly and with each wave you fly longer.