Hi all,

I'm keen to see if this is doable. Anyone tried this?
He is using a tiny foil.



I was thinking a bungee rope or maybe a normal tow rope? I have no idea.

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AndyShwartz said..
Hi all,

I'm keen to see if this is doable. Anyone tried this?
He is using a tiny foil.

I was thinking a bungee rope or maybe a normal tow rope? I have no idea.

No

As far I remember it said in the comments to that video, that it was just enough current to get flying. So I think it works best on a narrow spot of the river. I tried it second time yesterday and did notice a difference to the first time, as there was more water due to rain the night before.

But otherwise it works, but it is also a lot of paddling (which you cut out of these videos). Each time you fall you paddle to the side, try not to knock the foil to hard on the rocks, and walk back up stream. My spot for learning has a big eddy beside it, so most of the time I can let the river take me back to start. There are also some spots with a standing wave, I have not tried that yet as I am just learning to stand on the board. Next would be to get pumping so I would only use the bungee to get going. The advantage is that the river is 10 minutes away, and the next lake with good wind (sometimes) 1 hour.

And you have to know what you are doing. Ropes and river are actually a bad combination, as you can get caught in a loop and the current pushes you under water. So no leash or only connected to your life vest with panic release, have a knife/rope cutter, friends to cut the rope, watch out for drift wood. Just to make clear that there is also a risk in this sport.

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knatti said..
As far I remember it said in the comments to that video, that it was just enough current to get flying. So I think it works best on a narrow spot of the river. I tried it second time yesterday and did notice a difference to the first time, as there was more water due to rain the night before.

But otherwise it works, but it is also a lot of paddling (which you cut out of these videos). Each time you fall you paddle to the side, try not to knock the foil to hard on the rocks, and walk back up stream. My spot for learning has a big eddy beside it, so most of the time I can let the river take me back to start. There are also some spots with a standing wave, I have not tried that yet as I am just learning to stand on the board. Next would be to get pumping so I would only use the bungee to get going. The advantage is that the river is 10 minutes away, and the next lake with good wind (sometimes) 1 hour.

And you have to know what you are doing. Ropes and river are actually a bad combination, as you can get caught in a loop and the current pushes you under water. So no leash or only connected to your life vest with panic release, have a knife/rope cutter, friends to cut the rope, watch out for drift wood. Just to make clear that there is also a risk in this sport.

Thanks. So you recommend a bungee set up...or part of the rope bungee?

Safety wise...I'm way more scared of flowing water than anything in the ocean. It's so dangerous with rocks, logs, getting jammed. I stopped white water sports years ago for this reason. Plus it's cold and getting smacked in the face by tea trees is not my idea of fun.

Thanks for the reply

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knatti said..
As far I remember it said in the comments to that video, that it was just enough current to get flying. So I think it works best on a narrow spot of the river. I tried it second time yesterday and did notice a difference to the first time, as there was more water due to rain the night before.

But otherwise it works, but it is also a lot of paddling (which you cut out of these videos). Each time you fall you paddle to the side, try not to knock the foil to hard on the rocks, and walk back up stream. My spot for learning has a big eddy beside it, so most of the time I can let the river take me back to start. There are also some spots with a standing wave, I have not tried that yet as I am just learning to stand on the board. Next would be to get pumping so I would only use the bungee to get going. The advantage is that the river is 10 minutes away, and the next lake with good wind (sometimes) 1 hour.

And you have to know what you are doing. Ropes and river are actually a bad combination, as you can get caught in a loop and the current pushes you under water. So no leash or only connected to your life vest with panic release, have a knife/rope cutter, friends to cut the rope, watch out for drift wood. Just to make clear that there is also a risk in this sport.

"Most of the time" this makes me laugh.

I tried standing wave surfing on a well lite city section of a river. The lights extended about 100 meters in a popular section of the river. The water flow was controlled, and that time of year it was only released enough to make the wave after dark. So about 8pm a hand full of locals would take turns jumping into the cold standing wave for a ride. My turn came and quickly fell and popped out the back were a couple of kayakers were surfing the second and third waves. Being the newb that I was, I did the polite thing and gave way to the kayakers, and drifted past them. Big mistake! 500 METERS LATER (down stream) , in the un-lite part of the cold river, I finally made it to the standing water were i could START the paddle back up river. Good times... (Did i mention the water was freaking cold?) If i had just quickly got out, i would have only had a 25 meter paddle back up to the get out point.

I think there's a memorial to this story but i don't what it is. Maybe it's " know how to get out before you get in" or "ware a thicker wetsuit at night" Maybe it's, don't do what i do. Take your pick. All i know is once you fall get to shore QUICKLY... LOL.

@andyschwartz
on my river I would need more current to lift me only with a rope so with the bungee I get more power. As a beginner that helps, maybe with better skills I could do without (slalom left and right like in the video) , or on a faster flowing stream. You can lookup bungeemonkey, they have some videos with better skilled surfers (without foil).

I feel ok with whitewater as I had quite some training there (member of the water rescue). Theres not much difference in temperature:
River Inn 14C
Achensee 16 - 19C (133m deep)

But put me in the ocean its a different kettle of fish. No Idea what to lookout for. Just another tourist .

@fishdude
Thanks for the nice story, made me
Yes knowing your exits is good before you are on the water
I deliberately do my testing away from the public, I will try at one of the bridges in town when it looks good . But there I also have the exit problem as most of the area has walls along the river.