Continuous shots showing Thomas Hofmann's crazy drone skills - no need for editing, he somehow magically keeps us in the frame.

4 long takes - times below if you want to FF

0 to 2.50 downwind 1
2.50 to 5.50 downwind 2
5.50 to 8.20 upwind
8.20 to end downwind duo

Hope it shows how much fun you can have out the back

Music - Giacca and Flores - Last Night a DJ Saved My Life




Tracks of the 2nd and 3rd shots - blue Blacktip 4.5m

Absolutly epic sailing! Brillant Drone work! Thanks for this gents! It is awesome to start my day watching this because it's gonna blow over 20 knots all day. Time to go overboard!

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azymuth said..
Continuous shots showing Thomas Hofmann's crazy drone skills - no need for editing, he somehow magically keeps us in the frame.

4 long takes - times below if you want to FF

0 to 2.50 downwind 1
2.50 to 5.50 downwind 2
5.50 to 8.20 upwind
8.20 to end downwind duo

Hope it shows how much fun you can have out the back

Music - Giacca and Flores - Last Night a DJ Saved My Life

Tracks of the 2nd and 3rd shots - blue Blacktip 4.5m

Yep great clip. Clearly demonstrates why i to love open ocean free ride foiling in swells

Windsurf foiling vids leave windsurfing vids for dead. Insane footage.

Wind only looks around 15-18 knots yet they can plane powered using small sails.

Footage makes me want to give it a try.

Dude is rarely if ever hooked in...

The drone operator has some mad skills as well!

Dude is rarely if ever hooked in... looks like just on the upwind sections.

I'd like to see how he gets off the beach. Looks like some sizable swell coming through.

The drone operator has some mad skills as well!

So good. Motivates me to use the infinity 65 more. Also motivates me to purchase the freestyle 87

Awesome skills, wind, waves and sunshine; the the recipe for a perfect day

JJ what do you use for your tracks. Phone app or watch?

Awesome sailing and drone work, good to see it uncut.
It may be the Slingshot Freestyle 87 but could just as easily be renamed their Downwind Carving Machine

Top job Tom

Awesome Foiling and footage skills. Excellent work

You have some insane conditions to foil in JJ...the FS87 looks to be a great board in those swells...love it.

Just as an FYI. The footage isn't sped up. This is the actual speed people were going that day.

I think wind foiling has had a really bad start. For some reason the major windsurf brands seem to have put their focus on foil racing. 95% of windsurfers have zero interest in that category. They fall either in the free ride or wave sailing camp.

What you see in the video is free ride wind foiling. And the Slingshot foils and boards Jon and co are using are geared towards that. The foils are designed in a modular way. Meaning you buy the base foil setup with a front wing that works in most conditions. You then simply add different size front wings depending on how muchliftyou need. Bigger wing usually means more lift.

You can extend the low end wind range by using a bigger front wing. In higher wind you use a smaller front wing. That said the mid range wing the Slingshot foil comes with seems to cover a very large range. Unlike in normal windsurfing more wind and sail pressure doesn't just convert into higher speeds it also results in more lift. So for higher speeds in more wind you need more smaller front wings.

This is were foils targeted at free riding differ from race foil setups. They geared more towards providing lift in a lower wind range while keeping them manoeuvrable. That's why in the video they use very small sails in relatively low wind. They are barely able to water start with those small sails. Once in flight the foil very quickly accelerates to top speed. The amount of pressure at that point is almost negligible. I have seen people go 20 knots in 14 knots wind barely hooked in. I think that's the reason why the speed sailors are now looking at foils to break the overall speed record.

But back to the original assumption. At the moment none of the major brands seem to really understand that the mass appeal in foiling is in the free ride segment. Their solutions in my opinion are too technical and don't focus on the fun aspect.

There are a few exceptions such as MB Boards and Slingshot. Realistically thought Slingshot is the only brand that offers both boards and foils in that segment. The modular approach Slingshot has taken with their foils I think is a step into the right direction.

I have heard rumours that JP is about to launch some free ride foil boards though unless they also launch foils to go with it I don't see this being more then them just dabbling in it.

If the major brands do it right I think windsurfing will gain new popularity over the next 3 to 5 years.

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stehsegler said..
Just as an FYI. The footage isn't sped up. This is the actual speed people were going that day.

I think wind foiling has had a really bad start. For some reason the major windsurf brands seem to have put their focus on foil racing. 95% of windsurfers have zero interest in that category. They fall either in the free ride or wave sailing camp.

What you see in the video is free ride wind foiling. And the Slingshot foils and boards Jon and co are using are geared towards that. The foils are designed in a modular way. Meaning you buy the base foil setup with a front wing that works in most conditions. You then simply add different size front wings depending on how muchliftyou need. Bigger wing usually means more lift.

You can extend the low end wind range by using a bigger front wing. In higher wind you use a smaller front wing. That said the mid range wing the Slingshot foil comes with seems to cover a very large range. Unlike in normal windsurfing more wind and sail pressure doesn't just convert into higher speeds it also results in more lift. So for higher speeds in more wind you need more smaller front wings.

This is were foils targeted at free riding differ from race foil setups. They geared more towards providing lift in a lower wind range while keeping them manoeuvrable. That's why in the video they use very small sails in relatively low wind. They are barely able to water start with those small sails. Once in flight the foil very quickly accelerates to top speed. The amount of pressure at that point is almost negligible. I have seen people go 20 knots in 14 knots wind barely hooked in. I think that's the reason why the speed sailors are now looking at foils to break the overall speed record.

But back to the original assumption. At the moment none of the major brands seem to really understand that the mass appeal in foiling is in the free ride segment. Their solutions in my opinion are too technical and don't focus on the fun aspect.

There are a few exceptions such as MB Boards and Slingshot. Realistically thought Slingshot is the only brand that offers both boards and foils in that segment. The modular approach Slingshot has taken with their foils I think is a step into the right direction.

I have heard rumours that JP is about to launch some free ride foil boards though unless they also launch foils to go with it I don't see this being more then them just dabbling in it.

If the major brands do it right I think windsurfing will gain new popularity over the next 3 to 5 years.

Agree 100%
Free Foiling has dramatically changed Time on Water for us (Dallas Texas). Our wind is nasty gusty at best. formula board and 11m sails were the norm, but now we can foil with a 5.8 in less than 10knots.
Slingshot has been charging the way with easy to use Foiling equipment, we love the modular system. I enjoy reading about racing but many of the bigger brands don't quite understand just how much free Foiling is unbelievably fun in all winds.The amount of time and energy gone into Foiling race sails and none in the free foil sail market is disappointing.

Outstanding video and sailing. Keep it up!

I assume from the comment that you're using the SS I65.

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CAN17 said.. Awesome skills. JJ what do you use for your tracks. Phone app or watch?

Cheers Connor (and others)

Suunto Ambit3 GPS watch - had it couple of years without issue.

In the vid - Slingshot Freestyle 87 boards, Infinity 65 wings, Simmer Blacktip 4.5, 4.2, 4m sails.
Wind SSW 15-20 knots and 20-25 knots (2 sessions).


Last shot in the vid - insane fun downwinding with Jesper trying to both stay in frame and not take each other out
Turns/direction changes are quick at 20 knots with the 65 wing.

Wow really skilled drone flying without that footage I don't think many people could understand what windfoiling really is. Of course great foiling skills you guys have one awesome playground. We are just now coming into our windy season on the Oregon coast it's still pretty cold but I still managed four go outs all on the 76 with a 4.2 ,today was lighter had the 5.0 on. Once I have the 76 mastered I was thinking smaller board and 65 infinty wing. Small wave sails are so much fun started foiling last summer so far never really needed any bigger than 5.0

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JonnyWindsurf said..
Dude is rarely if ever hooked in... looks like just on the upwind sections.

I'd like to see how he gets off the beach. Looks like some sizable swell coming through.

The drone operator has some mad skills as well!

I just started a seperate thread on the topic of getting through the surf zone.

Select to expand quote

stehsegler said..
Just as an FYI. The footage isn't sped up. This is the actual speed people were going that day.

I think wind foiling has had a really bad start. For some reason the major windsurf brands seem to have put their focus on foil racing. 95% of windsurfers have zero interest in that category. They fall either in the free ride or wave sailing camp.

What you see in the video is free ride wind foiling. And the Slingshot foils and boards Jon and co are using are geared towards that. The foils are designed in a modular way. Meaning you buy the base foil setup with a front wing that works in most conditions. You then simply add different size front wings depending on how muchliftyou need. Bigger wing usually means more lift.

You can extend the low end wind range by using a bigger front wing. In higher wind you use a smaller front wing. That said the mid range wing the Slingshot foil comes with seems to cover a very large range. Unlike in normal windsurfing more wind and sail pressure doesn't just convert into higher speeds it also results in more lift. So for higher speeds in more wind you need more smaller front wings.

This is were foils targeted at free riding differ from race foil setups. They geared more towards providing lift in a lower wind range while keeping them manoeuvrable. That's why in the video they use very small sails in relatively low wind. They are barely able to water start with those small sails. Once in flight the foil very quickly accelerates to top speed. The amount of pressure at that point is almost negligible. I have seen people go 20 knots in 14 knots wind barely hooked in. I think that's the reason why the speed sailors are now looking at foils to break the overall speed record.

But back to the original assumption. At the moment none of the major brands seem to really understand that the mass appeal in foiling is in the free ride segment. Their solutions in my opinion are too technical and don't focus on the fun aspect.

There are a few exceptions such as MB Boards and Slingshot. Realistically thought Slingshot is the only brand that offers both boards and foils in that segment. The modular approach Slingshot has taken with their foils I think is a step into the right direction.

I have heard rumours that JP is about to launch some free ride foil boards though unless they also launch foils to go with it I don't see this being more then them just dabbling in it.

If the major brands do it right I think windsurfing will gain new popularity over the next 3 to 5 years.

The manufacturers made the same mistake with windsurfing thirty years ago -- they sold radical wave sailing equipment or racing gear to an unsuspecting public. It backfired and the public lost interest by the end of the 1990s. The windsurf companies then tried to sell simpler more realistic gear but by then it was too late -- the mass appeal of windsurfing was spent. Hugely popular in the early eighties when the gear was simple and much less popular when the gear became complicated and specialized.

Luckily some manufacturers see the writing on the wall regarding foiling and are quickly addressing the issue with less specialized equipment, which is cheaper and more consumer friendly.

I was one of those they lost. I came back for foiling.