Testing the Dakine half foot strap.
All positive great control , no potential foot injuries.
You can locate the foot strap on the sweet spot with the foil.

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Noah2 said..
Testing the Dakine half foot strap.
All positive great control , no potential foot injuries.
You can locate the foot strap on the sweet spot with the foil.

I have been considering these. I am very new to wind foiling and thought they would be a great compromise between full straps and no straps.

Allows your feet to slide towards where you want them without disturbing trim of board.
A bit fragile against impacts..hard plastic.
Can point front straps any direcrion using one insert hole, and rears forward to slide backfoot as needed.
Broke one using it to carry the board..ouch to the rail.

Just got the Slingshot half straps 2 days ago, which are very similar to the Dakine straps. I tried them yesterday for foiling on my slalom board that I had been using without straps. The one in the back was ok, although I did not seem much benefit from it. The one in the front was too far to the back and became a PITA. The stiff half straps are much more of an obstacle that normal strap since they don't move at all and you can't step on them. When I was in the strap, I had control problems because the foot was too far back. I'd have to put in new inserts further to the front, but I don't really see the advantage. I used the same board later in 2-3 ft chop with a 45 cm mast without straps, and did not miss the straps at all.

I'll have give them another try on my freestyle board where the straps are in the correct position, perhaps the assessment will be different then.

I found little difference until a foiling jibe is attempted.
Pulling feet out and placing is very different from sliding feet to desired position.

I've been using the slingshot 1/2 straps in the rear two foot strap positions now for about a year with the open side facing forwards and really like them. Couple things -
-they are way more comfortable and useable with the open side facing the nose of the board
- I covered mine with some old tabou outer covers to make them a lot more comfortable
- slingshot sell small wedge blocks which allow the 1/2 strap to made essentially tighter -works well

Having the 1/2 straps at rear makes it way easier to get your foot in the strap plu move your rear foot a round say when you bare off the wind etc

i tried them in the front positions as well but didn't like it as much as didn't get that locked in feeling. Few pictures below to illustrate

How are your foiling jibes?

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Adam555 said..
I've been using the slingshot 1/2 straps in the rear two foot strap positions now for about a year with the open side facing forwards and really like them. Couple things -
-they are way more comfortable and useable with the open side facing the nose of the board

Makes sense. Not sure it would work on the slalom board I'm using, since it is narrower in the back. I often have to place my foot in the middle, especially when using a short mast due to low tide, and the straps would probably be too close together to do so. But I'll try it on my freestyle board that has a center strap.

Foiling jibes, my backfoot is fine getting out and across to initiate.
My dumb FRONT foot steps out all over the place, causing inconsistent wobbles and rail dips..
Good jiber I know uses front half straps facing back to aid in smoothness sliding out.

I got to try the forward-facing half strap in the rear on my slalom board yesterday. I liked it, but since it needs 2 screw holes, it does not allow for moving the strap all the way back. I ended up having to move the front foot back a bit to compensate, but that worked just fine. The stance was a bit narrower than usual, but that might have helped keeping the flight a bit steadier. With the 90 cm mast, having the back foot more to the outside was no problem. It could be more of an issue when using a shorter mast for a low-tide session.

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boardsurfr said..

Adam555 said..
I've been using the slingshot 1/2 straps in the rear two foot strap positions now for about a year with the open side facing forwards and really like them. Couple things -
-they are way more comfortable and useable with the open side facing the nose of the board

Makes sense. Not sure it would work on the slalom board I'm using, since it is narrower in the back. I often have to place my foot in the middle, especially when using a short mast due to low tide, and the straps would probably be too close together to do so. But I'll try it on my freestyle board that has a center strap.

I did not find half straps useful for regular windsurfing since I could steer or push efficiently; however, I feel that half straps prevent foot injury on foiling.

Has anyone tried 2 full straps in front and 2 half straps in back? In regular windsurfing, it's always easier putting the front foot in first, but the back foot misses the strap sometimes on first attempt and I have to retry again and then foot goes in. More of an issue for back foot finding strap when gusty winds are present, or when over powered. Curious if having a half strap in the back on my foil board would solve this problem. I was thinking regular straps in front to reduce tripping over them. Full foot straps in front seem less of an obstacle than half straps in front. Half staps in back don't seem as much of an obstacle because they are back farther away from most of the foot work maneuvering.

Guess it depends what your particular problem happens to be.
For me, the problem is smoothly getting OUT of the front strap in the middle of the foiling jibe. A half strap facing back is what 2 of the local jibe masters use.

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LeeD said..
Guess it depends what your particular problem happens to be.
For me, the problem is smoothly getting OUT of the front strap in the middle of the foiling jibe. A half strap facing back is what 2 of the local jibe masters use.

I don't use foot straps when I gybe, because of the awkwardness of the foot position it puts on my knees. I just get plenty of speed in the straps, then when ready to gybe, I take both feet out of straps, keep the sail sheeted in and crank out the gybe by carving the board. When I gybe my front foot is just in front of the front straps and my back foot is between the front and rear straps on the lower side of the board to make it carve. But this stance is on my traditional board. Will I be able to use this stance on my foil board? Reason I ask is because the balance and weight distribution is so sensitive on foil.

I already posted somewhere that I took out the whole bottom window of my sail with a Slingshot half strap in the rear position by pulling the sail over it to uphaul. Just a word of caution. And I didn't like it as a substitute for a foot-strap to begin with....

MR, if I step forward with both feet on foil, my board would come crashing down to the water. But try and see.

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MagicRide said..
Has anyone tried 2 full straps in front and 2 half straps in back? In regular windsurfing, it's always easier putting the front foot in first, but the back foot misses the strap sometimes on first attempt and I have to retry again and then foot goes in. More of an issue for back foot finding strap when gusty winds are present, or when over powered. Curious if having a half strap in the back on my foil board would solve this problem. I was thinking regular straps in front to reduce tripping over them. Full foot straps in front seem less of an obstacle than half straps in front. Half staps in back don't seem as much of an obstacle because they are back farther away from most of the foot work maneuvering.

I wouldn't overthink it - if you're going to learn on a freeride foil just use the regular straps (inboard hopefully) - nice and loose.
Try not to jam your feet all the way in.
You'll be crashing at low speed - it's really not a big deal

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azymuth said..

MagicRide said..
Has anyone tried 2 full straps in front and 2 half straps in back? In regular windsurfing, it's always easier putting the front foot in first, but the back foot misses the strap sometimes on first attempt and I have to retry again and then foot goes in. More of an issue for back foot finding strap when gusty winds are present, or when over powered. Curious if having a half strap in the back on my foil board would solve this problem. I was thinking regular straps in front to reduce tripping over them. Full foot straps in front seem less of an obstacle than half straps in front. Half staps in back don't seem as much of an obstacle because they are back farther away from most of the foot work maneuvering.

I wouldn't overthink it - if you're going to learn on a freeride foil just use the regular straps (inboard hopefully) - nice and loose.
Try not to jam your feet all the way in.
You'll be crashing at low speed - it's really not a big deal

I will be learning to foil on the 130L Slingshot Dialer foil board.

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LeeD said..
MR, if I step forward with both feet on foil, my board would come crashing down to the water. But try and see.

That was a concern of mine. Thanks for addressing it. I wonder if I play around with the position of the front wing as well as position of the mast base on deck, I can find a compromise?

If you're balanced, how can moving BOTH feet forward maintain the same balance?

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LeeD said..
If you're balanced, how can moving BOTH feet forward maintain the same balance?

That's what I'm going to have to experiment with. Now when you're back foot comes out of the rear strap and is placed in center between front and rear straps when starting to gybe, the weight distribution just changed on the board, but yet can still be controlled. I'm wondering if I can accomplish the same thing by taking my front foot out of the strap as well, but instead lean my weight aft towards the tail of the board. In other words leaning my hips, torso aft to compensate for my front foot out of the front strap. Does this scenario make sense with the laws of physics in place here?

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MagicRide said..

LeeD said..
If you're balanced, how can moving BOTH feet forward maintain the same balance?

That's what I'm going to have to experiment with. Now when you're back foot comes out of the rear strap and is placed in center between front and rear straps when starting to gybe, the weight distribution just changed on the board, but yet can still be controlled. I'm wondering if I can accomplish the same thing by taking my front foot out of the strap as well, but instead lean my weight aft towards the tail of the board. In other words leaning my hips, torso aft to compensate for my front foot out of the front strap. Does this scenario make sense with the laws of physics in place here?

There's enough going on in a jibe without trying to figure out weight compensation for putting your feet in the wrong a difficult place. Add lumpy water, gusty winds, etc and it just gets worse.

This video might be helpful. Gwen is a good rec foiler who does a nice jibe.

www.facebook.com/gwenael.gourlay.3/videos/10216503426913058/

Very nice, clean looking gybes! Looking like there's not much room for error. How much wiggle room I have to play with before I notice the board behaving in a different fashion, I will have to experiment with. Perhaps riding strapless may work. There for, I have more room to scooch my feet around more freely. Have to find the sweet spot if I go strapless and then put some markers on the deck for idea foot placement. This all looks so exciting and I'm up for the challenge to conquer wind Foiling!

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MagicRide said..
Very nice, clean looking gybes! Looking like there's not much room for error. How much wiggle room I have to play with before I notice the board behaving in a different fashion, I will have to experiment with. Perhaps riding strapless may work. There for, I have more room to scooch my feet around more freely. Have to find the sweet spot if I go strapless and then put some markers on the deck for idea foot placement. This all looks so exciting and I'm up for the challenge to conquer wind Foiling!

After spending the afternoon working on mine, a bit to add. If the back foot is roughly in the right place, you really don't have to lean back to keep level flight. Experiment where you put the back foot so you fly level. I found that I'd been placing my back foot just a few cm too far forward. Placing it further back when initiating the jibe meant I struggled less on the exit. I was flying cleanly through but occasionally tippy tapping on the way out.

Then, with a very quick foot change and reasonably stable foil, you shouldn't upset the apple cart too much. And, I do mean quick. Most of us come from the fin world where we kind of loiter switching the feet around. On a foil, it is as direct as it looks.

Glad you are enjoying the process!

I appreciate all the details. Just enjoying reading about all of your experiences on the water, until I can get out and have a go at it. Have fun!!

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MagicRide said..
I appreciate all the details. Just enjoying reading about all of your experiences on the water, until I can get out and have a go at it. Have fun!!

Not sure I understood correctly but did you say you jybe normally with your feet OUT of the straps?

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gorgesailor said..

MagicRide said..
I appreciate all the details. Just enjoying reading about all of your experiences on the water, until I can get out and have a go at it. Have fun!!

Not sure I understood correctly but did you say you jybe normally with your feet OUT of the straps?

Yes I have been jybing this way since my knees have given me trouble, so taking my feet out of straps right before I jybe works great on my knees. Once in a while I get slip off the board because I don't have my front foot in the strap. But when I jibe this was, my feet are more squared up with each other, rather than in a traditional jybe, so no twisting of the knees is happening. But I'm able to do full planing, carving jybes this way. But to jybe that way my forward foot steps near the center of the board slightly in front of the front straps, but my rear foot goes to the low side of the board to help carve it through the jybe. Takes more upper body effort this way, but my knees continue to thank me for jybing this way. I will post a video so you can see it first hand. It's unique, but it's my technique . I may consider learning strapless. That way I can plant my feet on the board more freely, because when I learn to ride on foil, taking my front foot out of the strap and moving my foot to center like I do on my traditional board may be pushing the limits for balance when on foil. Been reading more and more about sailors wind foiling strapless.

Until I can get on the computer and upload my video here, you can go to YouTube, type in wind probe, click on wind probe and you can watch the video their.

Just uploaded the video..

Easy to see why you have problems with jibing in the straps. You keep tons of power in the sail, and your feet are pointing very sideways. If you had your knees and toes pointing much more forward, and sheet in fully or oversheet, you'd have a lot less stress on your knees and a better jibe.

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boardsurfr said..
Easy to see why you have problems with jibing in the straps. You keep tons of power in the sail, and your feet are pointing very sideways. If you had your knees and toes pointing much more forward, and sheet in fully or oversheet, you'd have a lot less stress on your knees and a better jibe.

Your not quite getting the concept here. When my forward foot is in the front strap, it's their for a few seconds. During that time, the front knee is slightly twisting as the rear foot gets out of the rear strap and moves to the low side to initiate the carve. The front knee also wants to go over past the front toe in order to lean over and help with the carve which is also a dangerous position for the knee. Can cause over rotation issues from what I understand. That position is enough to aggravate my knee due to the pressure of that position. Tried many times with the front foot in strap and it just doesn't work for me. So when I take the front foot out, no more pressure on the front knee. I hope I explained it a little better for you. But beside the fact, I was hoping this video could show you guys if I should learn to foil strapless or not based on my jybing stance and foot position.

In my 36 years of windsurfing in the San Francisco Bay, the best and most consistent full planing lay down jiber I've seen also stepped out of both straps while entering a full speed jibe.
My g/f for the past 9 years does this on her own, and makes an average of 95% of her jibes.