Finally I gave myself a Christmas present--a freeride foil. I used that on a small slalom board.
After two seesions, I managed to get some continuous flight, occasionally touching down. But I found my stance was awful. I had difficulty in using the harness. I found the boom was too low once in the foot straps and flying. Hand height at waist holding the boom I constantly bend my front arm to control the power and held the boom close to the mast. I had to very actively adjust foot pressure and sail to control ride height and windward/leeward trim of the board. Is it just take more time to get used to it?
Setup: boom at shouldet height (as normal windsurfing), seat harness (hook at hip height), 22 inches lines, mast track 133 from tail, freerace camber sail up to 6.5m
My thought: raise the boom, try a waist harness (but then the boom will feel even lower?) Or everything will be sorted out after more practice.
It seems that I dont need much power for foiling, not much power to sit into. I mostly fly without hooking in for easier trim adjustment, and less violent crash

Sounds familiar! You'll get used to it in a couple of sessions.

You can try a higher boom and shorter lines, personally I have always used a waist harness. After 3 years of practice, my boom stays high, but my lines get longer again (32" for racing). I could sail around more relaxed on the foil than on a fin after only about 10 sessions. My first 5 sessions or so were without harness too, although after a while you might want to practice hooking in a gain, because it an greatly increase stability.

what size board are you using??

Have fun learning, its the most fun stage to be in, learning new things every day!

The words of your post suggest you have the flexibility of a contortionist in a circus act. And that things in you setup are way out of wack. You mast base at 133cm is perhaps a bit forward. My foil vendor suggest 109cm and others suggest less than that. That will fix having to rake the sail mast back to keep it in your hands. Generally speaking purpose built slalom and formula boards have the foot straps in a non optimal position for foiling. If there in the wrong position don't put your feet in them. Unless you beating up wind, you can get away with it. Consider uploading a picture of you setup. A picture is worth a 1000 words.

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lakeeffect said..
The words of your post suggest you have the flexibility of a contortionist in a circus act. And that things in you setup are way out of wack. You mast base at 133cm is perhaps a bit forward. My foil vendor suggest 109cm and others suggest less than that. That will fix having to rake the sail mast back to keep it in your hands. Generally speaking purpose built slalom and formula boards have the foot straps in a non optimal position for foiling. If there in the wrong position don't put your feet in them. Unless you beating up wind, you can get away with it. Consider uploading a picture of you setup. A picture is worth a 1000 words.

133cm from the tail is about 113cm from the front screw which is ok. Mine is at 80cm for freeriding, but you dont have to, I think for learning its fine like this.

For the rest totally agree! Its just that after 1 session its too new to really know what changes to your kit translate to in terms of foil behaviour, so I'd recommend either doing nothing or just moving the boom up and trying like that.

Lines are way too short leading to you raking the sail over yourself instead of having it upright. The mast base too forward also isn't helping.

For all of your learning, while you are adjusting things, stay off the harness. For freeride foiling you may find you don't need the harness. I rarely use mine for freeride foiling. Get used to controlling things without the harness. After that you can add the harness.

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WhiteofHeart said..

what size board are you using??

I am using a 59cm wide slalom board. Plenty of volume for uphauling for me

Thanks everyone for tips. I will give another few sessions a try first to see how it works out. Perhaps raise the boom 2 inches. I will take some photos next time out.

Those harness lines seem short and the sail big. I made a lot of changes early on that felt more comfortable, I now realise it was me that was getting better and more comfortable. Now after a couple of dozen sessions I can detect the impact of subtle changes. I've moved the mast back, the harness lines way forward, the foil in the recommended position. The other day I felt more comfortable having my front foot at right angles instead of pointing forward a little as I tend to do on the slapper. (Hover 122, surf foil, 70 mast, 5.0 wave sail)

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SongofWind said..

WhiteofHeart said..

what size board are you using??

I am using a 59cm wide slalom board. Plenty of volume for uphauling for me

Thanks everyone for tips. I will give another few sessions a try first to see how it works out. Perhaps raise the boom 2 inches. I will take some photos next time out.

More width won't hurt. I sail 78 cm wide up into the high 20s. If 59 is all you have, that's cool but don't be afraid to plonk something a bit wider on, if it's available, especially on the bottom end of things.

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SongofWind said..
Finally I gave myself a Christmas present--a freeride foil. I used that on a small slalom board.
After two seesions, I managed to get some continuous flight, occasionally touching down. But I found my stance was awful. I had difficulty in using the harness. I found the boom was too low once in the foot straps and flying. Hand height at waist holding the boom I constantly bend my front arm to control the power and held the boom close to the mast. I had to very actively adjust foot pressure and sail to control ride height and windward/leeward trim of the board. Is it just take more time to get used to it?
Setup: boom at shouldet height (as normal windsurfing), seat harness (hook at hip height), 22 inches lines, mast track 133 from tail, freerace camber sail up to 6.5m
My thought: raise the boom, try a waist harness (but then the boom will feel even lower?) Or everything will be sorted out after more practice.
It seems that I dont need much power for foiling, not much power to sit into. I mostly fly without hooking in for easier trim adjustment, and less violent crash

Hi SongofWind. You are experiencing what we all went through. Foiling require more exact movements where a few centimeters can change your entire rig.

Stance: I use a straight rear leg and a bent front leg. -kinda forward leaning.
Harness: I went from a seat to a waist for the first time. It makes a lot of difference: Why? You can shift your hips forward and aft to adjust the board trim without messing up sail trim. I know it's personal preference, but it was a great tip by another foiler.
I also don't use a 'hook' type spreader. I find that when I do make larger body movements, I can smoothly move back and forth on the lines easier. When you're going slow, I tend to lean rearward to keep the board elevation. When you speed up, you'll be moving everything further forward; harness in the line, foot pressure, etc. Also, since you're more upright, the roller is easier to unhook when you're upright and a gust hits.

Here is another thread
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Foiling/Dual-harness-lines-for-foiling?utm_source=seabreeze.com.au

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SongofWind said..
Finally I gave myself a Christmas present--a freeride foil. I used that on a small slalom board.
After two seesions, I managed to get some continuous flight, occasionally touching down. But I found my stance was awful. I had difficulty in using the harness. I found the boom was too low once in the foot straps and flying. Hand height at waist holding the boom I constantly bend my front arm to control the power and held the boom close to the mast. I had to very actively adjust foot pressure and sail to control ride height and windward/leeward trim of the board. Is it just take more time to get used to it?
Setup: boom at shouldet height (as normal windsurfing), seat harness (hook at hip height), 22 inches lines, mast track 133 from tail, freerace camber sail up to 6.5m
My thought: raise the boom, try a waist harness (but then the boom will feel even lower?) Or everything will be sorted out after more practice.
It seems that I dont need much power for foiling, not much power to sit into. I mostly fly without hooking in for easier trim adjustment, and less violent crash

G'day, if you're using a seat harness and have problems hooking in, I found the only way for me to achieve the hook up was not to attach crotch straps. Tuck them in someplace, or let them dangle. If the harness has good back protection, set your harness a good 2" higher. This helped me .