So was out on the SS Wizard 125 and Infinity 76 with 4.7 sail in about 16-18 knots. I started playing around with using toe and heal pressure to control direction ( had read about this somewhere). OMG I could not believe how much & fast the board changed direction. It was a totally different sense of control, Fast and playful---WOW!!

Interested to hear others thoughts and comments on this and /or other techniques for board and direction control..

Yeah, that's one thing that "oh, I'll just use an 8.5 on my regular board - I don't need a foil" often miss. Even a pretty stable foil can crank a turn. My big freerace foil and a 7.7 turns like a 100 liter freeride board with a 6.0. I love now going offwind and banging into a powered up turn.

That's also why the swell/surf riding foilers have such a blast and you see all those squiggles in the GPS tracks.

I use small boom movements for mainly altitude control (excepting jibing) and foot steer the course changes/corrections or at least that's what it feels like.

How else do you guys head upwind in gusts, beam in lulls, and off the wind to jibe?

Ok, for clarification you could be flexing at the knee and putting weight over that way to turn the board. Mostly I have done that with re positioning of mast. This was historically how I was turning & carving

In this case I was just flexing my large toes (mostly front). So more subtle adjustment but super powerful. Really was fun when when your just playing.

So more flexing through the ankle, but the big toe was getting a work out

Isn't that how you steer a planing windsurfer, surfboard, or wakeboard?

Select to expand quote

LeeD said..
Isn't that how you steer a planing windsurfer, surfboard, or wakeboard?

I was emphasizing how reactive even a big rig is: flies in ten, behaves like its blowing twenty. Yeah, I footsteer my formula board but it's not the same -that's all. Foilnut is on a road of discovery - let's cheer it on.

Actually Paducah you help bring up something behind this. On a formula board when you go to do a full planing jibe its all in, feet, knees, and body. You have no choice you need a lot of energy and the board is so wide and that fin so honking deep in the water. I have a 186 formula gathering dust but loved hitting jibes at full speed.

With the foil you have a ton of leverage so the amount of force required is reduced. Especially if you ride it high. Hence why the toe pressure can get the board to change direction. Well.. that's my thoughts on this,. Hopefully be out tomorrow for more consideration. This coming week might even fin sail (has to be over 20 knots for that) so I can consider this from the other side.

Loving this journey

Select to expand quote

Foilnut said..
Actually Paducah you help bring up something behind this. On a formula board when you go to do a full planing jibe its all in, feet, knees, and body. You have no choice you need a lot of energy and the board is so wide and that fin so honking deep in the water. I have a 186 formula gathering dust but loved hitting jibes at full speed.

With the foil you have a ton of leverage so the amount of force required is reduced. Especially if you ride it high. Hence why the toe pressure can get the board to change direction. Well.. that's my thoughts on this,. Hopefully be out tomorrow for more consideration. This coming week might even fin sail (has to be over 20 knots for that) so I can consider this from the other side.

Loving this journey

Yes, that big step across on a Formula. It's all fun and games until you get back on your freeride board and, literally, step off the other side - I speak from experience.

Thanks for sharing the joy.