Hi Guys,
I'm having a wonderful windfoiling season. I'm in my second season now. I feel really good hooked in and powered up on my 130L SS Dialer with my 91cm mast on i84 wing. I'm making tight turns and carving and surfing the chop. Attempted one gybe and failed, and got too scared to try another. I just tack it and get back on foil. I can barely foil down wind. I feel that the board will capsize. It's very tippy down wind. How do I get back? I broad reach to get back down wind. I'm not even over powered when I try letting the sail out and foil down wind, but board is just way to unstable with sail all the way out going down wind. How can I fix this?

This thread is worth reading. Check out the videos especially

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Foiling/How-to-go-downwind-in-strong-winds-

Back foot out of straps and somewhat centered, after you get downwind angle, be unhooked, try to ride a windwave, not dead downwind, sheet out and balance between foil and planing. Deep draft sail helps with stability.

Getting back downwind can be terrifying, a chore, an exercise in balance, or really fun riding windswells without sail power.
You choose.

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LeeD said..
Back foot out of straps and somewhat centered, after you get downwind angle, be unhooked, try to ride a windwave, not dead downwind, sheet out and balance between foil and planing. Deep draft sail helps with stability.

This is it. Time on the water practicing it also really helps and your confidence will build quickly. I had a similar sized board with my Infinity 84 and loved riding it downwind, it would require me to really sheet out the sail and let that big foil wing do what it does best in the chop/small-swell. At times it would feel like I was holding a door open for someone, based on how much I had the sail sheeted out. I would consider it a deep broad reach, don't expect to go straight downwind, doing so you'll likely outrun the wind and get backwinded, in all but the windiest conditions. I can do short turns straight downwind, but then I need to bear in to the wind to get the power in my sail I need to keep going, doing this over and over on swells is lots of fun.

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MagicRide said..
Hi Guys,
I'm having a wonderful windfoiling season. I'm in my second season now. I feel really good hooked in and powered up on my 130L SS Dialer with my 91cm mast on i84 wing. I'm making tight turns and carving and surfing the chop. Attempted one gybe and failed, and got too scared to try another. I just tack it and get back on foil. I can barely foil down wind. I feel that the board will capsize. It's very tippy down wind. How do I get back? I broad reach to get back down wind. I'm not even over powered when I try letting the sail out and foil down wind, but board is just way to unstable with sail all the way out going down wind. How can I fix this?

Crash more, it's just water.

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Windbot said..

LeeD said..
Back foot out of straps and somewhat centered, after you get downwind angle, be unhooked, try to ride a windwave, not dead downwind, sheet out and balance between foil and planing. Deep draft sail helps with stability.

This is it. Time on the water practicing it also really helps and your confidence will build quickly. I had a similar sized board with my Infinity 84 and loved riding it downwind, it would require me to really sheet out the sail and let that big foil wing do what it does best in the chop/small-swell. At times it would feel like I was holding a door open for someone, based on how much I had the sail sheeted out. I would consider it a deep broad reach, don't expect to go straight downwind, doing so you'll likely outrun the wind and get backwinded, in all but the windiest conditions. I can do short turns straight downwind, but then I need to bear in to the wind to get the power in my sail I need to keep going, doing this over and over on swells is lots of fun.

That's what I been doing. Sheet out and head straight downwind, but only for about 2 seconds, then I go back to a close reach, and then carve it to a down wind position again. But can't stay their long. Yes, I can sail on a deep broad reach just fine. Problem I'm facing with foiling down wind is I have no counter balance from the sail to balance on foil against.

Your feet should still be around 16" apart, and since you're moving somewhat off the wind, balance can be achieved with a little practice.
Close reach, my feet are 22" apart.
Downwind, narrower for sure, but weighting boom, or unweighting, hips forward or back, knees bent or straighter, sheeting in and out should give some level of stability.
And getting to ride a windswell.....that's just a big plus....

Avoid dead downwind.

I guess I should practice foil gybing. Perhaps that will help with foiling down wind too.

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MagicRide said..


That's what I been doing. Sheet out and head straight downwind, but only for about 2 seconds, then I go back to a close reach, and then carve it to a down wind position again. But can't stay their long. Yes, I can sail on a deep broad reach just fine. Problem I'm facing with foiling down wind is I have no counter balance from the sail to balance on foil against.

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azymuth said..

Panno said..
Hi All, I've been windfoiling for about 6 months, steady flights and the occasional gybe so still on the learning curve. My go to option when I'm being overpowered is to point upwind but how do you make it back at the end of the session?

I came unstuck on the weekend when I found myself a long way upwind from where I headed out due to the increasing wind. I usually sail to the conditions but got caught out on this one, when I headed out it was around 20-30knts but increased to 30-45 during the session so I was pretty well lit up - probably should have headed in earlier but was having a blast .

The issue I had coming in was I needed to put more wight on my back foot as I headed downwind which made me breach, my more usual "balanced" position felt like I was about to "go over the handlebars" at any moment and ended in a few spectacular catapults (1.5ft wind swell probably contributed a bit too).

Any tips on how others manage to go downwind in strong winds would be appreciated.

Cheers

The best way I've found to downwind when it's proper windy is to sheet-in, both feet in the straps and go as fast as you can. It takes the right gear and practice - heaps of crashes until adjusting ride height becomes mostly subconscious.
It's superfun

Downwinding in the vid below at 40s and 1min 50s. 30 to 35+ knots. 3.7m Blacktip. SS Infinity 65 wing.

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MagicRide said..
I guess I should practice foil gybing. Perhaps that will help with foiling down wind too.

One thing that helped me immensely was foiling at a wake park on my windfoil board (take the straps off) and foil. The cable pulls you back and forth. At the ends of the run the cable stops briefly and goes back the other way. At that moment you have zero tow rope tension and you have to do a 180 degree turn before the cable pulls the other way. This mocks up gybing perfectly and removes many other variables allowing you the just focus on foiling through the turn. Getting out behind a boat and riding the wake is another great cross over training tool. Every time I do either of these I notice an improvement the next time I go windfoiling.

LeeD is giving you good info, when you turn downwind you lose sail drive and more importantly you lose sail DOWN force so you need to make a weight correction. Your feet do not want to be out on the rail and your back foot does not need to be back as far. Back foot forward for the downforce loss and back foot in for the sail load reduction. When you ride strapless the front foot can get in on the action. And as always your hips and head can and should move to make the smaller trims.

I prefer a very short distance between the sail and the foil because it reduces the leverage the changing sail loads have on foil trim and this makes the transition back and forth from reaching to surfing downwind easier. Your i84 is your friend in this situation, big wings are more stable and they can surf longer without sail assistance.

Allow yourself to crash, you learning skills and sensations you have never had before. The only way to advance is to keep trying! Congrats on your progress so far!

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utcminusfour said..

MagicRide said..
I guess I should practice foil gybing. Perhaps that will help with foiling down wind too.

One thing that helped me immensely was foiling at a wake park on my windfoil board (take the straps off) and foil. The cable pulls you back and forth. At the ends of the run the cable stops briefly and goes back the other way. At that moment you have zero tow rope tension and you have to do a 180 degree turn before the cable pulls the other way. This mocks up gybing perfectly and removes many other variables allowing you the just focus on foiling through the turn. Getting out behind a boat and riding the wake is another great cross over training tool. Every time I do either of these I notice an improvement the next time I go windfoiling.

LeeD is giving you good info, when you turn downwind you lose sail drive and more importantly you lose sail DOWN force so you need to make a weight correction. Your feet do not want to be out on the rail and your back foot does not need to be back as far. Back foot forward for the downforce loss and back foot in for the sail load reduction. When you ride strapless the front foot can get in on the action. And as always your hips and head can and should move to make the smaller trims.

I prefer a very short distance between the sail and the foil because it reduces the leverage the changing sail loads have on foil trim and this makes the transition back and forth from reaching to surfing downwind easier. Your i84 is your friend in this situation, big wings are more stable and they can surf longer without sail assistance.

Allow yourself to crash, you learning skills and sensations you have never had before. The only way to advance is to keep trying! Congrats on your progress so far!

I've been in the no crash, no over foiling mode for a while now. I forgot to mention in this post, that I do foil strapless. I will try some foiling gybes this week and post results. Here goes some crashing! I have my noodle on the front for protection

I also try for no crash foiling.
Start your jibe low, plan to stay low even if the board touches slightly...it still plane through and back up on foil once headed downwind.
Flip and exit still pointed downwind, at least 45 degrees.
Jibe in moderate gusts. Lulls drop you to a stop.

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LeeD said..
I also try for no crash foiling.
Start your jibe low, plan to stay low even if the board touches slightly...it still plane through and back up on foil once headed downwind.
Flip and exit still pointed downwind, at least 45 degrees.
Jibe in moderate gusts. Lulls drop you to a stop.

Hope for the best here. I was hoping to foil today, but it was too windy, so I used my bump n jump board. Perhaps tomorrow or the next day it will be lighter winds.

I am experiencing the same here at Berkeley.
Most wind I've seen in 25 years here.
I'm the heaviest I've ever been, yet still need an 85 liter board and 5.0.
I get one foiling day out if 6, 22 knot plus days.
22 knots for me is fully downhauled 3.9 with foil. Or cruising 4.5 with 85 liters and 5.0.