JimS is hardcore! drives 14 hours after a day of windsurfing at The Hatteras down to Cocoa Beach Florida to pick up the Wizard 125 and SS infinity 76 foil.

The least I could do was give him some foiling tips so he could hopefully have an enjoyable time on it.

He wind foiled for 3.5 hours (couldn't get him to come back in)

Awesome session and we had a great time in somewhat shifty winds around 10-16 mph. Jim on a 4.3 and myself on 5.0.

We will look forward to your updates Jim!

Good job. New muscle memories.

Nice instruction, makes a big difference. I was self taught and the first Windfoiler around here so it was very crash bang for a while. Would have been great to get walked through those first flights. Looked good in no time.
Foil face- Daft grin that just won't go away at that moment that it all goes quiet underneath your board.
:)

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FarNorthSurfer said..
Nice instruction, makes a big difference. I was self taught and the first Windfoiler around here so it was very crash bang for a while. Would have been great to get walked through those first flights. Looked good in no time.
Foil face- Daft grin that just won't go away at that moment that it all goes quiet underneath your board.
:)

Same for us, it was a lot of trial and a lot of error! and I was done after the first 20 minutes on my very first foiling session

So good! I got absolutely destroyed each session for at least the first few weeks. Glad you helped Jim avoid that.

His stance definitely improved towards the end of the video, more upright and over the front foot.

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thedoor said..
So good! I got absolutely destroyed each session for at least the first few weeks. Glad you helped Jim avoid that.

His stance definitely improved towards the end of the video, more upright and over the front foot.

I remember watching our local grand master Foiler wipeout session after session for months, we had absolutely no idea lol.
testament to Jim's fitness though he had some pretty good foil outs but leapt right back up and went again. I was tired before he was!!

He's GOT IT !!

Wow, that's way better than my first sessions!

Nice, you can see the improvement at the end. It certainly helps to have someone there giving instruction and see yourself on a video after as well so you can see the mistakes you thought you werent making but are.

On the water training !!. Nice work !

Great video Dean and great effort Jim. Loved the wobbly first flights. I remember them well. Looking very good at the end. One thing I noticed is that you could push the sail out and straighten your arms.

Now that you have mastered controlled flight, it's just time on water to lock in the muscle memory. Then comes the challenge of learning flying gybes.

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CoreAS said..
JimS is hardcore! drives 14 hours after a day of windsurfing at The Hatteras down to Cocoa Beach Florida to pick up the Wizard 125 and SS infinity 76 foil.

The least I could do was give him some foiling tips so he could hopefully have an enjoyable time on it.

He wind foiled for 3.5 hours (couldn't get him to come back in)

Awesome session and we had a great time in somewhat shifty winds around 10-16 mph. Jim on a 4.3 and myself on 5.0.

We will look forward to your updates Jim!

Super vid Dean - clearly shows the amazing progress possible in a first session if someone's keen/resolute, has the right kit and excellent instruction.
Full marks to Jim - nailed that last flight

What accent is that - sounds like Cornish/Bristol UK??

Amazing! Way to go Jim and Dean! Good thing he has the long mast!

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TroyMcClure said..
What accent is that - sounds like Cornish/Bristol UK??

Pretty close TroyMcClure

Dorset born, Dorset bred, thick in the arm and thick in the head..twined with 21 years of living in Texas haha

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azymuth said..
Super vid Dean - clearly shows the amazing progress possible in a first session if someone's keen/resolute, has the right kit and excellent instruction.

This applies to foiling and all windsurfing - right gear and a bit of instruction. Just about everyone at my local that has stuck with it started with decent gear, used or new. None of that bargain bin "but I learned on that in 1988" rubbish. The rubbish quickly becomes frustrating and we never see them again.

Kudos to CoreAS and jims for doing it right.

Jim's experience is definitely an object lesson in how to purchase gear and learn to wind foil. I at first tried to learn on a NP Pinky. I gave up, with a sprained foot, after 4 sessions of it trying to kill me.

1 year later on a Fanatic Flow I achieved sustained stable flight after 2 sessions and was hooked.

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John340 said..
Jim's experience is definitely an object lesson in how to purchase gear and learn to wind foil. I at first tried to learn on a NP Pinky. I gave up, with a sprained foot, after 4 sessions of it trying to kill me.

1 year later on a Fanatic Flow I achieved sustained stable flight after 2 sessions and was hooked.

RRD slalom board and NP pinky was one of my first set ups as well.

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CoreAS said..

John340 said..
Jim's experience is definitely an object lesson in how to purchase gear and learn to wind foil. I at first tried to learn on a NP Pinky. I gave up, with a sprained foot, after 4 sessions of it trying to kill me.

1 year later on a Fanatic Flow I achieved sustained stable flight after 2 sessions and was hooked.

RRD slalom board and NP pinky was one of my first set ups as well.

Deadly!!!!

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John340 said..

CoreAS said..

John340 said..
Jim's experience is definitely an object lesson in how to purchase gear and learn to wind foil. I at first tried to learn on a NP Pinky. I gave up, with a sprained foot, after 4 sessions of it trying to kill me.

1 year later on a Fanatic Flow I achieved sustained stable flight after 2 sessions and was hooked.

RRD slalom board and NP pinky was one of my first set ups as well.

Deadly!!!!

Snap, my first Foil was an original Pinky,, damn it was lethal. Had to be travelling at fin planing speed to get it off the water at 93kg and the crashes were awesome and not in a good way. Eventually I bent it but enough learning had been done and the AFS W85 that came next was so easy in comparison.
Great advice in JimS thread on Why, How and What to do to start Windfoiling. :)

The right gear is the key.

I did quite a lot of reading on the forum before making a choice.
I remember my first foil ride : I rented a 2018 zeeko along a JP135. About 15kt and I flew almost at once and lasted for almost 3 hours without harness. Then I bought an Aeromod v1 (after testing it with my Duo2) and no sweat, I flew at once.


Then came the long path to perfecting gear tuning and flying jibe quest, with its errands between free race foiling and free ride foiling...

Yes, I was incredibly fortunate to hit on a great combination of solid advice (from the group here), an incredibly helpful and accommodating individual (CoreAS/Dean), a near-ideal set of equipment (again, CoreAS/Dean), and invaluable in-person instruction (again, CoreAS/Dean, again!). My initial experience would have been far different were it not for each of these factors. I think it's safe to say that I am pretty well hooked already. No doubt there will be frustrations ahead as I learn and attempt to progress, but getting over this big initial hump of just being able to get up on the foil and not completely self-destruct is H-U-G-E.

It was a semi-ridiculous amount of driving to get down there and sail for just a few hours, but it was entirely worthwhile. I'd have burned way many more hours than the time spent on the road, just trying to learn the basics that Dean was able to impart to me in the short time we had on the water together. (And on God Only Knows What type of bodged-together equipment, if left to my own devices...) If anyone is ever looking for equipment and/or instruction, CoreAS/Dean should be at the top of the list of recommendations.

I'm a fairly persistent person, but had I come out of this initial session battered, bruised, and with only some nose-dives and foil-outs to show for it, I would be far less juiced to continue progressing than I am now. (I'm pretty seriously juiced now!!! :-)

Thanks Again to everyone, and I cannot adequately express my gratitude to CoreAS/Dean for helping me get started in this really fun avenue of windsurfing!