Have any of you Levitator folks had success heading upwind?

I am able to foil significant distances (9 minutes at about 10 mph is the longest) on a broad reach just upwind of 90 degrees perpendicular to the wind, but no decent upwind progress can be made.

i99/48 (48 tips down) long fuse position C, 90cm foil mast. 5.8 or 6.8 sails, UJ in the rearward third of the track. Foil mast about centered in the track. I am 190 lbs, 86 kg.

I am considering:
swapping the 48 for my 42, (I believe this will only make turns more lively from what I have read)
OR trying position B which would shorten the distance between the front wing and foil mast while moving the foil mast forward to maintain the current center of gravity/ lift / balance. This might be a more favorable angle of attack? I know the i99 was initially not a windfoil wing and B seems to work for some folks.

I have not been able to use foot pressure on the Levi rails as the ride seems more of a stand up straight affair. When trying to leverage upwind using foot pressure, the board doesn't track and feels as if it's is spinning out or sliding. I am still learning to foil in harness so it's a great work out.

I could just move onto my i76, but I am content at 10-15 mph and enjoying the flight and scenery. The i76 seems more like 15-25 mph. I could rig down and keep at the low end speed wise I suppose.

I'm really hoping to mostly foil in lower winds of 8-15 knots though.

I have tried minute adjustments to the UJ and foil mast positions but was then unable to foil.
Any insights or suggestions are appreciated.

I have a 160 levitator and use i 76 and 84 I don't have a 99. I set mast base in the middle 76 wing I set at the back of the track box, 84 all the way forward. Sails 4.0 to 8.2 m

C position and the 42 stabilizer will have more upwind.

Sounds to me like you aren't setup for enough pressure on the front foot.

Also the I76 is an easy foil which is significantly more efficient, I'd get on it instead.

I would definitely try the 42 stabilizer.

That combo should go upwind great, I needed mine all the way forwards though.

Its probably just time on water, more lift generally equals better upwind ability, so you could always scoot the mast forward in the track

Please let us know how it works out

It also depends a lot on your stance. What I have found with several different foils, boards, and sails is that simply standing more outboard--especially the back foot--makes a huge difference in upwind ability.

Yes stance and try also moving the UJ even further back? The low aspect slingshot foils don't like too much board tilt vs. race foils.

I think I remember people saying they got better upwind capability out of the 76 vs. 99. I haven't ridden the 99 enough recently to say, but I also need a bigger sail and more wind to really push hard upwind on the freeride foils instead of just mostly reaching. If you're running a 6.8 and 99 then you may be in pretty light wind and not have a lot of excess power to go very high or low. You could wait for a gust and go harder upwind with the extra power. With more speed of the 76 you'll have more apparent wind, but it'll take you more effort to get going.

You can push the 76 over 20mph but most of the time it's easy to cruise at 15mph which doesn't feel particularly fast.

Don't know about the levitator (I'm on a 114), but the I76 can go upwind like crazy because it's so lifty. Back foot on the rail and a slight tilt to windward and it tracks upwind like it's on rails.

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Grantmac said..
C position and the 42 stabilizer will have more upwind.

Sounds to me like you aren't setup for enough pressure on the front foot.

Also the I76 is an easy foil which is significantly more efficient, I'd get on it instead.

I may a bit heavy on the rear foot. I use only the front straps, none on the back. I haven't paid much attention to the placement of my rear foot but position it to feel balanced. I definitely have to use a lot of rear foot pressure to get up on foil. I tend to lean on the front foot to keep the nose from rising and then adjust my rear foot as needed.

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Hydrosurf said..
I have a 160 levitator and use i 76 and 84 I don't have a 99. I set mast base in the middle 76 wing I set at the back of the track box, 84 all the way forward. Sails 4.0 to 8.2 m

Thanks. I may start over using your settings as a baseline. Are you using c position on the 84, and which rear stab?

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Grantmac said..
C position and the 42 stabilizer will have more upwind.

Sounds to me like you aren't setup for enough pressure on the front foot.

Also the I76 is an easy foil which is significantly more efficient, I'd get on it instead.

Maybe so ref the front foot. Are saying move the sail mast rearward and counteract a rising nose with fron foot pressure or sail pressure? My front wing is positioned between the front foot strap and the rear strap area. I don't feel like I am overly leaning on the back foot, but it probably doesn't take much. I can also experiment with only only moving the sail mast back. Thanks.

I'm using the b position and 42 stab

The larger Infiniti wings are harder to push upwind than the smaller ones. That's already true for the 84 compared to the 76.
You'll need to adjust your stance so that you have more weight on the front foot. That will require more speed, so you'll also need to sheet in more, and hang out more, than when just cruising on a beam reach or downwind. When a gust hits, use it to adjust your angle to more upwind, while staying sheeted in fully.

In Florida I use the i76 in b position with the 42 stab on a freeride board that is 86 cm wide. Sails are 7.0 and 5.0 most of the time.

For beam reaching front foot in strap and back foot between the back footstraps, pretty much in the middle of the board.

For cranking upwind at good speed and high angles, all I change is to put the back foot into the strap further outboard. No other changes. It makes a huge difference.

And yes, just like with formula racing, in order to go upwind you need plenty of sail power. That means either a big sail or more wind. Foils will go upwind very well if you leverage them with the back foot.

In my experience a powered up i99 will point higher than and underpowered i76. Certainly a powered up i76 will point higher than a powered up i99, but even so the i99 should easily be pointing higher than your average planing windsurfer.

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Hambone185 said..

Grantmac said..
C position and the 42 stabilizer will have more upwind.

Sounds to me like you aren't setup for enough pressure on the front foot.

Also the I76 is an easy foil which is significantly more efficient, I'd get on it instead.

Maybe so ref the front foot. Are saying move the sail mast rearward and counteract a rising nose with fron foot pressure or sail pressure? My front wing is positioned between the front foot strap and the rear strap area. I don't feel like I am overly leaning on the back foot, but it probably doesn't take much. I can also experiment with only only moving the sail mast back. Thanks.

If I sheet in and the nose dips then I move the sail mast back.

However that starts with a correctly balanced foil which is to say more pressure on the front foot. If you can't move the rear foot around without disturbing the trim then it's carrying too much weight.
The 48 stab is draggy as well.

Success! I was definitely heavy on the back foot. I moved the foil mast forward 2-1/2 cm and was able to easily point upwind on foil. Thank you all for the helpful suggestions.