Big winds, swell/waves on the ocean are crazy fun foiling but it can be tough getting in and out


Surviving the shore break.
These methods work in waves up to waist high and winds to about 25 knots (not the day I shot the pix obviously) - and work for average strength frothers. Helps to have a small board like the SS Wizard 105 and light wavesail.

Coming in is trickier than going out on side/onshore days as the wind from behind tends to drive the board and sail into the water.
Floating the board on its side means not having to wrestle the board to lift it out the water and the tail presents a minimal area to the waves.
I run the board up the beach in this position - with a sacrificial strip on the forward rail to prevent sand abrasion.




Going out is easier - you can get the breeze under the board/sail to lift over the waves.
The method below is good if you have the strength (Simon in this pix), or you can grab the windward rail with your left hand (arm in front of the foil mast) and tilt the board into the wind which helps the board fly (my method).





If anyone has advice on getting in/out, in ugly big dumpers - let's hear it.
I'd love to downwind foil the chunky windswells at Scarbs but the shore break can be cruel - even with a wave board!

I walk in with the kit on my head, at my sea spot we sometimes have to walk through 50-100m of shorebreak, which if the conditions are good can take up to 15-20 minutes to get through with your method ;). The last 20m or so the waves are neck high, but the lows in between em too low to get on the foil without standing on the ground... Especially when using a 95 mast! A 75 mast makes things way easier already!

Getting out has never really been a problem, I fly my sail with the board turned over and walk out helped by the waves, only hilding the mast (of the sail)

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WhiteofHeart said..
I walk in with the kit on my head, at my sea spot we sometimes have to walk through 50-100m of shorebreak, which if the conditions are good can take up to 15-20 minutes to get through with your method ;). The last 20m or so the waves are neck high, but the lows in between em too low to get on the foil without standing on the ground... Especially when using a 95 mast! A 75 mast makes things way easier already!

Getting out has never really been a problem, I fly my sail with the board turned over and walk out helped by the waves, only hilding the mast (of the sail)

Great comments thanks - it'd be cool to see pix of your sea spot and your tracks

I tried carrying the kit on my head after watching Balz's video.
Found it too unstable in strong wind and difficult to see where I was going - we have to get around and over big jagged rocks at our spot.

We use 90 cm masts to get over the chop when flying upwind.


Big-up to Slingshot for the strength of the gear
Hit a big fish (?) at full speed in both straps yesterday - massive thump violent enough to throw me well clear of the board.
Simon got to witness the carnage sailing 25m behind me, I'm sure it was top entertainment
Swimming back to the kit I expected the foil to be gone but all good - not a mark anywhere, no cracks on the wing or around the Tuttle box.

After poking a hole first in my sail and then poking a hole in my own head with the wing tip dragging the board with the foil up I soon changed tactics and now pull the whole rig by the stab. The waves just roll under the board and the rig without damaging anything.

Some good tips here.

any for a real shore break?

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sl55 said..
After poking a hole first in my sail and then poking a hole in my own head with the wing tip dragging the board with the foil up I soon changed tactics and now pull the whole rig by the stab. The waves just roll under the board and the rig without damaging anything.

How does this work when you walk back to the beach with the waves rolling over your sail first?

JJ - I thought you guys had surf over there in WA ;-) Thanks for posting too.

This is the one big problem I have here sailing open ocean. The shore break just makes it too bloody troublesome to get the 'ken thing back in. I've tried JJ's method in really small swell like his photos and that works fine, but anything bigger ends up impossible to do this way. I've actually had to flip the board on top of the sail and carry the whole thing on my head a la 1980's style. It works but you have to be really careful the tip of the sail doesn't catch a wave as it's game over and you're stuck with the gear getting pounded in the shore break. It really kills the stoke of a good foil and I've found myself reverting to slapping just to eliminate the pain of getting it out of the water.

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AlexF said..

sl55 said..
After poking a hole first in my sail and then poking a hole in my own head with the wing tip dragging the board with the foil up I soon changed tactics and now pull the whole rig by the stab. The waves just roll under the board and the rig without damaging anything.

How does this work when you walk back to the beach with the waves rolling over your sail first?

I am cheating. I have a mooring buoy in front of my house which marks where it is deep enough for the foil. On the way back I tie the board to it and carry the sail to the shore, then come back for the board. If the wind is steady and the break is small, I foil high most of the way and jump off the board before I hit the bottom. That part needs some practice Then I also have a 100 ' long pier to park my board while I take the sail out to the beach. And yes, it is not an ocean. I just thought that my way of dragging the kit is safe and comfortable, if you need to cross a long stretch of shallow water.

Hi,
It is really worth spending some time mastering this carrying method, and this is what I do in my shore break spot in Spain. Going out is fine, but the trickiest thing is going back in, you have no chance but getting off in the middle of the shore break and you still cannot put everything above your head. If a wave catches the sail through the tip or the leech...recipe for disaster. I have broken countless battens when this happens (even a destroyed whole rig one time), but this is by far the safest method when the wave timing gives you a chance.

By the way, that is not me, neither my local spot...

Overhead carry to a quick beach start is the best way, but alu foils add too much weight for me.

A handle on the bottom (and top) like on the RRD Pocket Rocket would come in handy

The following works for me:

To enter I go with the board and the sail over my head (Balz method).

Going out, I separate the sail, take out the board and then return for the sail.

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inalambrik said..
The following works for me:

To enter I go with the board and the sail over my head (Balz method).

Going out, I separate the sail, take out the board and then return for the sail.

Batten manufacturers must love you

Seriously though, there's usually too much pressure on the extension pin or the deck plate (Chinook) due to it moving around in the shore break to release.

I think I use the Russian roulette method.
go in backwards board floating on side and front of boom in other hand.
survive a couple then get hit gather up and try again.
eventually get into a rip and hand on till out back. get 2 runs and then give it up cause I'm totally ucked.