Hey, thought you might like to see what I was having so much fun doing in Maui this fall. Those of you that have made GoPro super wide video's will understand that when I say there is actually a wave/swell I am riding pretty much from when I jibe on to it, will know I am not making it up Really don't know what I am doing but it sure is fun. In the right conditions these long rides on a foil are not uncommon.

With waves/swell faces of 5 to maybe 8 feet over the reef and maybe 3 to 5 feet reforming on the inside of the reef riding these swells is so much fun on a foil. The trade winds are at about 90 degrees to the Northerly swell which allows you to carve both ways on the swell without changing tack. On a Roberts Custom foil board just over 6ft long and 28 inches wide. Riding a SAB 945 and 4.4m Hot Sail Freestyle in about 15mph wind.



Oh I know I do need to up my game with a proper pole mounted GoPro, like JJ, but when you can literally foil almost every day in shorts who has time

Side view was kinda strange, know why of course, hey, thanks nice video!

Thanks Hess!
That was a fun vid!
That venue looks like pefrection!

Your feet are so close to that back of the board!

Awesome foiling. Awesome video

Hess, thank so much for this video!!! I want to invest in a swell riding setup having spent most of my foiling career going after speed in under 20 knots. In over 20 knots we get a lot of wind swell that is ride-able.

I am also a Roberts customer using a 31"/78 cm wide Flight GT as my all around speed setup. I was debating whether to ask Rob M to build me swell board (probably a bit narrower) or go with something like a Starboard Foil X 145 (similar dimensions to your board, and I have a Starboard foil system, so maybe a Supercruiser/Flyer front wing). My experience with narrower shorter boards is they are v reactive, but I won't be doing freestyle and will be doing long reaches where stability is important.

It could be because I am heavy ( 90-92 kgs), but I really don't feel much penalty for width or volume behind the mastrack or a little extra length for this kind of riding. And extra width esp in the tail gives me a lot of control for changes in wind and pointing angle.

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utcminusfour said..
Thanks Hess!
That was a fun vid!
That venue looks like pefrection!

Your feet are so close to that back of the board!

Your right but probably not as close as it seems, the camera on super wide mode does make things look weird. I probably have a few cm of room and have never stepped off the deck pad. Rob puts the thuttle box less than a cm from the back of the board as he believes it helps with early take off. I can't argue with him as his boards pop out of the water.

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tswei99 said..
Hess, thank so much for this video!!! I want to invest in a swell riding setup having spent most of my foiling career going after speed in under 20 knots. In over 20 knots we get a lot of wind swell that is ride-able.

I am also a Roberts customer using a 31"/78 cm wide Flight GT as my all around speed setup. I was debating whether to ask Rob M to build me swell board (probably a bit narrower) or go with something like a Starboard Foil X 145 (similar dimensions to your board, and I have a Starboard foil system, so maybe a Supercruiser/Flyer front wing). My experience with narrower shorter boards is they are v reactive, but I won't be doing freestyle and will be doing long reaches where stability is important.

It could be because I am heavy ( 90-92 kgs), but I really don't feel much penalty for width or volume behind the mastrack or a little extra length for this kind of riding. And extra width esp in the tail gives me a lot of control for changes in wind and pointing angle.

I previously had one of the smaller GT's he had shaped and he shaped this last board even smaller. The smaller the board and the further the mast track is back I find the more lively the board is. However he made this one thicker and even con-caved the tuttle box area to keep the bolts from getting too long. I think its about 110L which still makes it easy to up haul and even tack with me at about 85kg. This is because he has moved the mast track back further even with a board just over 6 ft the nose still is big enough to not stick in most touch downs.
I agree that having room to move around the deck is nice when riding reef swells. I find if the swell to wind ordination changes I stand in different spots. The 28" wide board is a little narrower than my old GT but I think its wide enough to still lean on the SAB 945 heel side.

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Hess said..

utcminusfour said..
Thanks Hess!
That was a fun vid!
That venue looks like pefrection!

Your feet are so close to that back of the board!

Your right but probably not as close as it seems, the camera on super wide mode does make things look weird. I probably have a few cm of room and have never stepped off the deck pad. Rob puts the thuttle box less than a cm from the back of the board as he believes it helps with early take off. I can't argue with him as his boards pop out of the water.

Interesting Hess, and I was thinking it would be better to get a slalom board with the DT foil box more forward than on my 2019 Bolt.

sick!

Gopro would sell a lot more cameras if they could figure out how not to squash our waves.

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Hess said..
Hey, thought you might like to see what I was having so much fun doing in Maui this fall. Those of you that have made GoPro super wide video's will understand that when I say there is actually a wave/swell I am riding pretty much from when I jibe on to it, will know I am not making it up Really don't know what I am doing but it sure is fun. In the right conditions these long rides on a foil are not uncommon.

With waves/swell faces of 5 to maybe 8 feet over the reef and maybe 3 to 5 feet reforming on the inside of the reef riding these swells is so much fun on a foil. The trade winds are at about 90 degrees to the Northerly swell which allows you to carve both ways on the swell without changing tack. On a Roberts Custom foil board just over 6ft long and 28 inches wide. Riding a SAB 945 and 4.4m Hot Sail Freestyle in about 15mph wind.

Oh I know I do need to up my game with a proper pole mounted GoPro, like JJ, but when you can literally foil almost every day in shorts who has time

Super carves Hess

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Sandman1221 said..

Hess said..

utcminusfour said..
Thanks Hess!
That was a fun vid!
That venue looks like pefrection!

Your feet are so close to that back of the board!

Your right but probably not as close as it seems, the camera on super wide mode does make things look weird. I probably have a few cm of room and have never stepped off the deck pad. Rob puts the thuttle box less than a cm from the back of the board as he believes it helps with early take off. I can't argue with him as his boards pop out of the water.

Interesting Hess, and I was thinking it would be better to get a slalom board with the DT foil box more forward than on my 2019 Bolt.

Rob explained to me that the GT is set up for cruising to "Free Racing" with a longer fuselage. So with the shorter free ride fuselage I use the wing is a bit more aft and hence I end up standing further aft than most folks would.
He did increase the deck size at the rails for me from the standard GT so I could have more room for the heel side carves.
I think it really comes down to individual riding styles as I am a bit of a kook not using foot straps and just moving around the board all the time. Hope this helps

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azymuth said..

Hess said..
Hey, thought you might like to see what I was having so much fun doing in Maui this fall. Those of you that have made GoPro super wide video's will understand that when I say there is actually a wave/swell I am riding pretty much from when I jibe on to it, will know I am not making it up Really don't know what I am doing but it sure is fun. In the right conditions these long rides on a foil are not uncommon.

With waves/swell faces of 5 to maybe 8 feet over the reef and maybe 3 to 5 feet reforming on the inside of the reef riding these swells is so much fun on a foil. The trade winds are at about 90 degrees to the Northerly swell which allows you to carve both ways on the swell without changing tack. On a Roberts Custom foil board just over 6ft long and 28 inches wide. Riding a SAB 945 and 4.4m Hot Sail Freestyle in about 15mph wind.

Oh I know I do need to up my game with a proper pole mounted GoPro, like JJ, but when you can literally foil almost every day in shorts who has time

Super carves Hess

Thanks JJ the length of wave rides I was getting was pissing off my wave sailing friends stuck on the beach because of the low wind. And I was on a 4.4m.

This trip a got more and more comfortable carving on the wave toe side down the line and being able to stay close enough to the foot of the wave to be able to then carve heel side back up the wave/swell. I few times I got into sets I had no business being on with my skill level on a foil, well over head high.

All your videos inspired me to at least try and get a few part days of footage so I can post a few vids and maybe get folks interested in WWF. Its so much fun and easy enough to do, even a 64 year old part time foiler can manage it.

What we need is someone like Kia Lenny to show what can be done on a Windfoil in waves, as powering through a carve using the sail is different from "surfing" the swell with a wing or sail flagged. Then maybe the pros would start pushing the envelope and developing even better gear. I feel like we are just getting the left overs from Wingers and Surf Foilers. I think something as simple as a WWF fuselage would be interesting to try. Maybe a little shorter with the wing positioned a little further forward from the mast? Not sure its a good idea but folks smarter than me could figure out what's best for WWF.

I recommend the clew-view. It is light weight and adds very little swing weight to the back of the boom.

www.chathamwindandtime.com/product/clew-view/3?cs=true&cst=custom

If you could get the foil moved forward on a shorter fuselage so you can stand closer to the sail you'd likely find that an improvement.
Having the fin box way aft definitely limits how you can balance the setup.

Have a look at the Reef Warriors boards... exactly what you are talking about Hess...

www.reefwarriorsboards.com/foilboard

Paired with Gofoil foils they work really well for WWF.

I have one for great lakes onshore waves and it is really fun.

Joe

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thedoor said..
sick!

Gopro would sell a lot more cameras if they could figure out how not to squash our waves.

No Kidding, maybe they could make a camera that made things look bigger - all sorts of applications come to mind

The waves were great that day. I grabbed this shot from the vid and although it still does not give the true size, as you can see the top of the wave is about 3+ feet above the deck (I am 6'4") and the deck is a 1+ above the water on my 101 mast. And I would say the foil is at least half way up the wave as I go into my toe side carve.

I could see the lip as you got closer in shore. Juice! I'm stoked that you get to ride that!

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Hess said..
What we need is someone like Kia Lenny to show what can be done on a Windfoil in waves, as powering through a carve using the sail is different from "surfing" the swell with a wing or sail flagged.

Agree, different techniques.
For me ocean windfoiling in swells is about speed, sail power, carving rail turns - on small boards/foils with relatively big sails to always waterstart

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azymuth said..

Hess said..
What we need is someone like Kia Lenny to show what can be done on a Windfoil in waves, as powering through a carve using the sail is different from "surfing" the swell with a wing or sail flagged.

Agree, different techniques.
For me ocean windfoiling in swells is about speed, sail power, carving rail turns - on small boards/foils with relatively big sails to always waterstart

I also love those Ocean downwinders. I usually carve up and down the swell in one direction, wind of 20 -30 mph seems to be the sweet spot for me.

What I have gotten into over the last year is pretty close to the Ocean downwinders but the waves are steeper, continuous, smoother and 90 degrees to the wind over the reef. Its still a work in progress but for me but the 180 degree carves both heelside and toeside coming down the swell while sheeting in are my favourite.

I would say the speed and power in the carves are right up there with the Ocean Windfoiling I have done. Oh I also agree if I can't water start easily the sail size is too small to have maximum fun. If I don't have enough sail I will out run the wind going down the line and not be able to use the sail to initiate the heel side carve. Just FYI, I find my 4.4m freestyle sail has more low end than a 5.0m wave sail. However the tight leach dose not twist off as nice as a wave sail so on the high wind side it is not as forgiving.

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coolmove said..

Great vid, looks like your having a blast on lake Erie. Slicing up the swell.

www.facebook.com/paweltarnowski182/videos/855750702417494/

After Paris 2024, Maui 2025?

Now that's a wave!
Maui has lots of different breaks from gentle swells in the harbour to Jaws and the water sport vibe is very Aloha. Oh if you don't want waves just come in the summer. You will love it no matter when you come!

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Paducah said..
www.facebook.com/paweltarnowski182/videos/855750702417494/

After Paris 2024, Maui 2025?

Is that a race sail?

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thedoor said..

Paducah said..
www.facebook.com/paweltarnowski182/videos/855750702417494/

After Paris 2024, Maui 2025?

Is that a race sail?

Hahahaha I'm gonna need some tips for better top and bottom turns on my IQFoil kit

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thedoor said..

Paducah said..
www.facebook.com/paweltarnowski182/videos/855750702417494/

After Paris 2024, Maui 2025?

Is that a race sail?

Not the way he's using it ...

Seven battens by my count and deep luff sleeve. Gotta suck for all the people who went in deep on the three batten trend.

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Paducah said..

thedoor said..

Paducah said..
www.facebook.com/paweltarnowski182/videos/855750702417494/

After Paris 2024, Maui 2025?

Is that a race sail?

Not the way he's using it ...

Seven battens by my count and deep luff sleeve. Gotta suck for all the people who went in deep on the three batten trend.

Now I remember where I saw him doing top and bottom turns

www.instagram.com/reel/CmOdM6IIZaB/?igshid=Zjc2ZTc4Nzk=

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aeroegnr said..

Paducah said..

thedoor said..

Paducah said..
www.facebook.com/paweltarnowski182/videos/855750702417494/

After Paris 2024, Maui 2025?

Is that a race sail?

Not the way he's using it ...

Seven battens by my count and deep luff sleeve. Gotta suck for all the people who went in deep on the three batten trend.

Now I remember where I saw him doing top and bottom turns

www.instagram.com/reel/CmOdM6IIZaB/?igshid=Zjc2ZTc4Nzk=

Watching this again, it reminds me how much fun you can have on a wave sheeting in while carving. Getting pumped to do it again.
I do notice the long radius of the smooth carves, I am thinking it's partly due to the longer fuselage he is probably using?

I love that feeling of waveriding on windfoil!! Very nice videos!! In my case, I like with foostraps because you can do more agressive carves and I like to jump. I also love small board, the feelings is direct to the foil, very reactive!!