When i go out foiling i have to choose my spot carefully.
Not only by wind direction, but also for seasonal changes.
during summer in some lakes the aquatic plants are really annoying.
in other lakes there are loads of fishes mating at surfacelevel.
sometimes you hit 5 in an hour, with catapults as a result.(and chopped fishes??)
So these fishes (up to 50cm) are the worst that i can hit here in the lakes in the Netherlands.
Which made me wonder.

what did you hit?

Seaweed and driftwood is what i hate here in switzerland

Seaweed bergs (usually obvious enough to avoid)
Stingrays (some catapults, some survivals)
Fish (usually see them too late, if I do see them)

I've dodged plenty of sea turtles. I would feel guilty running one of those over.
Always try to avoid jetskiers.
Someone else here hit a manatee.
Someone else got knocked off foil by a shark, took a bite that drew some marks, then winged home to sail another day

in Sydney and around we've had large jellyfishes problem

hit a log...carbon foils are likes axes, no deal issue. I catapulted...bronze medal exercise

In Sydney the jellyfish are the major one. when i was in Cadiz, Spain at IQ foil Youth worlds on a training day the water was very full of debris and filthy. Naturally I hit something and expected it to be a plastic bag or a stick. I looked back after a huge catapult and saw a fish sliced in half floating where my wake was. coach when over to it and said it was 40cm long. felt like someone had lassoed my foil.

Hydrilla (15' long grass) that breaks loose from shore areas and drifts at random .
www.instagram.com/reel/C8fzMopvOsE/?igsh=MWlwNHkzbHYyNHVyMg==

A few weeks ago in Nova Scotia Canada I was flying downwind and at the last moment before impact I saw a huge grey/white blob in front of me. I hit it dead on. Worst foiling crash ever. I hit a sunfish - Wikipedia says "The mola (sunfish) is the heaviest of all the bony fish, with large specimens reaching 14 ft (4.3 m) vertically and 10 ft (3.0 m) horizontally, and weighing over 6,000 lb (2,700 kg). Sharks and rays can be heavier, but they are cartilaginous fish." I don't know how big it was but it was solid. No damage to my Sabfoil.

yeah, plenty of fish hits, in all shapes and sizes although I haven't hit any sharks or dolphins yet (somehow hope that the latter are clever enough to stay clear, while I don't feel the need to be near the former ones, ever...).

the worse hits we get on the upper Chesapeake are larger fish and cownose rays; those are guaranteed to send you over the handlebars, usually resulting in board damage -- and maybe worse (I have broken a mast once, not a pleasant experience, with a whiplash to boot). the foil itself is usually fine.

we get jellies as well, although hitting those doesn't usually result in a crash, but they may be annoying enough to make you come off the foil.

sometimes we also get debris in the water (logs, dock boards...), typically after heavy storms or when there is a release from an upstream dam. hitting that stuff is bad news so best to stay home or break off your session when you see stuff floating past.

also dodged plenty of turtles on Bonaire, and flying fish on Maui :)

Hit a log underwater which sent me over the front t 25 knots plus. Messed my neck up for a bit. Had to get physio to get back on the water.

Who agrees foiling crash impacts are worse than the equivalent speed crash on fin?

Maybe the extra rotational downwards force from 1m up?

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azymuth said..
Who agrees foiling crash impacts are worse than the equivalent speed crash on fin?

Maybe the extra rotational downwards force from 1m up?

100%. At least on fin your kit will slide a bit when you catapult.

I hit this twine, took me about 20 min to reel it all in. Also if you hit a fish and you come off foil, you need more front foot pressure :)

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azymuth said..
Who agrees foiling crash impacts are worse than the equivalent speed crash on fin?

Maybe the extra rotational downwards force from 1m up?

Exactly!

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WsurfAustin said..

azymuth said..
Who agrees foiling crash impacts are worse than the equivalent speed crash on fin?

Maybe the extra rotational downwards force from 1m up?

Exactly!

Seems that way.

I've also learned to do everything I can to fall away to the sail (pulling it towards me) than into the sail, as hitting the boom/mast (especially the big 9.0 carbon rig with sdm) is very painful. It makes me a bit more nervous when going deep downwind in the low 20kts.

Most have already been mentioned!
Plastic Bags
Weeds
Fish ??
Turtle ??
Rope (off a buoy I set. urgh, and off other buoys)
Jelly Fish!!!! 1000's of farking jellies.

?si=LjxW0TMb8QF7yCW1

A friend of mine caught his dinner.

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segler said..
A friend of mine caught his dinner.

Wow, good catch!
Lucky to find that fish, especially in that murky water. I clobbered a decent sized mackerel recently with kitefoil, but unfortunately couldn't find it even though the water was quite clear. Maybe it kept swimming, amazingly!

Here in South America we've had a full fish season. Hitting 10 al least every session. The bigger ones take you down as you know.

In the summer jellyfish is no problem, cause you cut them through without issues

BUT (a big but) a friend of mine hit a body ???? that was awful. A fisherman from a city nearby drowned 3 days before.
And this guy had a really bad luck. He still has bad dreams about it.

The coastguard came to the beach, it was really close to the shore.

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Manilo said..
Here in South America we've had a full fish season. Hitting 10 al least every session. The bigger ones take you down as you know.

In the summer jellyfish is no problem, cause you cut them through without issues

BUT (a big but) a friend of mine hit a body ???? that was awful. A fisherman from a city nearby drowned 3 days before.
And this guy had a really bad luck. He still has bad dreams about it.

The coastguard came to the beach, it was really close to the shore.

I can't help to feel a little sad to kill a fish.
But i have to say i prefer to kill quite some fish instead of hitting a body. (Even though thats already dead)

last weekend somebody went missing from a boat on the lake where i surf.
Now i cant stop thinking about your friends experience Manilo. (Its a big lake though)

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Manilo said..
Here in South America we've had a full fish season. Hitting 10 al least every session. The bigger ones take you down as you know.

In the summer jellyfish is no problem, cause you cut them through without issues

BUT (a big but) a friend of mine hit a body ???? that was awful. A fisherman from a city nearby drowned 3 days before.
And this guy had a really bad luck. He still has bad dreams about it.

The coastguard came to the beach, it was really close to the shore.