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Paducah said..

w100 said..
...meanwhile I've got 4 foiling sessions..
Mostly ranging from 12 to 18 kts.
Everyrime used my biggest foil setup (750/240 cmq) and no tail shim.
Could have used the 590 cmq but the idea was to search for flight stability at my low speeds.
As flights are now longer (because I finally use a more rigid stance and my knees don't bend) I've slowly found a bit of confidence to hook.
Using my longest line often resulted I was too close to the sail with no margin to react to gusts. This was experienced also by my foiling buddy (who's taller than me by 7 or 8 cm).
Waiting for the foil vario lines yesterday i used a sort of custom (fixed) longer lines. But now, despite i was as powered up with my 6.3 as I could easily water start, they were too long...
Rethinking at my experiences I guess a sort of "right length" could be a touch longer than my usual ones?

The 750 is not a big wing by any means, especially for light air. I would avoid the 590 until you are much further along the path. At your stage it will be more challenging to control and take much more wind to get off the water.

If you feel like you are too close to the sail, you probably are. You should be in a relatively upright position with arms extended. If you check your stance without lines, you'll probably see what it would take for a start. fwiw, all the people I'm aware of who foil without harness lines use much bigger front wings like about twice the size of yours.

Today i was lucky enough to foil again.
Wind ranged from 14 to 20 kts in flattish water.
After being caught in fishing nets several times yesterday, illegally placed and poorly marked, the start of today's session was rather hectic.
Once I reached a safe area I started to fly quite (I would even say too much) easily, to the point that I took off almost involuntarily.
After several crashes due to the excessive power of the wings I decided to put on the 590+190 and adjust better (compared to yesterday) the length of the harness lines (now only a few cm longer than I'm used to using in slalom with strong winds ).
This combination was miraculous and everything suddenly became so much easier. No more crashes due to excessive power but high and more precise flights (with only the front foot inside the footstrap). FINALLY HOOKED (but not full tack), I began to (slightly) counter the sail. Obviously there were some catapults (fortunately without damage) but I'd say we're almost there...

Little update.
Since last time i've got a freeride front wing which I've used 5 times in anything from 10 to 20 kts.
Now life is so easy! managed to wear both footstraps (altought I still prefer to stay free from back one when things are rough) and fly the whole distance i decide to. No longer sudden crash because body weight placing error. I'm super clear from water surface and when i'm to the upper limit i still hold on with no crash.
Today i managed to drag race with a good FW buddy using a 11 mq in 12-13 kts. No way (for him). Killed him whatever we did. This to say my speed target is good enough.

BUT

Despite i regularly try to get hooked it seems like i'm not able to hold on and the kit goes down.
Tried to get hooked with both feet in the straps and i'm a bit better but not yet comfy.
I'm starting to thing i should shorten the lines lenght...

w100,
Glad to hear about your progress and gear updates. It sounds like you are starting to get more TOW. At the beginning I struggled with a feeling that the lines were too short and so I shortened them way down. Short lines were not the answer for me, it led to getting trapped in them and it caused catapults. Eventually I got more comfortable and my lines are back to normal length. One thing that has not been advised to you yet is rotating your hips to face forward when you want to sheet in. Try and point the hook at the nose, this sheets the sail in the last little bit. This is not foling specific, it's a tip to get any windsurfer upwind. The apparent wind angles are further forward when foiling so you need to be sheeted in tighter than you are used to on the fin particularly in light air. That free fall hook makes a lot sense! I still have some massive catapults mostly because of hitting sea life at speed, I need to get one of those releasing hooks!

So, i finally managed to safely and productively hook.
The trick was shortening the lines and managing to "feel" the pull in my body.
To top it off i was also able to take off being hooked!! At that point, with stronger wind, i stretched the lines back...

Noticed that i was more comfy when the back foot was placed close to the rail or in the rear footstrap. Probably because this way i could better heel the board windward and gain stability oevr the foil.

p.s. in the "strong wind period" (for the gear of the day) occasionally i preferred to unhook to handle the gusts. I think the speed raised quite a bit with that.... I guess i have to find the right balance between power vs control for given condition...

It is quite normal to unhook in the gusts as catapults can get dangerous as speed increases.
For peace of mind the Free-fall harness hook is a game changer.
?feature=share4

www.free-ride-addicted.fr/e-boutique/boucle-free-fall/#&gid=1&pid=9

Ride safer ride longer...

With strength and effort I continued to foil as much as possible. It was a bit of mixed work to find the best body/position/tuning balance. Lastly I mostly use both feet IN the straps (unless the power becomes too much). I am now able to hook effectively (40-70% sheeting in, hanging and pushing down on the mast base with the front hand) with light to medium power, but I am not comfortable when I am very powered up. At the moment I find it difficult to use long lines as I feel "no harness / no sail pulling my body" in the first part of the acceleration but when it is at maximum (of my) speed (and with a lot of power) my body wants to stay as low as possible with bent legs. This way the size of the lines would have to be longer than the length of my arms and I can't help myself with the harness...
What am I doing wrong? Maybe your legs are bent too much? Or lines that are too long? In the latter case I tried to shorten them but then I added too much power to my foil...

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w100 said..
With strength and effort I continued to foil as much as possible. It was a bit of mixed work to find the best body/position/tuning balance. Lastly I mostly use both feet IN the straps (unless the power becomes too much). I am now able to hook effectively (40-70% sheeting in, hanging and pushing down on the mast base with the front hand) with light to medium power, but I am not comfortable when I am very powered up. At the moment I find it difficult to use long lines as I feel "no harness / no sail pulling my body" in the first part of the acceleration but when it is at maximum (of my) speed (and with a lot of power) my body wants to stay as low as possible with bent legs. This way the size of the lines would have to be longer than the length of my arms and I can't help myself with the harness...
What am I doing wrong? Maybe your legs are bent too much? Or lines that are too long? In the latter case I tried to shorten them but then I added too much power to my foil...

Not many foilers are comfortable fully powered up on a reach, and the kind of gear that works well on a reach isn't great for high pointing or going deep off the wind.

I wouldn't go shorter than 30 inches on the lines. Generally if I am pointing I don't need the extra mast foot pressure, so I don't need to bend zee knees and hang on the lines. If I am reaching though I will need extra mast foot pressure and this is when I think you really need to hang down on the lines and bend your knees. Going deep off the wind I am unhooked or standing up

I think some guys have adjustable lines so they can make them shorter for pointing and much longer for reaching.

I don't think you are doing anything wrong, foiling just requires the balancing of lots of different factors and it takes a fair bit of practice and gear tuning to match your preferred riding style and gear.

Have you tried just using your regular seat harness? Using very long lines with a waist harness makes a power-7 position impossible - as you point out the lines are longer than your arms. However, using a seat harness your legs can be pretty straight and driving a lot of power down into the mastfoot and against the foil, but your upper body is essentially upright because you can bend at the waist without the harness riding up. As the power and speed increase and your foils starts rally overlifting, especially on a reach, you can bend your knees in order to slide your body further forward to keep the thing in the water, without really stepping off the gas at all.

The idea that it's waist-harness only for foiling seem to me to be outdated. A lot of the PWA guys are using the Liberty hybrid for both disciplines (I've been very happy with mine for three years).

...meanwhile I'm still foiling...
Mostly in 16-25 kts flattish water using almost always the 5.2 and .5? shim to calm down the fire . Medium and small front wings.
After a long struggle I've finally got there. Hooked and strapped full on. Still some thrill here and there but basically there I go.
So far i notice speed differences vs foiling unhooked as probably I'm more focused to keep everything under contral than putting the hammer down-
Unhooked i foil higher and speedier. Hooked the system is lower (not touching) and (1,5 kts) slower. I need more tow and more skills.

May be you could take advantage of this:
www.free-ride-addicted.fr/e-boutique/boucle-free-fall/

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w100 said..
...meanwhile I'm still foiling...
Mostly in 16-25 kts flattish water using almost always the 5.2 and .5? shim to calm down the fire . Medium and small front wings.
After a long struggle I've finally got there. Hooked and strapped full on. Still some thrill here and there but basically there I go.
So far i notice speed differences vs foiling unhooked as probably I'm more focused to keep everything under contral than putting the hammer down-
Unhooked i foil higher and speedier. Hooked the system is lower (not touching) and (1,5 kts) slower. I need more tow and more skills.

The more that you sail hooked in the quicker you will become comfortable in all conditions. Sail with others and follow their lines and speed and you'll improver rapidly as you'll be concentrating on them and following them rather than you & kit. It'll also make you look further ahead and ultimately smooth out your sailing. Look upwind to find the gusts to crank on or damage control in.

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w100 said..

Segler, unfortunately i know well the crazy conseguences of catapult. It is a common issue and they happened to me thousands of times (fin). Recently 've got a serious injury because of that. Risked my life. That's the main reason i'm struggling with the "hooking lesson" in foil. I'm basically terrified new **** could come again. So, when in trouble, i tend to eject back and aside the foil kit. This way i never try to really "tame the horse".
But things are slowly getting better.....

With TOW catapults should become fewer. Look up wind so that you know what's coming and how strong. Also look for other craft too!!!
I was told about a little trick for when a big gust is coming (and sailing over powered). move both hands back on the boom about 5cm or so (you work it out) then lean the rig to the nose of the board to reset where you hands are back infront of you (no, don't let go of the boom) this will add a little mast foot pressure and control against the front wing to reduce lift and possible breach. Keep pressure in the sail as this is downward force on the board & wing. I've just been testing out a 7.6 Foil sail and in conditions from 12-25(gusts). I've been really surprised of the wind range and how well it's been working at the upper end. My light sailing buddy was struggling with a5.5 sail. I'm not an elite sailor and only now looking to be faster than the wind all the time but a foil specific sail has better performance than fin sail and visa versa. Short boom & tall mast, it'll be a game changer if you've not yet tried them.
I use 900/750/550 wings & 190 stab.

My super comfortable wind foiling stance, with a waist harness, and 34'' harness lines. Just running the boom a bit higher when foiling, compared to when wave sailing - that results in a bit more upright stance while hooked in, and also makes the sail a bit more effective while pumping. The width of the stance is ca 1-2 cm wider than what I use on my wave boards, so it feels very natural as well (a wider stance gives a good leverage and control over the foil). Your free-race setup is of course very different, but that's the beauty of it - so many different ways to wind foil.