Great afternoon for it. First time I can remember, the windsurfing foilers outnumbered the regular boys on the water. Granted it was pretty marginal, but my mate was up and planing on a 5.7, 96 ltr board set up. And granted, he was the only regular windsurfer out there and there was 2 foilers.

But, these are the conditions you want a foil for. Speed wise, it was neck and neck, but my ability to stay on the foil and get upwind gave me the points.

Great session!

Foiling. It'll never catch on.

There is no cure for Foilfever you will have it for life the side effects are a grin from ear to ear and the giggles when you are in hover mode

Tell us the actual wind conditions n size of the riders. Lil flea weights id reckon? Yet to see any big rigs up n flyin in the foiling advertised 8-10kts sweet spot. Just sayin. Looks fun though.

^^^^ this video was shot in Brazil but shows what a lot of sailors are doing in light wind with big sails.
we have nine or so on foils at our local lake and foils regularly outnumber fins .
I have never measured the wind but it is awesome how you can get going in ridiculous light winds with a big sail.

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olskool said..
Tell us the actual wind conditions n size of the riders. Lil flea weights id reckon? Yet to see any big rigs up n flyin in the foiling advertised 8-10kts sweet spot. Just sayin. Looks fun though.

This shot is a little out of context but there where plenty of witnesses on the beach.
Darryl AUS049 I am guessing 100kg/110kg
on a 9.0 foiling consistently.
Dan Engdahl I am guessing a smidge lighter on either a 9.2 or bigger.
wind around 8-10knots just before the start of racing on the Sunday of the Cervantes weekend.

It really is no contest in the light stuff. From the water coming off the tail of the foil board it looks like its just starting to accelerate. Dan probably could have used a board with a bit more width/volume. No??
What board is AUS 049 on.Custom?

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CAN17 said..
It really is no contest in the light stuff. From the water coming off the tail of the foil board it looks like its just starting to accelerate. Dan probably could have used a board with a bit more width/volume. No??
What board is AUS 049 on.Custom?

When your not planing more board and more width is always going to be better.
the top foil guys here in WA are on customs.
the pic below was Shot just prior to the one above.

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olskool said..
Tell us the actual wind conditions n size of the riders. Lil flea weights id reckon? Yet to see any big rigs up n flyin in the foiling advertised 8-10kts sweet spot. Just sayin. Looks fun though.

I can get foiling in about 10 knots with my Slingshot 1.77m 105L board, Slingshot Hover Infinity 76cm wing and 5.7 wave sail bagged out
Perhaps as little as 8 knots on the ocean if there's a proper swell to get a boost from.
A longer board is easier in 8-10 knots as it has more glide to get moving before pumping.
I'm 80kgs.

Thanks for the feed back guys. When foiling was first introduced manufacturers were saying you could downsize the sails used to get planing n on the foil. Just curious as most i see around are using same size sails as used for normal boards ??? Got me wondering.

I'm 90kg beginner on a 122 Hover with a 5.4 wave sail. Yesterday in 13 knots I got a little boost off a boat wake in the river and got hovering, if I had more finesse I reckon I could have kept it going. It was hard to deal with the fact that I was planing in no apparent wind.

I think two distinct types of foiling developing ie more freestyle slower foiling with big shovel type front wing which get going very easily but max out speed wise and then there's the more racing go fast/ course type foiling where you run pretty comparable size sails to normal sailing ( but still way smaller) but are still sailing in conditions you'd still struggle to get going with normal gear unless it was huge ie yesterday we were out on 7.7/7.8m sails with more speed type foils In 8-14 knots planning 80% of the time as all you really needed was a gust to get going and the end of each run

Adam555, im 100kg n plane on 150litre +9.5m in same kind of 8-14kt conditions. No expert by any means. So you still need the gust to break it free n get on the foil. Obviously then friction is greatly reduced n youre silently cruisin along needing much less wind.Cool. So realistically we all need very similar conditions to get going. Whether its RB ,Shortboard or Foil ??
Trying to justify to my self whether i need a foil to have fun on the water. Guess its just another angle/aspect of windsurfing.

When it's that light I'm on me bike

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olskool said..
Adam555, im 100kg n plane on 150litre +9.5m in same kind of 8-14kt conditions. No expert by any means. So you still need the gust to break it free n get on the foil. Obviously then friction is greatly reduced n youre silently cruisin along needing much less wind.Cool. So realistically we all need very similar conditions to get going. Whether its RB ,Shortboard or Foil ??
Trying to justify to my self whether i need a foil to have fun on the water. Guess its just another angle/aspect of windsurfing.

You'd get foiling easily in 14 knots with a 6m wave-sail with your 150L board, with a Slingshot Hover Infinity 76 wing.
This is a freeride foil - it excels at carving turns, downwinding swells, having fun in big chop etc.
Probably boring after 20 sessions on flat water as they top out at about 21 knots.

I know the guy in some of the above photos. ( Closer to 110 than 100kg :)
Almost over powered at times on the 9.0. Compared to all the slalom guys who struggled to get to the start of their race which was finally called off due to lack of wind. What a lot of people forget is I am normally course racing on the foil so my sail sizes are actually 2.5 m2 smaller than I would be using for normal formula. ( ie 10.0 v 12.5)

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DarrylG said..
I know the guy in some of the above photos. ( Closer to 110 than 100kg :)
Almost over powered at times on the 9.0. Compared to all the slalom guys who struggled to get to the start of their race which was finally called off due to lack of wind. What a lot of people forget is I am normally course racing on the foil so my sail sizes are actually 2.5 m2 smaller than I would be using for normal formula. ( ie 10.0 v 12.5)

Thought it was Dunkerbeck.

I can get going on my Starboard race/slalom foil in about 8-10kts with a 7M (@75KG). The difference is that foiling in that amount of breeze is genuinely exhilarating where using big slalom gear (80cm W x 8.6M) can be enjoyable but is generally hard work and a bit frustrating at times. I've enjoyed doing both but the foil thrill now trumps the slalom in <18kts. The added freedom that comes with being able to point much higher is a bonus.

^ Yep you foilers get some hellacool upwind angles!

I think if your got another 20 years of windsurfing or even 10years can you see out season after season watching foilers cruze around. You might as well take the plunge and get heaps more time on the water

If you always get less than 15-19 mph wind, foil rules.

If you always get less than 15-19 mph wind, foil rules.

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olskool said..
Adam555, im 100kg n plane on 150litre +9.5m in same kind of 8-14kt conditions. No expert by any means. So you still need the gust to break it free n get on the foil. Obviously then friction is greatly reduced n youre silently cruisin along needing much less wind.Cool. So realistically we all need very similar conditions to get going. Whether its RB ,Shortboard or Foil ??
Trying to justify to my self whether i need a foil to have fun on the water. Guess its just another angle/aspect of windsurfing.

Looks like your curiosity is cracking

Imax1, just checkin out whether i need a van or a motorhome to get all the toys to the water

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stroppo said..
I think if your got another 20 years of windsurfing or even 10years can you see out season after season watching foilers cruze around. You might as well take the plunge and get heaps more time on the water

My life consists of driving home from work night after night and watching everyone out on the water, knowing I can't and praying it blows on the weekend. So many weekends it doesn't quite get there. With the foil, I almost always get out there now. And I am on a very basic set up. I am going to take the plunge and get the full carbon, plus foil board next summer. Pryde, as I understand, have made their full carbon cheaper by not including 2 wings. I don't want the high wind one, when it's blowing, I get on a fin.

The foil has increased the number of days I sail over summer 2 fold.