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choco said..
Still surprised that the trimming wand hasn't been used in windsurfing, it would make foiling so much easier

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I suspect that it's an unneeded complication as pitch control on a windfoil becomes automatic very quickly

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Te Hau said..

He must still have that attachment to drag? When we foil we realise how we have spent the past 35 years fighting drag.

"35 years fighting drag" That's what I quickly came to realise. For what? To perfect the hero gybe? Fore and aft, port to starboard trim, get it just right and you'll come out a knot faster. And then you see the pros on video beating windsurfers at their own game. Downwind slalom! Apart from the Vendee Globe what other sailing event is biased to downwind? The magic of sailing is surely going upwind. In a bit of a hiatus atm, I'm tempted to regroup and move on from my semi-attempt at windfoing and go winging.

It has been a modern trend in many sports for people to take them up for a short period then move on something else. In the old days people played one sport possibly for most of their life to some degree, but that is not the norm now. People can get excited about their sport and invest a lot of serious cash before trading it for something new and more exciting, or just because they became bored. I am of the old school and enjoy the contentment of what I experience windsurfing. Maybe if I was 20 years younger the foil would entice me because of the challenge but not at this point. I know that windsurfing is technically difficult to perfect, but I like the challenge even if I don't master the gybe. I do have a little envy for the lightwind foils with wings, kites or sails moving them along when the wind is too light for a conventional board. If anything was destroying the sport then it would be frustration with locations and the wind on offer. Increasing urbanisation, higher buildings and more boat traffic on the water can lead to sessions that fall short of expectations.

Isn't it the same sport but with a revolutionary change of equipment? It's like a chippy spending decades perfecting the art of driving a 3 inch nail with 3 strikes , upside down, sideways, hanging by one arm. The came the nail gun - he's still a chippy. Or the teenager in the 60s, spending a decade perfecting the drop kick, the torpedo and the stab pass. Then the game changed, but it's still football. (Getting onto a good torp is as satisfying as nailing a nice gybe)

Now if you took up wrestling after 10 years of windsurfing, that's different.

Some of the modern torps are a bit wobbly, got the distance though.
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I'm not in to foiling at all, boats or boards. I find it boring to watch and mixing foil and board together in races is dumb. Like mixing cycling and moto gp together.

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Ian K said..
Isn't it the same sport but with a revolutionary change of equipment?

No, it is not, and I think that Nils Bach can explain this quite well: