Great podcast keep em coming Robert , listen to KD one twice on a 6 hr drive, amazing Kid too wise for his years.

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mcrt said..

ulx said..

PeterP said..
Great interview with KD - did he really state he weighs 195pounds = 88kg? He looks like one of those 60kg helium infused floaty frothers up on foil. His beach starts are next level...

And I found it even more impressive that he says the 3.5 is his big wing for sub 10 knots winds. In combination with a 1000 m2 foil! There seems a lot to be learded for me ;-)

More and more good riders seem to go for very small wings and foils. Is that only when nice waves are around? Or are people like Balz Muller using very small foils and wings, too?

-Rob Whittall (Ozone) wingfoils in 10kt with 4m wing.Dunno his weight or foil size.
-Abel Lago (RRD) 70KG 1200cm2/4m wing/65l board in...6 knots.
-Kane de Wilde 88kg,1000cm2/3.5m wing/downwinder SUPfoil board also in 6kt.

I have tried a 4m in 10kt.It felt ridiculous.Lots to be learned for sure :)

I really have no good feel for what 6kt feels like compared to 8kt, and sometimes I wonder if these low wind numbers are actual data or just figments of imagination. My internal wind meter seems to start working around 12kt is my best guess but not really before.

Was winging at Ka'a Point a couple weeks ago on a lightish day and KD was there. Nobody was pumping up on foil during the regular wind. Everybody was waiting for a puff. The more skilled riders were able to pump up more easily obviously. I should have gone over and seen what KD and my friend's son were riding, as they were probably the two earliest foilers. I was on a 4m/75l/W950. I think a bigger board would have helped get going as I was sinking the 75l in the lulls (82kg)

For me 10kt and steady and 10kt and gusty are two totally separate scenarios for getting up and foiling. Just need that good puff to get going, and then the average is irrelevant. I actually like foiling in this kind of light breeze. That day at Ka'a was pretty magical... sometimes waiting several minutes for a puff to get going and then just light wind gliding and efficiency once up.

Thanks for the comments, pumping up on foil in light wind is not easy, I just use a bigger 5.8 wing when the wind is under 12 knots.
I recently posted this video about foil board setup, foot placement and using footstraps as a follow up to the Kane interview:

Whether it's swimming with sharks, wing foiling in big waves a day before giving birth, or "toiling" on smooth North Shore walls with her smooth, flowy foil surfing style, Glennel Jordan lives a full life and openly shares about her background, surf foil and wing foil technique and equipment, her Macaw, her husband Zack and baby Raven, adventures, stories and how she keeps a positive outlook.

I posted a new episode of the show today, an interview with Gunnar Biniasch. His tips helped me pull off the upwind 360 spin right after this interview, stoked.

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blueplanetsurf said..
Thanks for the comments, pumping up on foil in light wind is not easy, I just use a bigger 5.8 wing when the wind is under 12 knots.
I recently posted this video about foil board setup, foot placement and using footstraps as a follow up to the Kane interview:

I actually like light wind winging and the feeling of flying with hardly any pull or pressure on the sail is awesome. would be kind of fun to get a whole bunch of people out in really marginal conditions and see who consistently foils up, how easily they get up, and what gear they need. Probably would be a whole smorgasbord.

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sunsetsailboards said..

blueplanetsurf said..
Thanks for the comments, pumping up on foil in light wind is not easy, I just use a bigger 5.8 wing when the wind is under 12 knots.
I recently posted this video about foil board setup, foot placement and using footstraps as a follow up to the Kane interview:

I actually like light wind winging and the feeling of flying with hardly any pull or pressure on the sail is awesome. would be kind of fun to get a whole bunch of people out in really marginal conditions and see who consistently foils up, how easily they get up, and what gear they need. Probably would be a whole smorgasbord.

Check out the interview with Gunnar, he said the best board to get on foil in light wind was an old kite foil race board. It has a flat, wide planing bottom and low drag that allows for easy acceleration.

I just posted the latest episode with Mark Raaphorst, what an interesting guy! He moved to Maui when he was only 16, worked building boards, started SIC and now makes custom foil boards under the Flying Dutchman label:

Robert thanks for all the videos. I've been really enjoying them, especially the last one with Gunnar. Will look forward to this one. Cheers HB

Thanks Robert. Mark is a legend and I'm looking forward for the show.

Stoked you like the show, thank you for the comments.
Here is what the Oahu Crew is up to:

Titouan Galea needs no introduction, he's the current world champion wing foiler. He talks to me from his current home in Montpelier, France all about wing foiling, advanced technique tips, including back flips and 360 spins, equipment, and life, enjoy!

Damien Leroy and Gwen Le Tutour have been on a roll, posting two great instructional videos per week and helping lots of people getting started in the sport. They are humble but are clearly exceptional humans and motivated by a desire to help people.

Please check out the latest episode with 12 year old ripper Kaden Pritchard and Kevin Pritchard:

Alex Aguera started GoFoil and plays such an important role in the development of the sport. He basically invented the foil that allowed Kai Lenny to do downwinders on a big long board and basically kick-started this whole sport of foiling in the surf and now with wings. We talk about the new wing foil boards and wings that GoFoil is coming out with.

New Blue Planet Show interview with Armie Armstrong of Armstrong Foils, going in depth about his background, how he grew the business into an international brand and all about the gear. Watch it on YouTube or listen to it on your favorite podcast app.

Welcome to Season 2 of the Blue Planet Show. It's been a while since the last show, but we are planning to regularly put out more great interviews this season. Starting off with a group of 5 of us talking all about wing foiling with tips for all levels of wingers.
We talk about wing handling in onshore waves, jumping off the lip and landing back in the wave, back loops, getting up on foil, equipment tips, and tips for beginners and those getting started. It's also available as a podcast, just search for the Blue Planet Show on your favorite podcast app.

Season 2, Episode 2:
Alan Cadiz comes back to the Blue Planet Show for this interview where we start with very basic beginner tips, the top five tips for beginners, and then we get into more advanced technique, racing and equipment as well.

In today's interview, I speak with Adrian Roper, the man behind AXIS foils. We get into some tips for beginners, talk about his background and how he got into watersports at a young age, and then we talk in detail about foil design, how to set up the foil properly, how different aspects of the foil setup affect how the foil performs, new designs he is working on, the mast, importance of stiffness, the fuselage, the angles of the foil. So many cool technical things. I learned a lot from this show. I hope you do as well.
This new Axis brochure has the shim guide Adrian mentions on pages 41,42: www.axisfoils.com/current-brochure

This interview is with Clifford Coetzer, the founder and designer at Unifoil who designed some of the first high aspect surf foils. We go over tips for wing foil beginners, his background, how he started making foils and started Unifoil, foil design evolution, construction, stiffness, tradeoffs, testing prototypes, foil characteristics, and more, enjoy.

Hi Robert, thanks for the great podcast and sharing it in SeaBreeze.
I haven't checked yet the Adrian Roper and this last one, but loved the Alan Cadiz's!
Good luck with your business and podcast, and keep them coming!

Psyched Season 2 is back! Clifford's comment about most 2 year+ foilers transitioning to more front foot pressure is intriguing. As I get into faster wings, what he was saying about ending up back footed and being behind the lift point when reaching higher speeds rung very true to me. Back to the kiddie pool flat water for some tinkering and speed runs tomorrow morning.
Going to try creeping the mast further forward than I'm used to first, then try the negative shims KDW hooked me up with if I don't like that.

Thanks you for the positive feedback, I will keep them coming, in the next interview I will catch up with Sam Loader from PPC.
I thought the "Top 5 tips for Wing Foiling Beginners" in the interview with Alan Cadiz were great, so I made a separate video and a blog post, please share it with beginners that want to learn to wing foil:
www.blueplanetsurf.com/blogs/news/how-to-wing-foil-top-5-tips-for-beginners-from-ala/

This is the video:

I just posted the second interview with Sam Loader of PPC foiling, lots of gear talk, my impressions of the PPC Soar board, and much more, enjoy!



to listen to it as a audio only podcast, go to your favorite podcast app and search for the Blue Planet Show, here is the episode on apple podcasts:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-blue-planet-show/id1552799894?i=1000570936417

I'm loving my new Mike's Lab 600 foil and had a chance to interview the wizards behind these foils:

Happy Holidays!
If you're interested in wing design and the history of our young sport you will enjoy this interview with Ken Winner:

Thanks Robert and merry Christmas.

Now I'm looking forward to the release of the 2023 Slick SLS -- new canopy material plus a number of other improvements.

Great interview with a great guest!

Great work Robert. Keep 'em coming

Great interviews! Keep 'em coming