Hey team. Riding a 95L Carver and loving the board. Also have a SAB R990 and 399 stab the whole system works well with close to a 1:1 weight/volume ratio

I would suggest that I am early stage intermediate with my skill level
I am having one issue when I get overpowered i.e. the wind strength increases when I am already out and I end up with an oversized wing for the conditions or the occasional gust is stronger than mean wind.

When I am already on my feet and I turn the board downwind to accelerate the whole system is very quick to accelerate and when I am overpowered the wing is higher above my head so not as much forward pull. This basically causes the board to accelerate faster than my body and I fall off the back of the board.

I don't believe it is foot position as the board does not launch skyward it simply out accelerates me and leaves me behind. any helpful hints? Do I simply need to get more weight over the front foot?

TIA for any assistance.

maybe you activated the foildrive and didn?t realize it

Interesting problem. I ride the carvers and aviator dw boards myself and haven't experienced that. What do you think is causing the board to "accelerate"? There has to be some energy input to make it gain speed faster than your body. Are you still pretty new to the board? Perhaps it's an overpowered wing management issue and you're inadvertently resisting the acceleration when you've got too much sail and getting lifted up, while the board continues at the same speed which creates a perception of the board accelerating away from you?

to be serious...
Sounds like you act a little bit too stiff on the board.
See many times that riders have almost completely stretched out legs while riding. It is more comfortable but in no kind of sport this helps regarding having control over something.

Maybe this can be a bit part of your problem - as I dont know your riding style but you should know yourself if it could be an issue....?

In general you are starting to get into a right knee bent position when it starts feeling strange and funny at first.
Basically you are lowering your center of effort as well as you gain a lot of possible etxra movement in your joints, you dont have while being streched.

I hope its clear ynd you gfet my point.
Me personally it helped a lot

I know the feeling pretty well...a few things it might be, or might help (and btw, I don't see how it could be the board doing much to cause it if you are on foil)...

Like @krixikraxi said, not having an athletic stance may be part of it, and especially if you start leaning back, either with more back foot pressure and/or with your hips back, then all sorts of things can go wrong to try to keep things under control, including breaching...so...athletic stance - weight balanced with adequate front foot pressure...(I cruise with pretty straight legs, but when it's getting crazy, I've got knees bent and ready for anything)

...And you might work on just willing some confidence and get used to going faster, lots of falls in lots of sports happen because we get freaked out and nervous and make mistakes...

Also, not only to avoid breaches, but to make the foil less sensitive to wave energy at the surface, you might ride a little lower on the mast...that can make for a less bumpy ride, especially with a lifty foil (not sure if that is true of the SAB R990).

And with the wing??? I don't know but you may be inadvertently sheeting in a bit to compensate for hips back, and/or lack of balance, and/or fear (I can imagine hips going back, then pulling in on the wing, then your feet pushing the board forward out from under you?!)

Getting comfortable being overpowered is super important, as its part of the game...

BTW - what wing are you using, and are you sure it's adequately inflated? My first wings were a total handful overpowered, the new stuff is so much better for me and I feel I can adequately depower however much I need.

Good luck!

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kook123 said..
I know the feeling pretty well...a few things it might be, or might help (and btw, I don't see how it could be the board doing much to cause it if you are on foil)...

Like @krixikraxi said, not having an athletic stance may be part of it, and especially if you start leaning back, either with more back foot pressure and/or with your hips back, then all sorts of things can go wrong to try to keep things under control, including breaching...so...athletic stance - weight balanced with adequate front foot pressure...(I cruise with pretty straight legs, but when it's getting crazy, I've got knees bent and ready for anything)

...And you might work on just willing some confidence and get used to going faster, lots of falls in lots of sports happen because we get freaked out and nervous and make mistakes...

Also, not only to avoid breaches, but to make the foil less sensitive to wave energy at the surface, you might ride a little lower on the mast...that can make for a less bumpy ride, especially with a lifty foil (not sure if that is true of the SAB R990).

And with the wing??? I don't know but you may be inadvertently sheeting in a bit to compensate for hips back, and/or lack of balance, and/or fear (I can imagine hips going back, then pulling in on the wing, then your feet pushing the board forward out from under you?!)

Getting comfortable being overpowered is super important, as its part of the game...

BTW - what wing are you using, and are you sure it's adequately inflated? My first wings were a total handful overpowered, the new stuff is so much better for me and I feel I can adequately depower however much I need.

Good luck!

Thanks for that. I am using V3 SMIKs and they are definitely inflated correctly. interestingly, when I lose control over the board/foil I am actually just accelerating from
standing up and I don't breach when I fall. Often, I can still have the board hooked under my back heel. it doesn't occur all of the time and I think it occurs more frequently when I get fatigued.

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BWalnut said..
Interesting problem. I ride the carvers and aviator dw boards myself and haven't experienced that. What do you think is causing the board to "accelerate"? There has to be some energy input to make it gain speed faster than your body. Are you still pretty new to the board? Perhaps it's an overpowered wing management issue and you're inadvertently resisting the acceleration when you've got too much sail and getting lifted up, while the board continues at the same speed which creates a perception of the board accelerating away from you?

Thanks for the input. I probably have about 10 hours on the board and it definitely only occurs if I get overpowered (too much wing).
maybe I just need to get the sail down and knees bent.

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krixikraxi said..
to be serious...
Sounds like you act a little bit too stiff on the board.
See many times that riders have almost completely stretched out legs while riding. It is more comfortable but in no kind of sport this helps regarding having control over something.

Maybe this can be a bit part of your problem - as I dont know your riding style but you should know yourself if it could be an issue....?

In general you are starting to get into a right knee bent position when it starts feeling strange and funny at first.
Basically you are lowering your center of effort as well as you gain a lot of possible etxra movement in your joints, you dont have while being streched.

I hope its clear ynd you gfet my point.
Me personally it helped a lot

Thanks for that. Understood and I will think about that when I next get out.

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krixikraxi said..
maybe you activated the foildrive and didn?t realize it

Haha. Wish I had one.

So ... Went out again this afternoon and didn't suffer from the original issue in the post until I started to fatigue. I think that I am actually overly focussed on the wing whilst the last stage of transition from taxiing to flying is occurring and pumping the wing whilst the board is accelerating thereby losing balance and falling backwards which gives the illusion of the board accelerating away from me it felt as though I needed to stop pumping the wing and centre myself over the board whilst simultaneously driving the board forward (pumping) and to forget about the wing. more time on water and practice required. Being 20 years younger gear would help as well ????.

You're heading downwind too much as you come up on foil, it's speeds up and shoots from under you. Head back upwind as soon as u come on foil to control speed.

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Windshear said..
Being 20 years younger gear would help as well ????.

If you were 20 years younger you wouldn't be foiling!

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BWalnut said..

Windshear said..
Being 20 years younger gear would help as well ????.

If you were 20 years younger you wouldn't be foiling!

Ha ha. Maybe. Maybe not.

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Mikedubs said..
You're heading downwind too much as you come up on foil, it's speeds up and shoots from under you. Head back upwind as soon as u come on foil to control speed.

Thanks. I did consider this as well and turned a bit back towards upwind as well as ensuring I remained centred over the board. Seemed to all help.