Just curious, who here races wing foils?
if so, do you use foot straps or not?
what are your reasons?

have you looked at the pictures from pro racers? Pretty clear all use straps

I am no racer. I use straps a lot. When you get straps perfectly dialled with your setup it makes everything easier. The number 1 thing I like is you can recover in situations that would be impossible without straps. I always wear at least a reef bootie when wearing straps to prevent any injury. This always your foot to twist in the bootie if your foot gets stuck in the strap.

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foilthegreats said..
I am no racer. I use straps a lot. When you get straps perfectly dialled with your setup it makes everything easier. The number 1 thing I like is you can recover in situations that would be impossible without straps. I always wear at least a reef bootie when wearing straps to prevent any injury. This always your foot to twist in the bootie if your foot gets stuck in the strap.

Agreed, again, no racer, but straps are amazing for recovery when you'd otherwise come off foil. I think for an average session I recover half a dozen maneuvers that would have sent me in the drink. That translates to fewer times getting back on foil, and higher energy for pushing it my whole session.

as for injury I don't take any precautions. I find with a 24" wide board @ 75% body weight and a 1200 ish foil on a 80 mast the system doesn't have enough leverage/resistance to do any kind of leverage based injury. I've honestly been most sketched out when I go down hard, and the whole thing goes upside down and it's just floating around foil up threatening to fall on me or the wing!

maybe with a wider board/bigger foil it's an issue but for my gear it's not a problem.

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TooMuchEpoxy said..

foilthegreats said..
I am no racer. I use straps a lot. When you get straps perfectly dialled with your setup it makes everything easier. The number 1 thing I like is you can recover in situations that would be impossible without straps. I always wear at least a reef bootie when wearing straps to prevent any injury. This always your foot to twist in the bootie if your foot gets stuck in the strap.

Agreed, again, no racer, but straps are amazing for recovery when you'd otherwise come off foil. I think for an average session I recover half a dozen maneuvers that would have sent me in the drink. That translates to fewer times getting back on foil, and higher energy for pushing it my whole session.

as for injury I don't take any precautions. I find with a 24" wide board @ 75% body weight and a 1200 ish foil on a 80 mast the system doesn't have enough leverage/resistance to do any kind of leverage based injury. I've honestly been most sketched out when I go down hard, and the whole thing goes upside down and it's just floating around foil up threatening to fall on me or the wing!

maybe with a wider board/bigger foil it's an issue but for my gear it's not a problem.

Well, I can't agree. Depite boots -liter board and mid sized foil I can now enjoy titanium plate and screws in my angle and it all happened in fairly slow jibe. 4 months no winging, then some but it remained painfull quite some time and took over one year to feel 95% again.

But I'm still/again using straps

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Siksvan said..

TooMuchEpoxy said..

foilthegreats said..
I am no racer. I use straps a lot. When you get straps perfectly dialled with your setup it makes everything easier. The number 1 thing I like is you can recover in situations that would be impossible without straps. I always wear at least a reef bootie when wearing straps to prevent any injury. This always your foot to twist in the bootie if your foot gets stuck in the strap.

Agreed, again, no racer, but straps are amazing for recovery when you'd otherwise come off foil. I think for an average session I recover half a dozen maneuvers that would have sent me in the drink. That translates to fewer times getting back on foil, and higher energy for pushing it my whole session.

as for injury I don't take any precautions. I find with a 24" wide board @ 75% body weight and a 1200 ish foil on a 80 mast the system doesn't have enough leverage/resistance to do any kind of leverage based injury. I've honestly been most sketched out when I go down hard, and the whole thing goes upside down and it's just floating around foil up threatening to fall on me or the wing!

maybe with a wider board/bigger foil it's an issue but for my gear it's not a problem.

Well, I can't agree. Depite boots -liter board and mid sized foil I can now enjoy titanium plate and screws in my angle and it all happened in fairly slow jibe. 4 months no winging, then some but it remained painfull quite some time and took over one year to feel 95% again.

But I'm still/again using straps

Could be the Solite booties I'm wearing. They're rubber inside and foot will slide around no problem. Has saved my ankle on many occasions. I also use Dakine Contour System straps. They don't ride up to far on your foot.

Im strapped 80% of the time. Some rare awkward falls, but no injuries. I dont ride straps on my midlength and as a result I ride it very differently. Move my feet around a lot more, and it pumps better. Its fun to switch it up sometimes, but I find it to be a big adjustment and I have to ride more conservatively.

My straps are secure, but not tight. I prefer less rigid straps, which allow me get out pretty easily, but also allow me to kind of twist my foot to tighten them up when I'm jumping. The best I've found are the Onebyone straps (particularly the v1, v2 is good but didn't hold up very well for me), and now I'm liking the Ozone straps.

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AUS220 said..
Just curious, who here races wing foils?
if so, do you use foot straps or not?
what are your reasons?

Straps allow a wider stance and therefore more leverage to keep board and foil more pitch steady which is faster. Plus benefit of boosting the finish line to claim your victory. No personal experience there....

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Hwy1North said..

AUS220 said..
Just curious, who here races wing foils?
if so, do you use foot straps or not?
what are your reasons?

Straps allow a wider stance and therefore more leverage to keep board and foil more pitch steady which is faster. Plus benefit of boosting the finish line to claim your victory. No personal experience there....

How do straps allow a wider stance? They have a lot of advantages, but you can use the same stance width regardless of strapped or unstrapped.

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Velocicraptor said..

Hwy1North said..

AUS220 said..
Just curious, who here races wing foils?
if so, do you use foot straps or not?
what are your reasons?

Straps allow a wider stance and therefore more leverage to keep board and foil more pitch steady which is faster. Plus benefit of boosting the finish line to claim your victory. No personal experience there....

How do straps allow a wider stance? They have a lot of advantages, but you can use the same stance width regardless of strapped or unstrapped.

You can pull up on one to balance the other foot. When I ride strapless, my stance finds the perfect balance point for ease of use which is further away from the center line, and more forward of the mast and narrower. Look at any racer and you'll see a rearward move to the back foot strap as they accelerate. Without moving your front foot, try that the next time you power up strapless!