tnstewart wrote: ↑Tue Apr 03, 2018 7:38 pm
Hi all, has anyone ridden the Shinn el Stubbo Zeeko Aluminium 90cm Hydrofoil? Would you recommend it? I'm looking to get into foiling. Have never foiled before but don't want to waste time on a 30 or 60cm mast, just want to get one hydrofoil for freeriding when the winds too light for wakestyle/there's no swell! Thanks
I was in your position a year ago and managed to get a used El Stubbo/Zeeko set up at a price I could afford. Would I recommend it? Definitely, but only if you accept that learning to foil can take a while. A lucky talented few pick it up quickly but for lesser mortals it can be a slow (but totally addictive) process.
I had been riding TT's since 2001 so imagined that after a few sessions I would be foiling no problem...how wrong I was. It took me all of last season to get to the point of being able to make long foiling runs on both tacks. This year I'll be working on the turning.
Heres a few things that if I'd known before I started would have speeded up the process.
1) Conditions.
If you can, learn on flat water, you will progress much faster. I kite at a spot where 90% of the time the water is very choppy with a dumping shorebreak. At the very beginning this made not only the task of positioning the board so much harder but also later on, during those early flights, I was thrown many times by catching a random bit of chop. I actually think that in those conditions my 90cm mast was a benefit. On the occasional days when the water was flatter, I was amazed by how much easier everything was and how much more progress I made.
2) Kite.
I started by using my Cabrinha Switchblades. Great kites for the TT but as I learned, not the best for foiling. If your location generally has gusty winds (like mine) having a kite with a lot of depower is a real bonus when learning to foil. I bought a S/H 9m Liquid Force Solo which was much easier to foil with than the Switchblades.
3) Wing.
The Zeeko blue/white foil is a great foil but it does need more speed to get up and foiling than the new generation of low aspect beginner foils like the shinn p foil. If funds allow, think about adding a Zeeko carver wing to your set up - it is a bigger area wing and lower aspect than the blue one. I bought one towards the end of last season and was amazed how easily it got up and foiling and also how it remained foiling at slower speeds. Both these qualities would have helped speed up my learning.
Good luck with whatever set up you choose in the end.
