joekitetime wrote: ↑Fri Aug 31, 2018 6:00 pm
My dream foiling idol is the guy who doesn't ride switchfoot, but heelside to toeside only (that is how I ride my surfboard) and jibes, tacks, and does 360s, no touchdowns, no foot switch.
J: that is how I ride, but only because I never took the time to learn to ride goofy at the start -- a regret, as it's harder to go back learn later on. It works fine, but two negatives: 1) you are maybe 25% less efficient upwind toeside, so it slows you down if you want to explore far upwind; 2) your body gets sore, with cramped up muscles and sore joints (from awkward twisting), if you don't switch it up. Similar to surfboard, switching to ride back upwind helps to rest the muscles for dominant stance.
Also, I like to ride slow, turn often, more playful - prefer to constantly be switching directions. J: me too!
My questions:
Should I go for a shovel shaped foil, rather than the more traditional wing (hoverglide space skate rather than the hoverglide nf2).
J: I don't have much belief in thg board mattering all that much. Once you're at the point of just a few brief touchdowns in a session, only thing that really matters is being able to waterstart it. I have switched to a wakeskate, really blown away by how much freed up I felt to have so little swing weight. Plus being completely strapless (I have hooks on my surf foilboard) I found out something really important: my front foot was about an inch back from optimal position. Having it forward opened up an entirely new dimension: more front foot pressure meant able to ride out a lot more speed, particularly when dropping into wind swells. It was a WOW. Negative of low volume board like wakeskate is light wind.....can be quite challenging to water start, if its a foot under water. Some recommend a wood skim as having just a little more width and flotation.
Should I jump at the chance to get a carbon wing? J: I am wrong person to ask, as I have caveman gear comparatively ... G10 stringy wings, alumimun mast, DIY boards. But seems to do all I need. They are fast enough and carvey. When I hit the bottom (rocks), I just sand out the nick, no drama. I don't care about weight, once on the water it makes no difference, I am not doing jumps.
Should I quit riding a 24" mast (I really love that mast - am I crippling myself?)
J: if you ride in chop or swell, or want to do high speed laid out carves, DEFINITELY get longer mast. Makes a huge difference, in keeping that front wing in the water.
Should I get new kites (wainmans are wake style kites, sit deep in the window, strong bar pressure) or should I make them work...
J: seems like people who want speed prefer high aspect kites that fly forward. People who want to carve swells downwind want wave style kites with maximum drift: deep in the window, low bar pressure. Want to be able to go straight downwind with the kite drifting along with you, or some like to do loops to keep it active. But all that being said: I figure anything works if you get used to flying it! I ride BWS and Ocean Rodeo Roam, really happy with them. Lots of people like Clouds (and those who like them REALLY love them, which you'll be hearing about soon I suspect).
Should I play with line length or keep the 25m going?
J: I ride standard 22m. Some seem to prefer long lines: theory is to get more power to get up on foil, then less power once up and riding. The loop fanciers seem to like short lines.
Should I look for a smaller board or must make one?
J: I got a cheap used wakeskate, drilled 4 holes, good enough -- but that's just me.
How hard is it to tack toeside to heelside and vice versa?
J: seems pretty hard to me, though everyone says "easy once you know how". Personally I have a mental block about twisting the lines, similar to when I learned backrolls. Initial steps for me are to figure out the dance moves on land with a trainer kite, get that dialed, then try it on the water. Initial attempts have been like first tries at backrolls: pull with wrong hand, loop kite, then either tomahawk it, superman me, or both ... the swim that follows is a disincentive.
It's on my list, but probably a "next year" project once again.
Thanks so much. I'm super stoked on foiling and can't wait to improve! J: good times! have fun!
Thanks!!!!!