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Foilboards in waves

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Hawaiis
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Re: Foilboards in waves

Postby Hawaiis » Fri Dec 27, 2013 10:29 pm

It looks like fun.

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Re: Foilboards in waves

Postby Arcsrule » Fri Dec 27, 2013 10:42 pm

none of my kites need a pump :)

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Re: Foilboards in waves

Postby gmb13 » Sun Dec 29, 2013 1:00 pm

BraCuru wrote:
Peter_Frank wrote:Would just comment here, as I think the BraCuru video looks awesome :thumb:
I still can not see how the "waveriding" will feel or work, but I know several of my french friends who does it
PF - I am really surprised that there are so little videos showing foiling the waves.
The topic you mentioned is dated in July when I asked:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2381354 and there is not too much to see so far.

I've got positive feelings about this subject, however no good chance to try it. Last Autumn in Poland was waveless. Even the Polish wave championship was cancelled. One week in Essaouira - no waves. I had only one average day to record fun in shorebreak at Famara Beach despite onshore waves :(
I hope that Gunnar might share more as he got knowledge, riding style, wave boards and lives at Fuerteventura. Please :bye:
NB. I will try to upload the full video from Lanzarote tomorrow.
Hi Everyone,

Here is my 2 cents on wave riding with foils.

"Normal" Waveriding (normal size breaking waves) is not really doable on a foil. For me it's all about using the right tools for that the right job, and a Foilboard is not the right tool for having fun in those conditions.

HOWEVER.

Riding large ocean swells that are not quite breaking is another story. This is where a normal surfboard does not really work and a foil is awesome. The foil really pics up the power of these mountains of water and lets you have awesome rides. This takes a lot of kite skills though as not even the best wave kites will drift well enough when the wave is "pushing" your foil. You need to be extremely careful not to drop your kites as you will be going fast and slacking your lines a lot more that with a surfboard on a breaking wave.

I have yet to try a no strut kite in this situation. I think no strut kites may be stable enough and light enough to deal with foils in swells.

--
Gunnar

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Re: Foilboards in waves

Postby cglazier » Mon Dec 30, 2013 12:15 am

I agree Gunnar. In my limited experience I found it very exhilerating when I managed to get out through the wave break and into big ocean swells. The foil really provides a superb ride out there.

Swell riding is not like surfing, it is going fast downhill and being smooth and making big graceful turns as the waves push you. You cannot do this as well on any other type of board.

:wink: CG

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Re: Foilboards in waves

Postby ChristoffM » Mon Dec 30, 2013 11:27 am

Yip, the riding is quite different as Gunnar wrote. Since the foil get so much energy out of the wave, there is no need to be in the pocket of the wave, and you could be well in front of the breaking part and still experience that awsome push feeling from the foilboard which a surfboard can only provide if you get right into the pocket of a wave on very big waves.

I think I also want to try some dedicated wave kites next. The kite drift depends a lot about the swell and wind directions, and even more on technique and foilboard speed. I have recently started riding faster foilboards, and it opens up a lot of possibilities that was previously unridable. For instance, I could never surf waves in onshore winds with a foilboard, since the waves move faster than the windspeed, and the foil was too slow to ride at an angle to the wind and still keep up with the wave. On a faster foilboard, I can ride 45 degrees downwind and go fast enough to keep up with the waves. It is actually not too difficult to get onto the wave in these conditions and getting the kite to drift since you can ride at any angle down the wave until the kite gets into the correct drifting position. But getting off the wave when it starts to close out can be very difficult, since you cannot turn downwind at that speed or the kite will fall out the sky, and you cannot turn through a big breaking waves while keeping the foil in the water.

Oh yes, and as Gunnar said, you have to be careful not to drop your kite. When I started really getting into surfing on a foilboard, I totally smashed my kites 3 times in less than 10 outings. Normally one would get onto a big swell well before the waves starts breaking, then if you fall off, your kite might not even crash into the water, but would be in a low drifting position with the one wingtip just touching the water's edge. If the wind in light, it can take a while to get up again and by then ( 2 or 3 seconds later) the wave you were riding reaches your kite and breaks right into it. I do not think any kites can survive a big wave breaking right into it.

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Re: Foilboards in waves

Postby BraCuru » Tue Jan 07, 2014 3:34 pm

gmb13 wrote:"Normal" Waveriding (normal size breaking waves) is not really doable on a foil. For me it's all about using the right tools for that the right job, and a Foilboard is not the right tool for having fun in those conditions.
Thanks for sharing.
If some foil-SUP guys find fun in the breaking zone then I would not close the foil wave chapter so quickly :idea: I hope that some other good foil riders will try it soon.
I think that foil requires specific wave spot and waves where fun factor might great (Famara Beach was not the dreamt one due to onshore waves and wind). Anyway my Famara experience reminded me fun learning kiteloops or strapless riding years ago. And that 's important for me.
PS.
Big advantage in light conditions (or underpowered) I found is a fact getting upwind so easily and saving 1/2 of session time for the fun in waves instead going a half of mile into the sea and backwards.

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Re: Foilboards in waves

Postby Arcsrule » Wed Jan 08, 2014 3:40 pm

BraCuru...does this mean that in really light wind, it is now safe to kite on offshore wind?

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Re: Foilboards in waves

Postby BraCuru » Wed Jan 08, 2014 5:14 pm

Arcsrule wrote:...does this mean that in really light wind, it is now safe to kite on offshore wind?
I did not mentioned about offshore winds which always were, are and will be danger for users with a kite despite wind force.

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Re: Foilboards in waves

Postby Arcsrule » Thu Jan 09, 2014 3:51 pm

BraCuru wrote:
Arcsrule wrote:...does this mean that in really light wind, it is now safe to kite on offshore wind?
I did not mentioned about offshore winds which always were, are and will be danger for users with a kite despite wind force.
totally agree. but if a foil screams upwind in very light air, it would seem that off shore winds could be an option. i once had an offshore windspot with shallow water , until i lost a kite :)

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Re: Foilboards in waves

Postby BraCuru » Mon Sep 21, 2015 5:41 pm

No wave riding but a lot of breaking zone riding. It is not so hard as most people think!


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