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Funny trick I tested this week-end : hydrofoiling without touching the bar ...It is more impressive than it is, and really funny for intermediate foilers like I am.

I saw some videos of french riders ( marc Blanc unhoked, Steph Goffinet, both using waves as propulsor and kite hanging in neutral pull) ; but ... I had no waves (and not 1/4th of their skill), so I wanted to test in straight line. I pulled my bar stopper to the middle of the power rope and rided hands free during hundreds of meters, just touching one pre-line here and then (every 15-20 seconds approx ) to put the kite at the correct elevation.

Feeling is like snowsurfing down a gentle slope, and you can play with different upwind angles, toe side, with a big smile and sometime pumping the hydrofoil to compensated for speed loss
you fell in a kind of Kai Lenny style during some precious seconds

So true Regis - I did it without a stopper on flat water some time ago, just to feel how you "glide" without any kitepower, and how everything were balanced.

And now I do it for fun on waves, small windwaves or bigger ones everything works - put the kite up close to 12, let the bar fully out, so it can hang for a long time without input, and you can surf the wave, and pump the board, and turn on the wave.

I find it quite difficult (at my level) - and you need to put your feet (front foot) in over the center of the board, otherwise it wont work at all...

But awesome to put your hands out and "fly" (surf) on a wave without ANY kitepower at all, and see how long you can ride.

A couple of weekends ago:

Toeside on a small one





Sunny day





And a really big set outside - YES !




PF

Yes! I have found this to be so fun and great for skill advancement. If I find I’m struggling at learn some component of a move I take a break by riding no hands and pumping and balancing. It resets my posture. Then my attempts at whatever are always better and more in balance.