tpalka Posted August 7, 2021 Report Share Posted August 7, 2021 This has been a fun way to while away a few days. Slalom skiing is more like carving, of course, but figuring out the balance of how to carve across the wake on a hydrofoil takes a lot of balance and timing. Good practice for carving on snow I think, in a cross-training kind of way. Unlike in some other types of sports, on a foil it needs to be initiated with the front foot -- like on snow -- otherwise the foil lifts and the turn is over And it's so sensitive to weight distribution... Anybody else messing with this? Tom. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted August 8, 2021 Report Share Posted August 8, 2021 How come there is so much slack in the line? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowrider Posted August 8, 2021 Report Share Posted August 8, 2021 I suspect turbulence from the prop is providing lift that isn't obvious but if you look at the wake there is a large volume of water passing by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted August 8, 2021 Report Share Posted August 8, 2021 I got a chance to try a foil last weekend. It was behind a little open aluminum boat (?? I'm not a boat guy) at a surprisingly-low speed. 5 mph? Just above walking speed. The owner insisted that was best. It was surprising how little speed you needed to come up on plane! Pitch control was hyper-sensitive! I couldn't get the hang of it, lots of rising up and dropping back into the water with the subtlest fore-aft weight shifts. Never got to the point of turns before we had to part ways. It was very different flying on something so far beneath you. Felt like skateboarding on a tall unicycle. It's wild how the chop just disappears as soon as you get up on the foil. I mean, no duh, but the change is so striking. Like the moment of lift-off in a small plane. And that foil is SHARP. Sliced my foot before I even started. He warned me, and then I kicked it 20 seconds later. Super fun, would do it again if I get the chance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpalka Posted August 8, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2021 (edited) The foil (hydrofoil) is incredibly efficient, and presents almost no drag in the water. One of the challenges of riding behind the boat is to not outrun it... Thus the turns back and forth, trying to keep at least a semblance of line tension. I had a few rides where my son was turning the boat gently, at just the right speed, generating a foot-high wake. I serendipitously got near the top of it and ended up "surfing" it, like an endless wave, riding it just below the spine, dragging the rope behind me, for 20-25 seconds. What an incredible feeling. The board is very twitchy, lots of the steering movement means shifting the hips 2" one way or another... Super cool way to get about the lake. Edited August 8, 2021 by tpalka 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted August 8, 2021 Report Share Posted August 8, 2021 Has anybody tried one of the powered foil surfboards? They are expensive but look like a lot of fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpalka Posted August 8, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2021 Yes, we took an e-foil class as prep for wing foiling. It was fun -- I enjoyed figuring out the balance, the speed, etc. In the long run I think it'd lose the attraction though, and it's not completely silent. But it'd be a fun toy if you have spare funds. The really cool thing would be to learn how to pump them -- check out movies by "wake thief" on youtube. He jumps off his dock, pumps the foil board towards a passing boat, surfs their wake, and then pumps back! He's really impressive. Lots of good youtube videos about foil pumping on flatwater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpalka Posted September 9, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2021 Not behind the boat, but this sure looks fun. Board not as angled as a carving snowboard, but I love the smoothness and how he makes it back up to the top of the swell on most turns. Then picks up the wave energy and keeps on keeping on.... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted September 9, 2021 Report Share Posted September 9, 2021 That's pretty mellow for Laird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softbootsurfer Posted September 18, 2021 Report Share Posted September 18, 2021 from Dave Kalama... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Edges Posted September 22, 2021 Report Share Posted September 22, 2021 That last shot is Pre-School surf foiling. Snowboard boots and bindings to keep you attached to the board. Laird and Dave were pioneers in wave foiling... We've come a long way since then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carvin' Marvin Posted September 22, 2021 Report Share Posted September 22, 2021 We were able to get our hands on one of the early Jimmy Lewis prototype foils about 15-20 years ago when you still had to use clicker bindings and snowboard boots like softboot's picture. It belonged to one of the Maui big wave guys. It had a V shaped bottom and a composite foil. Living in NC we didn't have much opportunity to actually try to ride swell with it though so we mainly just tooled around with it behind the boat. We did manage some pretty big jumps and such behind the boat though. Was a good time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softbootsurfer Posted October 5, 2021 Report Share Posted October 5, 2021 This is a recent photo of Austin Kalama by Eddie...he has straps on as well Kind of strange, as I surfed with his Grandfather Ilima, many many years ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pow4ever Posted October 5, 2021 Report Share Posted October 5, 2021 you can surf with it? How do you get back up if you fell off? Looks super fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Edges Posted October 5, 2021 Report Share Posted October 5, 2021 Paddle and pump back up on the next wave. It is a tough sport to learn, these guys make it look way too easy. For an interesting pumping video try Wake Theif on Youtube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawndoggy Posted August 9, 2022 Report Share Posted August 9, 2022 foiling behind the boat every weekend in the summer. It's awesome. Gas bill is way better than wakesurfing too because it only takes a tiny wave to foil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawndoggy Posted August 12, 2022 Report Share Posted August 12, 2022 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpalka Posted August 12, 2022 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2022 That's great! Love it Our boat doesn't generate enough of a wake, so we've been able to make it work sometimes, but it's very limited. You have a great setup! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawndoggy Posted August 15, 2022 Report Share Posted August 15, 2022 On 8/12/2022 at 10:26 AM, tpalka said: That's great! Love it Our boat doesn't generate enough of a wake, so we've been able to make it work sometimes, but it's very limited. You have a great setup! What foil are you riding, and what boat? The wake doesn’t need to be very big with the right foil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpalka Posted August 15, 2022 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2022 (edited) Using a 1650 Naish Jet foil -- works great with winging. Using it behind the boat is mostly just for practice when there's no wind... This is a video from last year, with a 2000 foil, probably second week playing with foiling. It shows the boat wake we've got to work with This year we scored three windy days on that lake, it was great. Edited August 15, 2022 by tpalka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawndoggy Posted August 16, 2022 Report Share Posted August 16, 2022 (edited) 21 hours ago, tpalka said: Using a 1650 Naish Jet foil -- works great with winging. Using it behind the boat is mostly just for practice when there's no wind... This is a video from last year, with a 2000 foil, probably second week playing with foiling. It shows the boat wake we've got to work with This year we scored three windy days on that lake, it was great. not to be overly critical, but it looks like you are riding in the propwash and not on the side, where the best wake is? Not surprised there isn't push where you are, but it looks like you are going pretty slow with tons of lift, so there may still be a pocket to be found (haha that board is a monster for a tiny boat wake tho!). How fast are you going? How long is that line? What boat? Edited August 16, 2022 by shawndoggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpalka Posted August 16, 2022 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2022 Yeah, it was our second week with the board, lots of things to figure out. Going 20mph at most, behind a 21' Bayliner all-about type of boat. 60' line. This year we were able to get onto the second wake and get some "surfing", better yet if the boat was in a big turn. Your setup looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawndoggy Posted August 28, 2022 Report Share Posted August 28, 2022 On 8/16/2022 at 3:24 PM, tpalka said: Yeah, it was our second week with the board, lots of things to figure out. Going 20mph at most, behind a 21' Bayliner all-about type of boat. 60' line. This year we were able to get onto the second wake and get some "surfing", better yet if the boat was in a big turn. Your setup looks great! Gah, sorry just saw this. Try going slower... like 11-12 (assuming that that's above your foil's stall speed). 20 is really fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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