Hand Kite Foiling

juandesooka

OTF status
Jan 12, 2009
346
294
63
Seems inevitable. But yeah like in kiting, still sucks.
May want to order KiteFix kit....cheap, easy, and supposed to be as strong or stronger than original material.

Just wait til you pop a bladder. One level deeper suckiness
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kaser1

Hdip

Michael Peterson status
Apr 23, 2005
3,331
788
113
Malibu, CA
Fixing bladders is basically why I never continued with kiting.

Foiling I went a year and a half with only replacing a rear stabilizer. That’s a pretty good run for how hard I am on my surfboards.
 

Kaser1

Tom Curren status
May 3, 2004
10,271
262
83
Maine
Seems inevitable. But yeah like in kiting, still sucks.
May want to order KiteFix kit....cheap, easy, and supposed to be as strong or stronger than original material.

Just wait til you pop a bladder. One level deeper suckiness
I ordered a couple rolls of the rip stop tape. I've used some loaned from a friend and it's working well. The van works excellent as a clean flat surface to tape the pukas. Magnets help keep it flat.

IMG_20191017_101932.jpg

didnt think about the bladder, until now...thanks :eek: :mad::cursing:;)
 

Kaser1

Tom Curren status
May 3, 2004
10,271
262
83
Maine
On a better note, Maui got it's first NNE swell which means Kahului harbor starts breaking. There's 4 different spots/waves in the harbor and almost all are great fun on foil. But it always gets windy quick once the trades fire up. But with the wing, now it's just an open arena.

I hit it yesterday afternoon for 2 hours all by myself. Easy get in and out of the water right on the boat ramp. Wind blows straight onshore mostly which works well for the long lefts from the middle past harbor lights. You pick up a swell on wing, luff it once it stands up over the reef, zing down the line, power up, turn around, sail back out to the top, do it again.. a couple dozen times. So much funIMG_20191017_145041.jpg
 
Mar 20, 2019
126
93
28
Headed to Maui for the day Sunday. Bringing my wing, and got a board and foil lined up. Kanaha is the call for learning how to use the wing??
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kaser1

Kaser1

Tom Curren status
May 3, 2004
10,271
262
83
Maine
was that yesterday? you guys looked like you were having fun out there while i was slogging around on the inside
Yes it was, we stumbled upon a window of wind and some head hi surf off the main break at lowers. Turned into a good late kicker to the session.
 

Kaser1

Tom Curren status
May 3, 2004
10,271
262
83
Maine
First proper winter swell arrived yesterday. All north side was 4+ by mid day. I was out on errands in town and wrapped things up around 2. Got a txt from Alex Ka'a was good.

Rolled up and wind was on the low end so it wasn't super choppy, was actually really clean for winging. Geared up and it was just 4 wing foilers and a couple kiters. I've (surf, non winging) foiled this spot many times and it's one of the best and longest foil surfing waves on Maui. It really lights up when it gets big as it breaks on the outside reef and rolls all the way to the beach with a couple reforms in between keeping good size as a rolling swell.

Can honestly say it was one of the best wing surf foil days yet. 3 minute rides on wave, power back up and wing straight back to the top and do it again, and again.

Also stopped by our surf shop and picked up a set of windsurf gloves and they had the F One harness lines in stock. Just need to figure out which belt to get.
 

juandesooka

OTF status
Jan 12, 2009
346
294
63
"3 minute rides on wave, power back up and wing straight back to the top and do it again, and again. "
Man o man, how good does that sound? With sup and surf foil, those exceptional ride length come with the cost of long paddles or walks back. Getting back by wind power is epic.

Combine that with the post on Standupzone this weekend from the guy who's been trying unsuccessfully for years to sup foil downwind wind swells ... and now with the wing it's easy. It's cool to see how this has opened up some possibilities for further wave riding fun.
 

steamroller

Michael Peterson status
Dec 23, 2007
2,118
766
113
48U - Green River, WY
kaser theres now lots of videos of guys wing foiling on prone type small boards...they basically water start it like a windsurfer but they're all smaller guys i think...have you seen any of the bigger guys doin it yet on the prone boards?
 

Hdip

Michael Peterson status
Apr 23, 2005
3,331
788
113
Malibu, CA
BTW saw Kane (@kdmaui) wingfoil first hand yesterday on his little 4' strapless. He spent a good 15 minutes just trying to get outa the water and up and running. While AlexA had done about 4 laps to the outer reefs and back. I'm thinking I'm gonna leave the little proner boards winging to the kids. It looked like too much time/work to get up, I wanna have fun, not get frustrated.

Same think happened to Christian Pacifico the other day at Hookipa, he was on a little board and got stuck waay outside trying to get up for 20 minutes.
Repost from the last page for you steamroller.

Super high tide after I drop the kids off at school tomorrow. Just saying.
 

juandesooka

OTF status
Jan 12, 2009
346
294
63
Status update...

Had a nice wing session just cruisy late afternoon. When I was coming in, close to shore I dismounted, board flipped exposing foils in the air, wind decided to bounce the kite right onto the foils, knifing 2 slices through the material. :mad:

Patching rips/holes #2 and #3 today. I guess it's bound to happen, and shouldn't get too pissed...but it's hard not to.:bricks:
Bummer. Sup foiling this weekend, I had an awkward wipeout where I fell forward on a faster section. I felt the foil graze my back as it passed by....3" slice in my wetsuit. Would hate to see what that would have done with no wetsuit on. Anyways with wings in surf it seems inevitable they will get cut up. With kites it is nowhere near the foil. With windsurfing the sail is attached and can't contact foil. In hardcore use I suspect these will be patched and replaced more often.
 

juandesooka

OTF status
Jan 12, 2009
346
294
63
Keep in mind that gong is releasing a pro version in a month or so, that is supposed to provide more low end power. My guess is that it will rival the other big brands that are reported to be more powerful. so you may want to wait for reviews before jumping on the 7M.

I just sold my 5m gong and was going to wait, but a used 7M came along. so I am on that program, will report back once used, but we are out of dependable wind season unfortunately.

In my brief practice, I found my 7.6 sup foil to be more stable, the 6-foot sup foil was super Tippy in the chop. But I am installing foot hooks, so we'll see how that goes. Maybe the five foot surf foil will be next
 

Kaser1

Tom Curren status
May 3, 2004
10,271
262
83
Maine
kaser theres now lots of videos of guys wing foiling on prone type small boards...they basically water start it like a windsurfer but they're all smaller guys i think...have you seen any of the bigger guys doin it yet on the prone boards?
up until recently i've only seen the groms waterstarting the small proners.

last week saw a guy, older than me, waterstart a small'ish board. was low volume and maybe 6ft long board.

with the groms ,they'd stand on their board sinking it and pump the wing to have it pull the board up to the surface and out of the water up on foil. this older guy would seem to get pulled forward which would start the board planing and thus also engaging the foil and he'd get pulled up out of the water and up on foil.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Topmick

Kaser1

Tom Curren status
May 3, 2004
10,271
262
83
Maine
"3 minute rides on wave, power back up and wing straight back to the top and do it again, and again. "
Man o man, how good does that sound? With sup and surf foil, those exceptional ride length come with the cost of long paddles or walks back. Getting back by wind power is epic.

Combine that with the post on Standupzone this weekend from the guy who's been trying unsuccessfully for years to sup foil downwind wind swells ... and now with the wing it's easy. It's cool to see how this has opened up some possibilities for further wave riding fun.
speaking of opening possibilities.

on saturday surf here was pumping, first solid winter swell hit Maui. all spots were too big except the harbor. wind was calm so went SUP foiling. was kinda crowded as it was the only spot around for mortals to surf. an hour into it the wind comes up, of course the first thing i think, 'hey i can wing in this wind'. get back to the van and check wind speed and it's 12mph. def the low end but i was gonna give it a go.

PS, amazon sent me this wind meter by mistake months ago, kept it and it comes in handy now.


https://rapidrescorecredit.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F188722772938
 

juandesooka

OTF status
Jan 12, 2009
346
294
63
speaking of opening possibilities.

on saturday surf here was pumping, first solid winter swell hit Maui. all spots were too big except the harbor. wind was calm so went SUP foiling. was kinda crowded as it was the only spot around for mortals to surf. an hour into it the wind comes up, of course the first thing i think, 'hey i can wing in this wind'. get back to the van and check wind speed and it's 12mph. def the low end but i was gonna give it a go.

PS, amazon sent me this wind meter by mistake months ago, kept it and it comes in handy now.


https://rapidrescorecredit.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F188722772938
Leaving us hanging....so what happened? :)

I used a wind meter a lot in early days kiting. It is handy for reality checks ... As the Stoke lizard brainstem says "windy enough" when the frontal cortex knows it isn't. Leading to failure and swims.

Most of the wind world uses knots. Some USA in mph. Some Europeans m/s. That is roughly 10kts...able to fly? I got my 7m for that 10kt range....surf blown out but not yet kiteable (can fly a big kite but can't effectively ride waves). Hoping to get some magic in between sessions
 

Kaser1

Tom Curren status
May 3, 2004
10,271
262
83
Maine
Leaving us hanging....so what happened? :)

I used a wind meter a lot in early days kiting. It is handy for reality checks ... As the Stoke lizard brainstem says "windy enough" when the frontal cortex knows it isn't. Leading to failure and swims.

Most of the wind world uses knots. Some USA in mph. Some Europeans m/s. That is roughly 10kts...able to fly? I got my 7m for that 10kt range....surf blown out but not yet kiteable (can fly a big kite but can't effectively ride waves). Hoping to get some magic in between sessions
i know, i should switch that meter over to knots and not start another bad habit of relying on mph.:ROFLMAO:

yes was able to fly, put on my biggest foil, the M200. wind was from the nnw and part of the harbor gets sheltered by the jetty so I had to stay outa that zone. I was on my 4.2m F One wing. Had to pump alittle in spots but was able to manage.
 

juandesooka

OTF status
Jan 12, 2009
346
294
63
Yeww! Makin' it work. The word on the street is that the F-One and ozone wings have better low-end than other brands (the comparison was made specifically with Gong, which is what I have; I am betting their new Pro model will copy whatever magic F-One and Ozone have done)

For wind meters, something to keep in mind is that the wind on the beach is often/usually less than the wind on the water. It is pretty classic in kiting for people to claim they are kiting in 5kts, with wind meter pics to prove it, then their riding photos show light caps on the water (10+).

Anyways, it's fun to see the surfing no-wind community branch into some wind chasing. I started kiting 8 years ago, after 15 years or so of surfing, and it's been a life-changer ... opens up so many more fun days. I have gone back to my trip journals and read about places where it was blown out day after day, insanely frustrating at the time, and now....WOW EPIC! Half my surfer friends still hate wind, as well as my wife ... I keep working on them. I am hopeful that the wing may bridge the gap with my wife, as she's intimidated by the kite lines and the potential danger, but wing is so simple and straightforward -- even just for standing on a sup surface riding. Future travels will be a lot more fun for everyone if she enjoys windy spots too. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kaser1