yeah, I've been skeptical too, but so many friends are having a blast on them. It also opens up options for kiting in light wind, which I'm interested in now that I live on Puget Sound.Aruka said:
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Hydrofoil / foil board - are you that interested?
- Thread starter casa_mugrienta
- Start date
The fun starts around the 3 minute mark.
[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkNA5SaH1c4[/video]
SFAD = Surf Foils are Dangerous
[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkNA5SaH1c4[/video]
SFAD = Surf Foils are Dangerous
Re the latest vid: that looks dangerous as fook. Those boards did not look like they were designed right. I only one quick observation session and those boards just looked wrong. I am thinking that the riders weight needs to be intimately dialed in with the foil area/board weight and home slice missed it my a mile. The dude I watched was on a shape that looked like a ironing board with a flat tail that was just straight across and looked like it was relatively thick and rockerless too. The waves in the vid were kinda steep compared to what I was watching too. Defined shoulder takeoff didnt look as good as starting from a less breaking area. My dude was even grabbing white water take offs and killing the fat sections where it softened up. A little reform was like a speed boost from hell. That vid though was scary!
Pretty weird timing but there was a guy in the lineup on a foil board this morning. It wasn't the SUP kind, just a chunky looking funboard shape.
I know the guy, he's a good kitesurfer and decent-ish surfer.
I asked him what the foil was made out of and he said aluminum. I told him it made me really nervous to share the lineup with that thing. He said yeah I'm kinda nervous to ride it in beachbreaks too.
He stay away from the pack after that, riding the wide ones and connecting some pretty long swells to the inside.
He seemed to have fairly figured out and while it still looked pretty awkward it looked like more fun in person.
I'm nervous for the future when the less skilled and courteous people want to bring them around the surfers.
I know the guy, he's a good kitesurfer and decent-ish surfer.
I asked him what the foil was made out of and he said aluminum. I told him it made me really nervous to share the lineup with that thing. He said yeah I'm kinda nervous to ride it in beachbreaks too.
He stay away from the pack after that, riding the wide ones and connecting some pretty long swells to the inside.
He seemed to have fairly figured out and while it still looked pretty awkward it looked like more fun in person.
I'm nervous for the future when the less skilled and courteous people want to bring them around the surfers.
Yeah, I'm not a fan of sharing space with foils, whether its kiting, SUP, or surf. Had a few close calls in Hood River while kiting.Aruka said:
Should we start a betting pool on when the first foil death will occur?
There should be a couple of maiming injurys first though. Like that movie face off only you dont get your face back because fluffy snacked that bitch up. We might start to see interesting stuff in society again like eye patches and those leather half face masks and weird body coverings like in Indiana Jones and Hell Boy, etc.
I guess we need categories. Digits, limbs, facial, decapitation, damage to organs, etc.
Let's not reinvent the wheel - Eunice probably has this organized already.
Let's not reinvent the wheel - Eunice probably has this organized already.
It's early days for foiling, the overall design has come from river towing and at the moment everyone's jumping on them and doing whatever they think is a media spotlight event. But there's a lot of design maturity and refinement to come.
It's certainly not going to replace shortboard surfing and it's best exponents are SUPpers because extended foiling requires constant energy and a paddle gets you over the flat spots easier.
Surfing waves on foils requires certain wave shapes and it's more likely that foiling will gravitate to those breaks and leave the beach breaks to the dedicated beach crew so you're never going to be chopped to death by swarms of foiling tourists.
However it could die in a single season and rarely be seen again, mainly due to the buy-in cost and danger but if foiling grows with some common sense like Kiting, it can regulate the sport rather than stuffing 3 foot razor blades into the hands of newbies and pushing them into the lineup to create mayhem.
Few would hate kiteboarders because they get experience and knowledge by going through a training scheme and kite away from surfers and it should be the same for foilers.
The Unregulated expansion of foiling will only lead to it being comprehensively hated or restricted or legally banned in some areas like Jet Skis are.
And once the Authorities get involved it's the death knell for any fledgling sport.
It's certainly not going to replace shortboard surfing and it's best exponents are SUPpers because extended foiling requires constant energy and a paddle gets you over the flat spots easier.
Surfing waves on foils requires certain wave shapes and it's more likely that foiling will gravitate to those breaks and leave the beach breaks to the dedicated beach crew so you're never going to be chopped to death by swarms of foiling tourists.
However it could die in a single season and rarely be seen again, mainly due to the buy-in cost and danger but if foiling grows with some common sense like Kiting, it can regulate the sport rather than stuffing 3 foot razor blades into the hands of newbies and pushing them into the lineup to create mayhem.
Few would hate kiteboarders because they get experience and knowledge by going through a training scheme and kite away from surfers and it should be the same for foilers.
The Unregulated expansion of foiling will only lead to it being comprehensively hated or restricted or legally banned in some areas like Jet Skis are.
And once the Authorities get involved it's the death knell for any fledgling sport.
Just watched footage of my friend foiling and he seems to be having fun. 
Has another on order, short board paddle kines. :rocking: gonna try it eventually.
Has another on order, short board paddle kines. :rocking: gonna try it eventually.
Are guys learning to use the foil by towing behind a boat?
That seems like how you speed up the learning curve. You really got to get a feel for controlling the wing and that takes time that you don't get on a wave.
I used to eat it so hard with the air chair.
The wing would tip up and you would go flying but you are strapped in.
It seems like you are so high out of the water when you are on the wing.
That seems like how you speed up the learning curve. You really got to get a feel for controlling the wing and that takes time that you don't get on a wave.
I used to eat it so hard with the air chair.
The wing would tip up and you would go flying but you are strapped in.
It seems like you are so high out of the water when you are on the wing.