Wing Foil Knee Starts – How to Stand up and Fly

Knee StartsOnce I progressed and moved down to a smaller wing foil board I needed to learn how to knee start.  In this video series I show and explain how to go from kneeling to flying, on both low aspect foil wings and high aspect foil wings.  The windier it is usually the rougher the water is and the harder it is to stand up.  The first four videos are with a high aspect wing at different locations around the San Francisco Bay in 12 to 40mph winds.  The fifth video shows my beginner setup: giant board, foil, and wing and how I bypassed the knee start on such stable and easy to fly gear.  The sixth video shows how I moved down to a smaller low aspect foil, boards, and wing and explains how I did both standing and knee starts.  Both heel side and toe side starts are shown and explained in close up detail so you can see what my feet, hands, and body are doing to stay balanced and get flying.
Video 1 = 12:03
Video 2 = 11:57
Video 3 = 15:14
Video 4 = 18:31
Video 5 = 14:55
Video 6 = 10:42

Foil - One Time Membership Required

You must be a Foil - One Time member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here

Read more

Foil Mast Height – Lean Over – Calculator

Foil Mast Height CalculatorFoil wings of the same shape often come in two or three different sizes, and each larger size is usually several inches wider.  I created a vector graphics file to allow me to calculate mast height for each wing size AND keep the lean over angle the same.  As an example I have two F4 surf wings size 1250 (27.5" span) and 1700 (33.5" span), when using the same 28" mast on the larger wing I need to ease up on my turns to keep the tips in the water.  So I want a taller mast that will allow me to lean over by the same degree and carve the same tight turns.  This vector graphics file showed me how tall the mast needs to be to do the same turns.

Here is the file in both Adobe Illustrator (AI) and SVG format:

To use this file you will need to know how to use Adobe Illustrator or similar vector graphics software.

Foil - One Time Membership Required

You must be a Foil - One Time member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here

Read more

Life is Good

Life is GoodLife is Good.

First swell we have scored The Beach this season, clear blue water, light offshore winds, fun swell, and good friends.

Sun, pelicans, dolphins, surfers, all enjoying a day at the beach.

Here is the video from these 2 days of swell (YouTube preview):
Video Length - 2:34

Foil - One Time Membership Required

You must be a Foil - One Time member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here

Read more

DIY Foil Mast Height Extension – Easy and Cheap Longer Mast

DIY Foil Mast ExtensionA simple, easy, and cheap ($20) to make foil mast extension.  Allowed me to lengthen my carbon mast giving me more height clearance and tighter turning ability.  Carbon masts are expensive and often only available in one or two fixed lengths.  Custom carbon masts are also expensive and even more so if I were to guess wrong on the length.  So my goal here is to get the extra length I need to do tighter turns, and figure out what length mast is the sweet spot for me.  As in long enough to do the turns I want without being so long that it's hard to ride.

First video is the how to video showing and explaining how I made the mast extension, and the second video is a ride video and report (YouTube Ride Report). In the third video I made a taller extension and give a ride report. In the fourth video I tested the bigger wing and extension at one of my favorite foil spots, and tested the smaller wing and extension in some really challenging conditions:
Video 1 = 2:46
Video 2 = 1:46
Video 3 = 5:12
Video 4 = 4:08

Foil - One Time Membership Required

You must be a Foil - One Time member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here

Read more