Beginner Wing Foil Spots in the San Francisco Bay Area
Here are the main beginner wing foil spots that I go to, the reasons I go are smooth water and enclosed safe area. Easy parking and launching, and also other wing or wind sport enthusiasts to ask for help. These spots were crucial for me to learn the fundamentals and basic skills, and I go back here when wanting to learn a new move or testing new gear.
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For several years now I have been searching for a foil that can do high speed tight carves without crashing while feeling in control. This week I found such a foil. I have been testing several foils in this size and style, all good and all with at least one caveat. So here is a quick write up of what foil I am in love with and why. Also details on my Axis to F-one setup.
This is a video ride report on my first half dozen sessions surfing a high aspect foil wing. I talk about the benefits and challenges of riding a high aspect foil wing, and the similarities and differences with a low aspect wing of similar surface area. For me the focus is on the shape or ride feeling of the wing regardless of brand or who designs the wing. I find this most useful when deciding what wing to buy or what conditions are a good match for which wing. In this video I am riding Axis 900 and 1000 foil wings with the 420 tail (
Once 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.
Foil 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.
A 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.
