How to Downwind SUP Foil without Wind
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This is video from a 4 mile downwind run from Hendry's Beach to Santa Barbara Harbor with almost no wind. There was a tiny bit of swell, but not much.
For context, I have been practicing wing foiling and downwind sup foiling now for over a year, but still find it very difficult, especially in light conditions like this. In better conditions it is glorious fun, but even when it is like this, I still find it really enjoyable and great exercise.
Equipment used: Axis 1150 (about 1700 sqcm surface area), 82 cm aluminum 19mm, Progressive 425 rear wing, the 6'1'' Kalama E3 Performance Downwind board (6'1'', long, 23'' wide, 105 liters), a ZRE paddle (Blade Width 8.75' and 115sq inch surface area).
In this video, I weighed about 80 kg (176 pounds).
And here's a transcript, if you don't want to listen to the entire thing:
What you see here are pretty typical conditions for us here in Santa Barbara: Very light winds and a tiny bit of swell.
With a bit of patience, there will be a bump that allows for reliable take-off, but after the take-off I almost always find myself in a difficult spot, just behind a wave, that does not allow for an easy glide, so I have to continue paddling and pumping to maneuver myself into a better position. This take-off worked better than most others.
Once I am up on a swell, the challenge is to a) keep up with it, because the swells often travel a bit faster than I can go on my Axis 1150 front wing and b) find the next wave before the one I am on disappears.
Sometimes I try to jump ahead to a swell developing in front of me, but that does not always work well.
Most of the time I try cutting to the side to find another swell.
But in these light conditions, I often find it hard to spot any swell that's usable at all.
This video is from a 4 mile trip from Hendry's Beach to the Santa Barbara Harbor. On a good windy day - which this was not - I can do the trip coming off the foil only once or twice. On a day like this, I come of the foil 10 to 15 times, with each ride about 1 to 4 minutes long.
I have practiced flat water starts extensively and can do them reliably, so getting up on foil even in these marginal conditions is not hard anymore, but sometimes I have to wait a minute or two for the right bump.
Sometimes when I am stuck and need to go over a swell in front of me, I find it easier to take a few quick paddle strokes as opposed to just pumping.
Now I can't see anything in front of me that's rideable so I am turning right to find a swell, but coudn't manage it this time.
Пікірлер: 10
Aloha Dorian. Way to go! Looks super rad.
@tester9287
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Thank you, Jeremy!
Way to go Dorian Great video! Thanks
@tester9287
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Glad you enjoyed it. Thank you!
Props Dorian, doing well on a 1700cm2 front wing! Those bumps look tiny. I've just bought a GoFoil GT1770 so it's good to see that size being put to good use in small bumps 👍👍
@tester9287
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Thank you, Pat! Yes, it seems like a good size foil for this size swell. I have ordered a Axis 1310, which is a bit bigger, and I look forward to trying out that one when it arrives.
Awesome!! Super marginal and killing it! Where does your paddle reach to on your body? I’m getting a sore shoulder, thinking about getting a shorter paddle.
@tester9287
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My paddle reaches exactly to the top of my head. I.e. it is exactly as tall as I am. I would probably have preferred to go about two or three inches shorter, but that's the paddle I have now and it works well. I definitely wouldn't want to go any longer than that. Also, once I am up on foil, I find the the current length of my paddle is more than long enough to paddle while up on the foil.
Hi Dorian Thanx a lot for you always explicit comments. It is very useful and helpful. I also have a kalama e3 but 5.10 and 22.5 wide. I also use the 1150 either with The aluminum mast or the first carbon mast. I weigh 70 kgs but still find it so hard to pop up and then pursue my effort as I am completely exhausted. I have to complete flat water I think to make it easier. What is the position of your maston the board? All the way front? Tanx
@tester9287
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Hi Yannick, The 1150 is very hard to get going in completely flat water, I find. For comparison, I can paddle the Gofoil Maliko 280 up in flat water 30 times in a row, without fail. When I try the 1150 (with the 82 CM 19MM aluminum mast) I am successful less than half the time, and I can do it only a few times before I am exhausted. With that said, the 1150 is my go to even in small conditions (like in this video). So if there is even a tiny bit of wave action, the 1150 is perfectly easy to paddle up and I don't need a bigger foil to reliably paddle up in even light downwind conditions. And yes, even though it sounds paradoxical, I find it a lot easier to learn to paddle up in flat water than to learn it in downwind conditions. In downwind conditions, you only get one attempt every so often because you need to wait for the right wave and have to time your strokes exactly to the wave. In addition, once you're up in the waves, you are usually in the wrong spot and need to keep paddling to maneuver yourself into a better position. I found it too hard to manage all this at the same time. So it was a lot easier for me to just concentrate on getting up in the flat first. But with that said, you would benefit from a bigger foil in the flat. In the Axis line up the BSC 1120 is a good choice. I find it a tiny bit harder to paddle up than the Maliko 280, but much easier than the 1150. My mast is positioned a bit forward from the middle, but not all the way forward. I experimented quite a bit with the mast position, but I couldn't really tell much of a difference. The foot position seemed more important - the two of them are related, of course.