Thanks for posting, I feel better now about my windfoiling, love the sound effects!

I started foiling in 2019: I got the Slingshot Dialer 130 board with an fwind1 foil at 35". My first session was just like this. It was too windy and I didn't know how to trim the foil. I promptly ordered the Foil Academy and only used the 12" foil mast for the rest of the summer. In 2020, I started using the 24" mast and actually flew up out of the water with no feet in the foot-straps. Then I upgraded the small blue front wing for an Infinity 84. Went up to the 30" mast in 2021. This summer, I foiled exclusively in 10-25 mph on the 30" mast with sails from 4.5 to 7.5 in both straps. I have made 5 or 6 foiling jibes and plan to make even more now that I have the new Duotone F pace 6.4.

@whynowind

Жыл бұрын

Cool. Thanks for sharing how you did it.

Thanks for sharing a realistic video! I was sick of "first session videos" where they take off like nothing.

@whynowind

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you. Yes, first time was a challenge but I later discovered that I wasn’t on a beginner foil. With a more forgiving foil, beginnings should be less frustrating that this video is showing.

This was very enjoyable, the realism is fantastic. I've never done foiling but I know enough that there is always a learning curve. Great video.

@whynowind

Жыл бұрын

Thanks. Glad you liked it.

Quite hilarious! 🔥

This is the best soundtrack I've heard on a windsurfing video :)))) LOL

I’m on 3rd session in the foil Thanks for sharing makes me feel good and nice job

@whynowind

9 ай бұрын

Glad it helped.

What I learned on my very similar first time foiling (nearly broke my foot!) that if you can waterstart and get planing easily - your sail is way too big and you'll be in trouble. Like the music and sound effects in the beginning. Keep ripping

@whynowind

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your notes. Agree: The sail I was given was way too big for the conditions. But at least I got what I was looking for: understand how the foil behaves and having a first reference point for the following sessions on other types of gear.

Great work guys!

So glad I just watched your video, I was out 2 days ago and was just like you...in fact worse! I was ready to sell my kit but I may keep persevering. Love the gun shot on attempt 6 - Brilliant!

Hahaha😂 great to see this. Exactly my experience too. The flips and flops are for sure part of all this. Don’t be afraid to be catapulted or thrown over. It will come over time but you need to get through. Thanks for sharing the raw side of first flights

@whynowind

4 ай бұрын

Thank you. Yes, the initial journey is a bit rough and unsettling indeed!

Super ce petit air de java à l'accordéon!

@whynowind

4 ай бұрын

Haha! In petit air de bal musette fait toujours sourire!

It s so gold 😍 Today after my first time trying and crashing, even breaking the front of my new board i was so upset, until i saw this video with all the sound effect and the same shaking board i laughed out loud 😂😂 Realy made my day ❤️😌

@whynowind

2 жыл бұрын

Cool! Glad it helped! I walked away when I was too frustrated. Taking it as a personal challenge rather than an obstacle has helped me too. Keep at it! You'll overcome and enjoy it soon! Cheers

I feel you... Exactly my current experience

I watched this before and after my first foil sessions. After having actually foiled now, I can relate to this video very much! I've certainly done a lot of crashing and uphauling and I still do! I noticed that you are using the harness while on the foil. I never do that for fear of being catapulted and smashing the nose of my brand new foiling board. I put a pad on the nose of my board, but I still don't want to take any chances. I can get up on the foil ok and even fly for maybe 10 or 15 seconds but the board often rounds up into the wind suddenly, forcing me off the foil and sometimes into the water. It's tricky! The foil seems to have a mind of its own.

@whynowind

3 жыл бұрын

Glad to hear you have given foiling a shot! After a couple of seasons of foiling, I can add a few things that might help you progress faster. Maybe you've already heard this before: 1 - If you foil on a freeride board, your stance on the board has to be quite upright over the board. Balancing the foil while flying is acquired by distributing your weight between the front and back foot. This requires almost constant tiny adjustments that initially are difficult to gauge. I actually think that foiling with success as a beginner is all about mastering bodyweight distribution front to back. If you come from windsurfing on a fin, you'll need to be way-more gentle with your foot pressure: In fact, any sudden changes will have a reaction that is hard to control. 2 - As far as going upwind, I suspect that you might try to lean back too much and/or you might put too much lateral pressure on your back foot which tends to make the foil climb upwind. 3 - Initially, I used oversized sails. It's usually not recommended, but it prevented me from having to pump, thus removing one thing from the equation. This let me experience more fight time as creating lift on the foil was faster/easier. But this came at a cost since I had to constantly depower to keep the rig under control once up on the foil. This is not something that you want to do for too long. At least this setup kept me with a smile and fewer frustrations initially. Then I switched to smaller size sails on a regular basis and learn how to pump on a foil. 4 - This leads to my last point: Pumping the foil is achieved by applying downward pressure on the back foot. Pumping on a fin is achieved by putting side pressure on the back foot. That's a big difference and one that took me a few sessions to realize. But once I got the idea, everything became easier. On the video, I was provided with a rental kit that wasn't made for learning (especially the foil) and the sail was way too big for the conditions. To keep going for a couple of hours, I had to hook and rest my arms a bit... Staying unhooked initially is not a bad idea so the bailout is less scary. Though, I highly suggest you keep a firm grip on the boom when you crash so you stay as far away from the foil as you can! Good luck!

thanks for sharing the truth, i'l get my very first foil (second hand) tomorrow, then, I know what will happen, I'm prepared !!

@whynowind

4 ай бұрын

Hope it when well. I would think that a year after, you either must have mastered windfoiling, right?

i can relate so much, it's like seeing my self the first time. good job tho

Excellent with your sound effects ! 👍

I love this video. It shows the struggle. I'm thinking about getting into windfoiling. Sick of these first time foiling videos by pros.

@whynowind

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Eddy. If this helps in anyway with your decision: Windfoiling has been an awesome way to get out on the water more often during light wind days. I have to admit it was very exiting initially because any progress is a win and gets you pumped up! It’s now been 3 years since I windfoil and it has slowly became a bit boring to me probably because I’m still riding the foil I learned on. My advice: buy a foil that can be upgraded with different wings for different conditions and skill levels. This will help you stay stoked with the sport.

@eddysadventures1964

2 жыл бұрын

@@whynowind Good advice. Thx!

Gracias divertido

Well done! How did you stop the board from rolling/ railing to leeward?

@whynowind

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks. To be frank, I don't really remember how I managed a few seconds of flights on the video. This was a while ago. However, here are a few related piece of advice you might find useful. In general, you need to "forget" what you learned when windsurfing on a fin: 1- Don't put lateral pressure with your back foot (only downward pressure when you are about to take off, you are pumping or need to level up the foil) 2- Make sure the front wing of the foil is situated between your front and back feet (use a foil that is designed for windfoiling or can allow some adjustments - i.e. Slingshot with their A/B/C fuselage options). 3- Stand more vertical over the board (at least initially; then later, a bit of lean on the harness depending on the type of gear you are flying) 4- Use gentle forward and back transfer of your body weight to keep the flight leveled. If the foil tends to want to breach out too easily as you gain speed, move your mast foot forward. 5- If you use your harness lines, move them about one or two hand-width forward. 6- Avoid being severely overpowered or underpowered - better to re-rig if you need to pump to much or if you need to constantly depower with your back hand. 7- Initially, a bit of power in the sail will let you experience a flight without putting a lot of effort in pumping the sail and board. This will help you focus on one thing at a time and will deliver some early rewarding flights! 8- After you managed a few successful flights of a few 100 yards or more, think of using your footstraps (keep them loose for safety) - it helped me locking my stance and made my flights more stable and easier to control. 9- Keep looking forward and get use to gauging flight height. 10- I highly recommend using a tall 90cm foil mast right from the begining - short mast will increase crashes as the foil will breach the water surface more frequently/easily in the begining - this will prevent some frustrations and a few cursing moments. 11- When you crash, keep holding your boom - this is the safest way to keep your limbs away from the foil. 12- I would avoid waterstarting on a foil in the beginning. If you can waterstart while riding the foil, you are likely riding too big of a sail. I've done it to avoid having to pump but as you are waterstarting, avoid kicking with your legs in the water - some wings are so sharp that it will cut skin right through the wetsuit... 13- Once you get some success, practice pupimg the board and sail with a smaller rig. This will make you a more efficient sailor! Remember that pumping a foil is different than pumping a board on a fin. There are plenty of video showing how out there. The main difference: Pumping pressure on the board with the back foot must be vertical when on a foil. Those you tell you that you will be able to fly in 6kn of wind, are not necessarily honest. They usualy are very efficient sailors with equippment that most freeriders won't touch. I'm now fairly efficent on my Slingshot Hover Glide V3 with 76cm wing but I cannot fly in less than 8-9kn and need gusts around 11kn with my 7.0 sail (I'm 190lbs). I also found that using a larger sail to fly in lighter wind isn't either practical or fun: there is a diminishing return on the effort above a 7.0 sail for me. I used my 8.5 before and found that I could fly sooner on the 7.0 or 6.0 with less effort (lighter rig = faster pumping = more velocity). Good luck!

@esotericwoodworks

10 ай бұрын

This is the information I've been looking for thank you so much

@jk-ol3zk

10 ай бұрын

@@whynowindAwesome! Excellent detailed info. Appreciate your time and valuable insight. Happy foiling!

How did you stop the board from rolling to leeward?

@whynowind

4 ай бұрын

Not sur my answer 2 years later is meaningful: contrary to fin windsurfing, you have to remain fairly on top of the board during the initial learning phase. If you start putting lots of pressure on the rails, the foil will react quickly. During flight, the foil is very sensitive to foot pressure and weight distribution. It is critical to be a lot more gentle with that than riding on the fin.

I Just purchased a foil.....crapping it ..haha

The foil is definitely not for a first-timer. It needs speed and good control. You would start foiling on the first session if you got a slower bigger foil like Slingshot Infinity.

@whynowind

3 жыл бұрын

Definitely. That was all they had for me back then (18 months ago!). For those starting windfoiling, Slingshot recommended to use shorter mast so it's not so "scary" during crashes. I would highly advise against this. A short mast will significantly impede progress as it is harder to prevent it from breaching, a leading cause for crashes. With a tall foil mast, you loose a bit in lateral stability but you gain in vertical forgiveness. My experience told me that lateral instability is easier to control than vertical movements in choppy or moderate swell conditions (where my home spot is). The day I switched to a 90cm mast, my flight control improved enormously, to the point that crashing became the exception rather than the rule! It's also my experience that breaching from a 90cm mast rather than a 60cm or 70 cm mast is easier to regain control from. Too long to explain here but definitely noticeable.

@benbhand

2 жыл бұрын

@@whynowind Great advice, thank you! I'm not ready for my 85cm mast my Gong came with, but definitely don't feel like wasting time with the Slingshot "Taxi" mast lol

how big is this board?

@whynowind

3 жыл бұрын

Don't know exactly. My guess is around 140l.