Below is a video of one of my buddies learning to foil. It pretty much sums up everything I experienced the 1st 2 days.
Day 1, February 16th:I felt like a total newb. I could hardly water start the foil board, nonetheless try to ride it in a straight line. I wiped out dozens of times just going out a few hundred feet past Anita Rock and back- which took me almost 30 minutes. It felt like trying to ice skate with roller skates.
How is this even possible, I thought to myself.
For the most part, I tried to ride bow down so as not to foil and learn some control but the foil is super sketchy in displacement mode. The early season gusty winds didn't help much either was I was either left op'ed or left floundering with a 9.0 kite.
I face planted into the board, catapulted over the side, tumbled off the back, and crashed to both leeward and windward- all in epic fashion. The most terrifying- when the board came foiling towards me after having jumped off. At least one of us got to foil.
I made it back in without killing myself, anyone else or getting rescued!
Foil board 1: Steve 0
Day 2, February 20th: Waterlogged, exhausted but not yet defeated. I got a serious beat down today getting chucked off the board multiple times at full foiling height. I wasn't trying to foil but the board just jumps out of the water once you reach a certain speed and tends to leave the unprepared behind. I spent most of my time in the water- trying to waterstart the board flat. Little did I know, if you turn it on its side, you pop right up. By trial and mostly error, I'll eventually get it but this is really going to hurt.
Foil board 2: Steve 0
Day 2.5, February 22: I get a little bit too ahead of myself and try to go out when there's not enough wind. My kite doesn't even stay in the sky and I never make it off the beach. My kite still ends up a sandy and wet mess washing up in the shorebreak and I spend the rest of the afternoon untangling my lines as the wind finally comes up.
Day 3, February 24: Everything got very quiet and before I knew it, I was foiling. There was no sound as the board lifted off from the water. In all my years of sailing and windsurfing, Id never felt anything like it. I leaned forward to control the pitch and rode what seemed liked minutes but was actually seconds before coming crashing down. The multiple beat downs I was experiencing were taking their toll but it all seemed worth it for that brief 5 second introductory ride I managed to get.
Foil board 2: Steve 1
Day 4, February 25th: I managed multiple lift offs and foiling rides today. I'm not extually sure how it all went down but if you go fast enough, and keep the board flat, the magic happens. I close my eyes and squeeze my butt expecting for the the worst, but for a moment-its like floating on your own personal cloud. The steady 15k westerly gave me a great base to work with on my 11.0 kite.
I felt much better riding the board bow down going both upwind and downwind- giving me some added confidence.
Gybing or tacking aren't even in the picture yet. To transition, I put the kite at 12.0 and jump off and turn the board manually through the wind.
Foil board 2: Steve 2
Day 4.5, February 26th: First self rescue on the foil. To be fair, I'm not counting this one as I spend more time trying to swim the board and kite in after I realized I was not going to make it back to Crissy where I launched from in the flood tide. I barely make it to last chance beach and make the walk of shame home. The backsides of my knees are blistered from the awkard 30 minutes of swimming.
Day 5, March 1st: That moment I knew I was hooked on windsurfing some 25 years ago. Yea, it's happening again with foiling. It was a perfect day- A steady 15k breeze and a flood tide. I got multiple controlled lift offs after having learned to 'ollie' the board up and out of the water. It's something I wasn't doing in previous sessions and made the lift off much easier and predicable. The feeling of foiling is unlike anything else I've ever done before and I manage to ride the board controlled at full height for several 10-20 second rides at a time. I get going scary fast and know it wont end well as I explode into a god-awful mess.
I get up and try it again with a grin on my face.
This just might be the best thing that ever happened to me.
Total score after 5 days of foiling-
Foil board 2: Steve 3.
I think Im going to stick with this.
2 comments:
Dang! Learning a new trick shows you ain't no old dog.
glad to hear you've committed and now hooked on the foil! see you in the sky!
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