I thought the directional was bad for hard slams, but the foil has it beat. Speed only makes it worse...!
I know the LF has a couple of guys making wings for it, which they claim are a big step up. And the Zeeko has those other wings, but are eh compatible? Something to buy down the road...
Hi everyone,
I am thinking of buying a second hand foilfish simply because of availability and affordability. Also possibility to upgrade wings etc. I am wondering what size kite i would need. I am hoping to get going in about 10 - 12 knots in warm wind (asia). I am about 100kg. Mostly flat water foiling. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks.
Having learn't to foilboard this season I would suggest that you lower your expectations. Foilboarding certainly lowers your lower limits but 100kg in 10knts of tropical breeze I would suggest is a huge ask, even for a seasoned foilboarder /light wind flyer.
Once your used to the foilboard its comparable to a turbo charged directional with ridiculous upwind capability.
This however does not mitigate the need for enough wind, and the flying skills to completely juice whats available. With the conditions your citing I would suggest a large LW specific kite, but learning to foilboard in those conditions with a foilfish will be a huge challenge.
Bear in mind that while learning and beyond a voluminous board with a large rocker and truncated rails is a huge assistance, and to my mind this is the main downfall with the foilfish rig - the board is not designed as a foiling board and was last minute add on to to enable LF to be the first on the market with a entry level priced foil
Out on my just purchased 15m speed 4 lotus,LF foilfish in 5-10kts this arvo Chelsea beach had a ball??
love lightwind kiteing,flew the 15 on the beach in 0- 5 kts bloody unreal.btw I'm 82 kgs
Thanks for replies everyone. East coast of Philippines is where I will be.
Also, does anyone know where I could get an upgraded set of wings for the Foilfish? I have seen comments about them, that people are making them.
Also, the foilfish appeals to me because I can use the board for kiting waves as well. Any comment on board performance in the surf? Bit of compromise both ways I would imagine. I have only been using my old surfboards until now.
Maybe of interest to those selecting their weapons.
I chose the zeeko alloy before seeing this post below, but it confirms what I had hoped.
The post form Nicholas Callou, the Zeeko man is comparing his alloy and carbon foils.
Clearly the carbon is better but not so much that worries me.. and that better comes at a cost as we all know.
Somewritten in Frenglish :O)
From: kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2391389&start=10.
""
In fact there is a lot of difference between the 2 products:
1- Carbon foil is lighter, then for jump it is better (jumps are warrantied only with speed/jumps wings)
2- Carbon foil can be used with 3 different wings allowing different ride experience (race, freeride or speed and jumps)
3- Carbon foil is faster. Averagely, everything can be done 3 knots faster due to the thinner mast profil. Even if the alloy foil is not only beginner dedicated (I ride it myself and never fell my level decreasing when I ride it) (max speed in standard setting for carbon foils is about 33.5knots when I ride at 30.5knots with the alloy foil).
4- There is no or minimal maintenance with carbon foil. With alloy foil, due to possible corrosion you need to rince it after your ride, and you need to apply t-gel on screws every 2-3 weeks. With carbon, nothing to do. To avoid corrosion, our alloy foil use specific aluminium (this is a way better aluminium than 6061 T6 one) + we use anodisation (most brand do it) + we paint the alloy parts (there is not a lot of branding doing it).
About the difference in feeling, it is very close except the speed. The alloy foil use same profils on wings than the Carbon foil, the DNA origin is the same.
Ride easy
Nicolas
""
Back in business, 2ND mast mandrel arrived, so I turned it into carbon
Pull it out in a few days, make the fuselage and see how strong it is :)
Just learning but getting 100 mtr glides up on the foil. First day on the 19 mtr speed 2, 22 knots in 6-8 knots of wind is nuts. The power generated by the apparent wind on a foil kite really seems to suit the foil board.
Out today in SFA wind with the Speed3 21. The wind sock was barely getting it up to 45 degrees and I knew I was pushing my luck but it was so nice having flat water to work on foot changes. Then the wind dropped, I dropped the kite doing a down loop and had to swim in. Naturally, it was the tack that had me furtherest away from the shore . . .
As a friend said recently (and what we all knew), when light wind foiling there is very little difference between light wind and no wind.
I have stopped using my biggest kite (13m). The extra power is cancelled out by the extra weight of the kite and the difficulty in keeping it in the air in very light conditions. I am keeping an eye on the kite market for a new kite that is light enough to float in the air during lulls, has outstanding light wind relaunch, and doesn't cost a fortune.
Surprised this one is still available, www.seabreeze.com.au/Classifieds/Kitesurfing-Kites/~vt-k5/2010-Flysurfer-Speed-2-Deluxe-15-metre.aspx?search=yxrOHND3sv6FPU3CbHYI!IiZcevG2!3k. I have it in the 19mtr and it works great on a foil in 6 knots, very light weight kite.
Looking at jumping into the foil game. Probably will pick up my kit in a couple months or more. I got my eye set on the aluminum zeeko foil to start off with I reckon. Looking at pairing it with a shinnester foil board or maybe shinn el stubbo. I really want a fun board that will be just as awesome without the foil as with. Do either of this boards look overly difficult to learn on for foiling?
I think they will be fine but double checking before I get my heart set on one of these options. Any other similar recommendations?
Hi Cygnify. I think either of those two board will work - but some observations. The El Stubbo has straps will will make water starting much easier, but the short length is going to be extra challenging when learning. You'll nosedive a lot and a short board is likely to pitch you straight in the water rather than bounce you back up.
The shinnster would be more forgiving with the length, but if it's strapless only then the waterstart process is going to be tricky (initially)
I've been foiling over 12 months now and have a 125cm strapless foil board, and the first few sessions were really challenging compared to what I was used to. Getting the board into place and then keeping it there whilst diving the kite is the main problem. As soon as you let go of the rail, the foil wants to sink and pull the board flat, which gives you nothing to push against when the kite makes power and you get pulled onto the foil in a most unattractive fashion. The trick is to dive the kite with your front hand, whilst holding the rail with the back hand until the power allows you to keep the board in place with your feet. Once up its sweet.
On top of all this, my learning experience was that board volume helps, especially in light wind. My strapless board sinks unless it's moving forward, whereas something with enough volume to keep you afloat gives you some margin for error. I learnt on the LF Foil Fish and that was frustrating as it also sank / nosedived given half a chance. I then bought a proper temavento foilboard which made things much, much easier. Once you are flying, volume is irrelevant of course.
Thanks for the excellent reply jamesperth. I did have a feeling that volume would make things much easier.
Ill definitely be getting straps on whatever board i get. Its just a matter of a small compromise in water-starts then I guess with not much volume. Although I can imagine that in the beginning that is where you are spending most of your time; water-starts.
Something to think about for sure.