Nice update, glad you experimented with foil positions, it doesn't take much sometimes to make a good session into an epic session and it may take little as 1cm forward or aft.
So my jack plate for my deep Tuttle Box in my Starboard FoilX 145 arrived a couple of weeks ago. I've installed it, and moved the mast location forward for my SS Hoverglide i99 about 2 cm. I was only able to go out once for a very short session. Between work and lousy wind I've not had any opportunities, but I'm optimistic about this afternoon.
Someone in another thread mentioned that new gear might improve your performance only about 10%; what matters most is time on the water. I think he's right: I'm just hankering for more TOW.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Been spending a lot of time on fins or race foil lately but ended up going out for a session this morning.
I put the back straps in the back most position, with the fronts left in the center holes. This widened my stance and helped a lot when pumping/sailing out of straps. Also, it left the rear straps as a great cue for where to put my back foot when moving it to jibe. I think I'll leave them here, I was leaving them off before and was missing a good cue. I used them when going harder upwind and every now and then otherwise.
I had a 5.6 and could've easily used a 5.0. There were times in gusts that I felt very overpowered. I ended up adding downhaul, outhaul, lowering my boom, and then for the first time putting my mast base pretty far forward. This is the first time I had tried moving it forward, the other times just leaving it centered. It really helped tame the gusts and made me a lot more comfortable with the level of overpower without having to change rigs.
My jibes are looking better. I still need to work on them but this is after not having ridden this setup in ?? they are looking a lot better. Feeling a lot more relaxed on entry and flip but on the exit I have some issues. I had more footage out more in the open bay but I'm having problems with my 360 gopro. I think it's on its last legs and stops randomly or fails during a session. I really wanted to see that footage but
I have heard the battery life on the insta 360 is better than GoPro Max. I basically get 50-60 min on my max per charge.
Such a perfect morning - thank goodness for good 4/3 rubber! So nice to have enough wind that we didn't have to worry about backwinding in jibes and such! I think I need a longer mast. If I enter the jibe high enough to finish clean on that 80cm I feel like I'm on the hairy edge of breaching the whole time. Made a few anyway. Tillo says he'll be on the lookout for a used 97 mast for me...
I thought you looked really comfortable on that compact X-Foil setup.The two times I've tried them I couldn't get the X-Foil to feel right at all but my own Alien/Taaroa combination felt very nice. 1250 front wing and minimal lift from the stabilizer so I never really felt overpowered on that 5.7 Sailworks. That sail LOVES downhaul.
Too much work to get out this morning but the Bay was frothy - I hope you got some rides.
I am pretty sure the 103 mast will avoid finding the bottom at the north side of the Dunedin Causeway, even at low tide. I have foiled there now for several years with a 90 cm mast. When I fall, I check for bottom with my feet but can never touch it. Also, I have taken a boat there with a fish finder. The bottom is never less than about 6 feet anywhere in that big rectangle between the Causeway and the boat channel and along the length of the Causeway. It's my favorite spot for NW to E winds. Plan to be alone there most of the time. Other than 3 locals, nobody knows about it.
Quick little update on trim. Today was up and down and so I had a 5.6 freek and 7.0 foil glide rigged. Ended up using them twice.
I noticed that when I wasn't totally overpowered, that the nose dived when taking my foot out of the rear strap to set up for a jibe. When I first rigged when I got there, I had set up the foil glide 7.0 with the base about 1.5-2cm from the center because last time I used a sail 7 or 8 on that board it felt cramped to me with the compact geometry.
Well, as soon as I bumped the mast base back to the marked center it stopped diving when I took my foot out of the rear strap.
So, I think I have it set up right:
Jack plate with the 2nd most forward position with the aluminum base as far forward as it will go on that. Rear straps in the aft most holes. Front straps in the center holes, both inboard.
With that set up I can pump to foil either with my rear foot out and immediately in front of the rear strap or in it. In it is a little easier. Flying out of the foot strap with the foot just riding the front of either of them feels good, and can track pretty high upwind out of the rear strap if I try to extend and get closer to a 7.
I've been winging the 926 and it really is a very nice foil. Very harmonious in pitch and roll, everything feels logical. I've had other foils which I've used have had less roll stability than pitch which can be a little unsettling.
Has good initial stability then cranks a turn very nicely. Breaches are fairly benign, I haven't tried purposefully pulling a tip out but I think it will be possible without drama based on the way it feels.
I'd like to see what it can do with a more slippery tail, possibly do some shimming.
926 wing .what wind speed can I expect to get up on foil with. 5.7m wave sail .say with a pump or two of rig ?
wizard 130 .I am 180lbs if that matters .
Was expecting stronger wind due to reports on the ground but by the time I showed up only foilers were still out today.
I ran the 72cm mast so that I could stay on the inside at high tide. Longest session I've had with the 72cm. This wing really doesn't want to rise and foil out. Only had foil outs when going on the outside and jibing in around .5-1ft windswell.
Downside of that mast was that I was spinning out more than normal. Not sure if mast was the issue or just the weeds, as I was also grabbing those, but I think the mast was contributing.
Regardless, in flat water the 72cm mast is totally doable. Jibes are a bit trickier though.
Also I've been running the foilx with outboard straps with one extra hole wide spread from rear to front foot. I like the extra power and feel like upwind is more stable and higher angle. Felt like I could get in a much better sheeted angle hiked out in a 7 with hands right on the harness lines.
Today was a Blade 6.7, which I haven't foiled with much. Had it at extra 2cm on extension to make the power a little higher, 1cm extra outhaul, and tightened the leech so that it was only loose on the last 1/3-1/2 of the top batten. Usually giving it full downhaul it's about 2/3 there. I think the foilglide 7.0 would have been better but I was expecting to fin with foiling as a backup today. Took a measurement right after I flew back at the end of the session and it was 8-11kts but who knows how accurate that was. I was pumping a decent amount to get going but felt good power once so. Other foilers were a very skilled 135lb lightweight with a 5.6 and a learner with I think an 8.5 and occasionally flying but only passive flying without pumping.
Finally had some completely clean and dry foil jibes, and a bunch of jibes just touching after the sail flip.
Foilx 145, ptm 926, FG 7.0.
Only thing I changed was AGGRESSIVELY and EARLY, more so than seemed reasonable, going for the new front strap. Was going into it somewhere before dead downwind and I felt it stabilize everything, making the carve and flip much much easier before turning back hard upwind. The flip felt a lot more like a slogging jibe flip, except totally free of the water. I had much much better height control instead of waiting longer in the old front. Saved some ugly flips and kept going. Kept up with a couple of the better freeride foilers here, timing my jibes with them and staying upwind so wouldn't crash into them.
Felt soooo good to have a few reaches of clean jibes before eventually biffing one. Took a screen capture of the gps track in one case, where I jibed to stay with someone downwind of me (I think? it's hard to tell without onboard video).
GulfWinds set up a camera on a pole in the water and got the pic below. I only got a couple of jibes around it as I had been on the water about 3 hours before then and I was cramping up bad. You can see my feet in mid shuffle to get to the new strap. Some jibes I went straight in, others I shuffled like this. Once I get more practice I can tell I could probably get straight in without looking. I wasn't looking at my feet a lot. I did miss a few times, and get hung up on the centerline with an awkward sail position.
Looking forward to a race foil session as I find the jibes on that more stable and easier, and more consistent.