Testing the Dakine half foot strap.
All positive great control , no potential foot injuries.
You can locate the foot strap on the sweet spot with the foil.
Allows your feet to slide towards where you want them without disturbing trim of board.
A bit fragile against impacts..hard plastic.
Can point front straps any direcrion using one insert hole, and rears forward to slide backfoot as needed.
Broke one using it to carry the board..ouch to the rail.
Just got the Slingshot half straps 2 days ago, which are very similar to the Dakine straps. I tried them yesterday for foiling on my slalom board that I had been using without straps. The one in the back was ok, although I did not seem much benefit from it. The one in the front was too far to the back and became a PITA. The stiff half straps are much more of an obstacle that normal strap since they don't move at all and you can't step on them. When I was in the strap, I had control problems because the foot was too far back. I'd have to put in new inserts further to the front, but I don't really see the advantage. I used the same board later in 2-3 ft chop with a 45 cm mast without straps, and did not miss the straps at all.
I'll have give them another try on my freestyle board where the straps are in the correct position, perhaps the assessment will be different then.
I found little difference until a foiling jibe is attempted.
Pulling feet out and placing is very different from sliding feet to desired position.
I've been using the slingshot 1/2 straps in the rear two foot strap positions now for about a year with the open side facing forwards and really like them. Couple things -
-they are way more comfortable and useable with the open side facing the nose of the board
- I covered mine with some old tabou outer covers to make them a lot more comfortable
- slingshot sell small wedge blocks which allow the 1/2 strap to made essentially tighter -works well
Having the 1/2 straps at rear makes it way easier to get your foot in the strap plu move your rear foot a round say when you bare off the wind etc
i tried them in the front positions as well but didn't like it as much as didn't get that locked in feeling. Few pictures below to illustrate
Foiling jibes, my backfoot is fine getting out and across to initiate.
My dumb FRONT foot steps out all over the place, causing inconsistent wobbles and rail dips..
Good jiber I know uses front half straps facing back to aid in smoothness sliding out.
I got to try the forward-facing half strap in the rear on my slalom board yesterday. I liked it, but since it needs 2 screw holes, it does not allow for moving the strap all the way back. I ended up having to move the front foot back a bit to compensate, but that worked just fine. The stance was a bit narrower than usual, but that might have helped keeping the flight a bit steadier. With the 90 cm mast, having the back foot more to the outside was no problem. It could be more of an issue when using a shorter mast for a low-tide session.
Has anyone tried 2 full straps in front and 2 half straps in back? In regular windsurfing, it's always easier putting the front foot in first, but the back foot misses the strap sometimes on first attempt and I have to retry again and then foot goes in. More of an issue for back foot finding strap when gusty winds are present, or when over powered. Curious if having a half strap in the back on my foil board would solve this problem. I was thinking regular straps in front to reduce tripping over them. Full foot straps in front seem less of an obstacle than half straps in front. Half staps in back don't seem as much of an obstacle because they are back farther away from most of the foot work maneuvering.
Guess it depends what your particular problem happens to be.
For me, the problem is smoothly getting OUT of the front strap in the middle of the foiling jibe. A half strap facing back is what 2 of the local jibe masters use.
I already posted somewhere that I took out the whole bottom window of my sail with a Slingshot half strap in the rear position by pulling the sail over it to uphaul. Just a word of caution. And I didn't like it as a substitute for a foot-strap to begin with....
MR, if I step forward with both feet on foil, my board would come crashing down to the water. But try and see.
Very nice, clean looking gybes! Looking like there's not much room for error. How much wiggle room I have to play with before I notice the board behaving in a different fashion, I will have to experiment with. Perhaps riding strapless may work. There for, I have more room to scooch my feet around more freely. Have to find the sweet spot if I go strapless and then put some markers on the deck for idea foot placement. This all looks so exciting and I'm up for the challenge to conquer wind Foiling!
I appreciate all the details. Just enjoying reading about all of your experiences on the water, until I can get out and have a go at it. Have fun!!
Easy to see why you have problems with jibing in the straps. You keep tons of power in the sail, and your feet are pointing very sideways. If you had your knees and toes pointing much more forward, and sheet in fully or oversheet, you'd have a lot less stress on your knees and a better jibe.
In my 36 years of windsurfing in the San Francisco Bay, the best and most consistent full planing lay down jiber I've seen also stepped out of both straps while entering a full speed jibe.
My g/f for the past 9 years does this on her own, and makes an average of 95% of her jibes.