WINGFOIL light wind tips for riding and takoff 

Actually it's the opposite to what you described above. You're able to point a few degrees higher upwind when you get a gust, and you need to bear away when the wind drops to incerease the angle of attack and maintain sufficient lift. Listen to what he says at 10:29.

Been thinking of building a foiling camera rig that I can tow along. Would be a pretty cool POV.

Waaat? That would be insane! The RC trimarans do a good job balancing themselves on their foils although they seem to come off pretty often. Circular ring foil for recovery? Probably needs a lot of damping whatever the solution is. If I'm pumping ~10 times on take off it starts feeling like I'm getting stuck, hit a ceiling and almost never takeoff. I'm sure my 6'6" inflatable board doesn't help but I'd be curious about what the early stages of pumping in low wind should feel like on a proper board. What does the progress feel like? Height? Speed? Lighter board?

@@Cufisz I think weight is my friend with the camera platform. A pretty standard foil setup should do the job (4 dihedral surface piercing) as long as they are tuned at the right angle. I’d also want to minimize aerodynamic effects on the hull. It seems like the RC tris need longer, more vertical foils as everything happens so fast on that scale

The pintail let’s me rotate the foil off the water easily without needing to add tail rocker. The wetted area also quickly decreases as you speed up. This tail is definitely a little small, my next board will have a larger tail with less flat bottom.

It really depends on the front wing and wind conditions, when powered up, small span foils do like 50-60° and large span foils can do 35-45° off the wind. The best combo is super wide span and tiny sail in lots of wind.

With the right sail and technique, that foil will fly in less but the high stall speed can make it tricky to takeoff in light wind. I’d recommend a board with similar features to mine- long, skinny, flat bottom, and around 100L. I’d also use a short mast as that can help takeoff too.

As vertical as possible is generally best, I try to endplate the wingtip on the water to reduce drag. Within 6” can shave off up to 50% of induced drag!

@@kanedewilde Wow! I was wondering what term you were using in the video "endplate" I'll look that up. Thanks!

The actual wing efficiency should be better below about half the span down from the surface but mast drag makes a bigger difference than that. The most usable energy in waves is also near the surface so ride as high as possible for the best efficiency. Gybing like that is all about predicting the apparent wind angle. On my toe side gybe, I stay powered all the way around and keep the wing pointed into the apparent wind, on my heel side the wing is facing the wrong way, but positioned to slip sideways or backwards through the apparent wind. Biggest advice is to turn as quickly as possible and come out of the gybe on a reach or higher!

@@kanedewilde thanks so much! And another question: are you timing the sail pumps with the board pumps? I initially tried to coordinate them but I found I had the best luck pumping hard with the wing like you did and simultaneously trying to step the board up out of the water, and increasing the frequency of the sail pumping when the board seems unstuck. The actual getting up technique part is key since it helps you try all the other stuff again!

@@michaellambert8606 you need to coordinate the board pumps with the wing pumps. The idea is to pop the board up then pull on the wing to accelerate the foil through the water which lets you pop higher which lets you accelerate more until you're flying. It will feel wrong if the timing is off. See this ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qRYX77SqfLc.html

@@Cufisz thanks, since writing that comment I happened upon a new-to-me technique: forget about any ollie type board pump, and instead lift both feet simultaneously. It’s easier to coordinate with the sail pumping and the board comes up just the same anyway. My kujira 1440 got me up with less pressure in the sail than I had previously experienced with any combo.

Yes but I’m kind of a roundabout way. A pin tail isn’t a very efficient planing surface but lets me pump off the water without any tail rocker and quickly decrease surface area as the nose rises on takeoff. Main disadvantage is lots of curve in the outline means more drag in the transition to planing and it’s very unstable. Wider tail at the deck and a v bottom would probably be better

Hey! I mostly chose it as a challenge, but it has its advantages especially surfing. I have up to 7m but perfect my 5.2 in light wind because it’s a more efficient sail. I weight 88kg. That 3.6 definitely has more power than it’s stated size, more power than an ozone v2 4m for example. In this wind I would reccomend around 6m and the widest span front wing available

Thanks for your reply Kane. I could talk about this stuff all day 😛 I Come from a boatbuilding sailing and surfing background. Just discovered wing foiling 5 months ago and loving it. I have an Armstrong 80 litre wing sup, and the cf 2400 plus Hs 1850 foils. I’m 73 kg but I can’t get going in under 16 knots with my 4 mtr ozone wasp V1. What is potentially missing in this combo that I can’t get flying. I am considering buying an Armstrong wing and building some foil boards soon 🤙🏼

@@nickbritton8519 wing and board for sure, look at the Armstrong, ensis, duotone slick, or reedin, they all offer much more power than your v1 ozone! Building your own board is awesome, keep the bottom simple and low rocker and no kick out the tail, you’ll be up so much easier. Look at something like the levitaz wing board for inspiration. Hard to say but if you’re coming from the last gen Armstrong board, a new board will probably make a bigger difference than new sail

They’re pretty easy to spot here as long as there isn’t a ton of glare from the water. I’ve hit some and they seem to take it pretty well, of course board size, straps or no straps, speed, and foil make a difference. Beginner foilers move slower, but are more likely to hit one. Good foilers move fast but have the skills to avoid one.

@@kanedewilde thank you for your reply I appreciate that a lot! I hope you didn’t break your foil due to collision.

In this case it also moves the center of lift of the foil closer to the center of buoyancy of the board, meaning I do not have to move as much between floating and foiling. Mast position is extremely important strapless as it also sets your ride height through turns!

Board is about 100L, mast is 75cm, and front wing is 890cm2

@@kanedewilde and what is your weight Kane, please, Aloha

@@FunSeekersorg 195lbs/88kg

Make sure to push the back handle downward using the weight of your arm! The wing still needs to point slightly up

@@kanedewilde Gotcha!! Thanks I'll try it next time... I think I'm not aiming the from edge up enough.

Came back seeing this video again. Great talk during the surf! Why did you choose the 75cm mast here?

Area, span is 850

Good point! I am only going 1psi over the states maximum and also do testing for this brand. The stated pressure should be well within the safe range.

@@kanedewilde Hi,I observed that it depends of cloths wingmakers use,with a heavier cloth less pressure is needed to have the same rigidity feel.I don't know how maximum pressure can be determinated in order to make sure it doesn't damage,but consider that dacron tend to elongate if stretched,so little by little to have the same rigidity you make your leading edge and strut diameter bigger(and more fragile).

Sounds like you’re doing great! 75L and 5m is pretty small for super light wind, lift 170 is perfect. Main advice is practice your wing and board pumping technique to takeoff.

@@kanedewilde thanks! Will do.

88kg

I have a 7m too! Prefer my 3.5 most of the time because of its that light I’ll just surf :)

@@kanedewilde When are you using 7m ? I have 7m also my feeling to much drag when you jibing . Thanks for nice video

Yes!

@@kanedewilde Haha, cool! I thought you might, noticing the name and the writing in your board. I know him from university, back in the old country 😅

Where’s the fun in that ;)