We decided to try some foil board training getting towed behind a boat to get used to the foil board without having to worry about a kite.
I was interested to see if this would accelerate learning. The water is flat and there is no kite to control so the focus is on the foil board.
The drill was to keep weight on the front foot and weight forward and get the board planing on the water. The theory seems simple, putting it into action is much harder . . .
Here is a video of the action. This was the first time on a foil board for Stuart, James, Cameron and Grant. I wasn't able to participate due to my hamstring injury.
There was general agreement that it is hard to do!
Some learnings:
I was interested to see if this would accelerate learning. The water is flat and there is no kite to control so the focus is on the foil board.
The drill was to keep weight on the front foot and weight forward and get the board planing on the water. The theory seems simple, putting it into action is much harder . . .
Here is a video of the action. This was the first time on a foil board for Stuart, James, Cameron and Grant. I wasn't able to participate due to my hamstring injury.
There was general agreement that it is hard to do!
Some learnings:
- Watching the video, its apparent that getting forward on the foil board is difficult when getting towed.
- Moving the rear foot out of thin in front of the rear foot strap might help
- Ivan tells me that they use a SUP with a foil when doing tow practice behind a jet ski - no water start is required and moving weight around on the board is easier without footstraps
First off, I was in Melbourne last month and pulled off some epic unwinders from Frankston to Rickets Point on foil and more.
ReplyDeleteLearning to foil is now much easier if you employ the short, medium, and long mast approach starting with a short mast and learning to ride the board flat on the water upwind first before progressing to the medium and long mast.
The short mast allows you to recover quickly when you pop the nose up without falling off and having to reset/water start again.
Starting with the long mast will have each individual anywhere from 8-20 hours of riding with the good chance of hurting yourself... Much easier and safer to start with a short mast.
Dwayne, that is helpful advice, thanks. I will try a shorter mast when I am back on the water - which could be a while depending on how my torn hamstring ligament heals.
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