Breakthrough - up and going kitesurfing on a foil board!

Session 456. Breakthrough!  Enough wind on Friday for foil boarding on Lake Weyba. Adam and I met George from Adventure Sports Noosa at 1pm and pumped up our kites.  To launch we dragged our rigged kites out 100m from the shore to where the wind was.

Adam, George and Peter

The drift launch technique was to splash some water onto the wingtip into the wind and let the kite float off downwind until the lines tightened then launch the kite.

The key tips were:

• Use the same kite size you would for a normal session for the wind speed - don't go for a smaller size (when you are more experienced you would use a smaller kite)
• Dive the kite hard downwind and do a water start 
• Keep the board oriented in direction of travel (not downwind)
• Get on the board, keep it flat with your weight forward on the front foot, keep your forward knee bent
• Place your rear foot close to the front foot 
• Twist (rotate) the board upwind, keeping it flat with the nose on the water (avoid going downwind which depowers the kite which may then crash)
• Get used to the forward motion with the board flat on the water - the drag of the water has a braking effect that keeps your speed down 

It was much easier using a "beginner foil" and a short mast - George had 35cm masts on both the foil boards. One was a Cabrinha Double Agent board an foil, the other was a Nobile board with a Naish surf foil.

During my previous attempts at foiling, I had not got comfortable moving with the board flat on the water - the long foil amplifies errors and seems to make the board to weird things such as tripping and pulling you over your toes or porpoising out of the water.

The short mast avoids these problems - it was easy to get the board going flat on the water and if it popped up it was only 35cm.

I was able to get going forwards quite easily, it was a great relief to achieve this without any major crashes and boosted my confidence a lot.

George was using Bluetooth helmet comms but the range was limited to 300 m.  I did some tacks to get further tips.

To get the board riding on its foil the steps were:

• Increase board speed by powering the kite and steering upwind
• Shift your rear foot towards the rear of the board 
• Gradually transfer some weight to the rear foot until the board starts to rise on the foil
• Fine tune your kite power  - too much power will increase your speed rapid, too little power and your board will drop back to the water surface
• Keep steering upwind - you can go much further upwind than you think you can!

To slow down:

• Transfer weight back onto the front foot to get the board board back on the water
• Push your bar out to reduce power from the kite

This was  breakthrough moment similar to the first time I was able to hold ground upwind out an back!

Rising onto the foil the ride becomes incredibly smooth - like a magic carpet ride.

The speed increases on the foil but I didn't need to cut much power from the kite.

The board occassionaly slapped back down onto the water without causing too much concern.

George got me to swap boards with Adam and give him the radio helmet.  The Naish surf foil was faster and easier to get board up out of the water but I found it more difficult to moderate my speed.

The foil wanted to accelerate. I catapulted forwards off it a few times, but it was really nice to cruise on.

I did numerous tacks right across Lake Weyba - its much wider than it looks - over 2km across.  I was feeling confident on the foil, able to get up and going, stay upwind and also slowdown and stop.  I tried toeside riding and some gybes but decided to keep focusing on just riding the foil.

The wind speed eventually increased so I came in. 2 hours on the water and 28km

Really stoked to achieve some distance on the foil board and get up onto the foil.  The lesson and the beginner foil setup were well worth the money.

George said the Cabrinha board and foil are good for learning with a short mast - he has a second has medium size mast that I bought to use for my future efforts - but on checking my board once home I have the old model Double Agent with the mast welded to the fuselage.

After we finished we headed to Castaways to see if a downwinder was on.

Kitesurfing Noosa at the river mouth

Session 455. We tried to do a kitefoil lesson at Castaways Beach with George from Adventure Sports Noosa but there wasn't enough wind for learning. George was able to foil in the surf however.  I did a short run out and back but couldn't stay upwind in less than 10 knots.

George advised that the Noosa River mouth could be kited on an outgoing tide so Adam and I headed there and setup.  The outgoing tide adds a couple of extra knots to the apparent wind speed.

It was good to finally get on the water "at Noosa".  I did some runs across and back, then on a longer run my harness belt unclipped.  I was able to keep kiting and head back to land on the beach and reset my harness belt then get back across.  The beach on North Noosa is only accessible by a car ferry so I was mindful of not getting stranded there.

Heading back I noticed Adam had gone up into the inlet and dropped his kite on a sandbar. His 12m kite and boots were not a good combination in the light wind.

I packed up and was going to render assistance when Adam showed up after self rescuing and floating back down the river.

There were lots of people enjoying the sunset at Noosa.

Noosa kitesurfing - downwinder from Peregian Beach to Castaways Beach

Session 454. We very keen to do a downwinder along the Sunshine Coast so we setup a car shuffle from Peregian Beach to Castaways.  The wind and Peregian was light and the surf was big.  I was dubious about whether we could make it.  Stu Styles and Mike headed off; Stu disappeared into the distance but Mike ended up on the beach.

I decided to go to test the wind for the others.  I got going and was able to get my speed up but the broken waves were constantly pushing me in and I didn't have enough power to make it out the back.

I stayed on the same tack making ground on the flat water between waves then getting washed in by broken ones rolling in.  I had to sine the kite and concentrate, but I made it.  A couple of others followed and made it but several made the good choice to not attempt it.

With better wind the downwinders here would be sensational.

Those returning to Melbourne packed their bags for the flight home and we got a group shot to celebrate the trip.

Adam and I dropped a couple of guys at the airport, said farewell then picked up a smaller car for the next week in Noosa - hoping to get more wind and some good kitesurfing.

Noosa kitesurfing - Sunshine Beach dawn patrol

Session 452. First kitesurfing session of our Noosa trip, a very early start on Saturday morning paid off with some wind at Sunshine Beach.  The Ocean Rodeo Flite 14.5 was great in the light wind conditions with the Nugget board.

Walking to the beach from our apartment was nice too.

There were some good sized waves and getting out through the break was not too difficult.

A whale breached just behind Adam when he was just off the rocks out from the "dog exercise area" of the beach!  

Mike also saw a couple of dolphins leaping out of the water.  

I took it easy and enjoyed the surf - my finger was fine, the nerves and are getting better and the sensation is improving.  

Everyone was keen and happy to get on the water for our first session.