Wake foiling Foiling

[Gbracer]

any body tried it like it hate it? am looking in t buying a board for next season not sure what to buy rookie at surfing then thiis comes along yikes

[greggmck]

I've tried it. It's fun and challenging. I decided to stick to surfing after I thought about what that sharp aluminum mast or foil might do to my arm or leg in a hard fall....

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[robertsmcfarland]

been foiling behind boat now for about four years .we throw it in after wake boarding and surfing, every body loves it, its a whole new game changer on balance,been practicing on second wave, same speed 10.7

[bturner]

I've heard the falls can be a bit dangerous and a helmet should be considered an essential item for the beginner. Also heard about the possibility of getting caught up in the foil as well. All this is hear say as I haven't even seen anyone trying it on any of our lakes so far. Seems a bit pricey for something you may or may not like at least for my pocket.

If you have an extra grand laying around and don't mind taking a few risks it may be something worth trying. The local pro shop highly recommend taking some basic lessons before trying it on your own. And they BTW insist that everyone where's a helmet.

[robertsmcfarland]

when learning you start with a a long rope and depending on your weight and type of foil you have you adjust the speed 9-15..we found it to be safe, as long as you respect the foil...never try to save a fall..my group are all over 60 but are all pro snowboard instructors ,,go for it you want be disappointed ..

[Miljack]

We started surf foiling last summer, wear a helmet when learning! I'll also say that a smaller wake will help a beginner. I learned early to get the H#!! away from the foil when falling!
We've had some minor injuries, but, one rider had his vest slashed open roughly what would have been across his rib cage! Be careful out there....

[SilentSeven]

Restarting this old thread - been curious about getting into foiling. Looks like a good low speed family friendly option that will work with a direct drive boat - one where I don't need a mega wake.

Here's a few questions I'm curious about.

- what sort of starter setup are people getting into? I think I'd like to purchase into a 'system' that allows you to upgrade parts without having to re-buy the whole rig. Liquid Force, Hyper Lite and Ronix all seem to offer options. I think I like the H/L and L/F choices the best.

- for those of you who are in...how engaging is it over time? If this something you still like after a season or is this something that once you get a few basics down you get bored and want to move on?

- what sort of boat are you using and are you able to ride rope free? I'm seeing a decent amount of info that suggests you can ride w/out a rope on a very moderate wave. My direct drive 206 punches out a decent wave at about 10 or 11 mph. How successful will I be in a my 206?

- safety...have you had any issues? Honestly, I'm not too worried about problems at the beginner level. I could see that as you get to advanced boards with really sharp carbon foils, you might have an issue. I'd likely have participants wear a pro-tec water sports helmet just to protect from bonks but that's all I'm thinking of. Thoughts?

I've been enjoying the Shaun Murry vids on getting started with foiling - for example.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLYYCxILz5A

What else should I be thinking of?

[jpwhit]

I bought a Slingshot WF-2 package at the end of the season 2021. I had been avoiding getting a wake foil due to the injury potential. But I saw a super good deal on the WF-2 packaging and kind of made a spur of the moment decision to give it a try.

I'm kinda glad I just jumped on the simple package for cheap, because when I had looked earlier it was really hard to decide what to buy. The WF-2 package has been great so far. Seems like a good package to learn on and so far, I haven't felt any need to get something more aggressive.

In terms of learning, that's an interesting topic. Of my friends and I that have been doing water sports since we were kids and have ridden about anything there has been to ride. Most of us struggled more than anything we've ever ridden on the first few pull-ups. I equate it to learning to ride a unicycle. It feels really foreign right at the beginning. But some pick it up pretty quickly and some never quite get it.

Of my group, that have been doing watersports forever, we all ended up figuring it pretty quickly. With most of us starting to drop the rope the first day out. We can all ride it fairly under control now, but we still can tell we have a lot more learning to do to reach the potential of this board. That alone has made us really enjoy it and we do not foresee getting bored with it anytime soon. Given that it's also pretty much impervious to bad water conditions, I can't see giving it up anytime soon. My only regret is even though I've had it two seasons now, I've only taken it out about 6-7 times total. We do this kind of thing when we're too exhausted to ski the slalom course. And with two new grandchildren under 18 months, that has limited the times we get to the foil board.

Some of my less experienced friends are having a tough time with it and will probably give up on it before mastering it. And some people that go out with us simply aren't interested in trying it due to the injury potential. And that's probably good!

On the injury front, well that's about like I feared. In the last 12 months two people that have tried mine have ended up going to the ER to get stitches. That's 2 people out of about 12 people that have used it. And it's turned out to be the opposite of what you've said. It's the people that aren't comfortable on it and are just learning that seem to get hurt. You really need to have enough control over it to dismount away from the board and foil. And you really have to be able to remember to do that with real intention and execute on it consistently to avoid injury. This is not something where it's smart to try and pull something out when you start to get out of control. You need to bail before you're totally out of control. Beginners and people without a lot of board experience do not seem to be able to manage that consistently and end up hitting the foil. We always wear a helmet. And IMO the best time to learn is in the cold months when you can wear a full wetsuit, booties, and full finger gloves. I'm at the point now, where I won't let inexperienced people try it except when they can wear a 2/3 mm old style wetsuit.

Another thing I'll note, is that all of us that have picked it up pretty quickly are very proficient riding an Air Chair. But I really enjoy the foil board 10x more than the Air Chair. But the Air Chair is much easier to learn to ride. Giving the injury potential, I think learning to ride an Air Chair first is probably a smart way to go. It teaches some of the fundamentals of controlling a foil.

After you're good enough on it, you need hardly any wave to go without a rope. I ride it mostly behind my X25 without any ballast loaded. But I've also ridden it behind my ProStar. I will say a tower is a really good thing to make learning and riding it easier. And unlike surfing, it's pretty fun to ride with the rope while you're getting use to it.

[jpwhit]

Another thought on the injury aspect after thinking about it a little more. While I've had injuries with mine, they've all been cuts on legs with the worse one requiring 10 stitches and I think the other was 6. I do think the potential for a really bad injury is lower than I thought before getting one. And that's why even though we've had injuries, we're not thinking of giving it up and I'm glad overall that I bought it.

And it's not like we haven't had anyone have to get stitches with other water sports equipment either....

[SilentSeven]

Thanks JP....super interesting and insightful. The part about experienced riders knowing how to bail makes some sense....I can see how a noobie who's not used to riding much of anything could get wrapped up around the foil arm. Hmmmm. Sounds like the injuries are with shins/knees hitting something...thus the recommendation of full suit?

[jpwhit]

That's right. At least for the injuries we've experienced. But any part of your body that impacts the foils is going to be cut. They are fairly sharp. Not quite knife sharp, but not far off. About the same sharpness as a brand new lawn mower blade.

[SilentSeven]

Okaaay. So decided to buy in...

Ordered a 2024 Liquid Force Pod board and Launch 120 foil set on what appears to be an end of season 2024 clearance.

Should be interesting!

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[Rednucleus]

Must be kind of like hanging out with Edward Scissorhands!!

[SilentSeven]

jpwhit

Hey JP - question....how much does the length of the board matter for foiling? I totally get the shorter/longer board dynamic when surfing but it's less clear when foiling.

I would think a longer board would be a little more forgiving if you pop the nose down into the water...(Less likely to stuff)....but less clear what you give up in return?

How long is your board?

I'm asking as I see there are two board lengths available for the LF pod board I ordered. 4'4 and 4'9. Amazon only had the bigger one but I could get the 4'4 version direct from another vendor. LF suggests the 4'9 version is for 200+ lbs but that's likely in surf use....

Thoughts?

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[Scooter G]

Good stuff!
Just a couple of cents, several of the Dealers/Pro shops here Demo their boards/foils. A Buddy picked one up end of Season last year for a fair price after a weeks ride on the Demo, just to make sure it was something they would be into to. If this was mentioned before, I didn't see it, but a Demo Rental of a couple different boards is a good way to go vs. having a pretty expensive big paper weight taking up space in the corner not being used... Support your local shops, bonus, most places will apply the rental fee off the top of the board price tag.