Educational video of surf launch and landing with windfoil gear is desperately needed! It is not sexy footage so that is one reason it never makes the videos.

If you look close at the incredible videos from Azmuth and team you will notice that there is no shore brake. In the wind direction they sail in, the launch at Cottleshoe is in the lee of the point at North Fremantle. This may be why the surf is manageable at the beach but juicy outside.

There is killer ocean sailing footage coming out of La Ventana in Baja and if you check it is A: the Sea of Cortez with less fetch than an ocean and B: there is a huge island just offshore to block the fetch there is.

Casey and the reef warriors up on Lake Michigan also have it really good. It is big and powerful lake but not an ocean and the waves are breaking on an offshore reef.

I am sure all of these incredibly talented watermen have had to take their lumps in the soup to bring us the vids but they all sail at really unique and special venues with access to swell but little to no shore break. I really appreciate the videos they post and I have a huge respect for their skills it is just that I have never seen those conditions at on the east coast of the states. They also do not show the launch or retrieval.

The beaches on the east coast of the US where I sail often have a long distance to traverse where the surf is powerful fully closed out white water and the water is too shallow for the foil! I pick my days carefully and use old sails cause they get wrecked. My most successful launches are typically when I carry the whole kit upside down on my head. Keeping the whole kit out of the water is the key and often I chuck the kit over the last wave I can stand up in and then quickly water start.
Coming back in, so long as the wind is not straight onshore I can sometimes get the kit on my head before the next waves breaks. Hanging onto the mast head can also work coming in and it keeps you up wave of your kit. The challenge is keeping the board upside down as the waves wash over you. I found focusing on mast foot pressure helps keep the board upside down. When the board flips upright in shallow water the sail can end up draped over the tail when the next foam ball rolls in it usually results in a blown sail panel. It is pretty scary when you start to lose control in the surf and often the best approach is to bail out early and just let the kit get washed in on its own. It is not worth the risk of tumbling out of control in the vicinity of the foil.

I really hope the industry acknowledges these challenges and provides some education and lighter easier to carry gear. The modern rigs and tiny boards are very light indeed. But the solid aluminum foil components are back breaking heavy.

Phil at Horue has proven that a one piece cored carbon mast and fuse can be really light and durable but his flat high aspect wings and short fuse are challenging to ride compared to the SS 76 and the like.

I also think that because the track systems lower the reaction loads that both the board and the foil could be built lighter. The problem is that there are few windfoil masts that are built with a one piece flange and mast. The flange adaptor on my kits weighs 1.5 pounds alone! If the mast were designed and built with both the flange and fuse as one piece in cored carbon construction it could be really light! This coupled with a lighter board and we could save many pounds which will really help carrying the gear to the surf and punching through it. The track mitigates the need for fuse length adjustment. I wish a manufacturer will address this so I do not have to spend a year of my life building my own, I would rather be improving out on the water.

It would be great to hear and see from experienced surf windfoilers how to get through the soup so others can experience the joys of riding swell safely!