Board, weight, pumping skills, foil size and type all affect how early one can foil.
I'm guilty here posting my sail sizing.
160 lbs., 73 years old, 4/3 wetsuit minimum, 1150 and 600 foil, 310 and 210 stab, sails 3.7 to 8.3, Naish Hover 122.
Select to expand quotesegler said..
It also helps to have a sail that pushes down, rather than up and forward, during gusts. See below. Listen carefully. He talks about foil sails pushing down.
Segler, thanks so much for posting the video on foil sails, just watched it and really interesting!
I have mostly been foiling with 4-cam slalom sails from 6.2 up to 8.4m, mostly a 7.8m Loft racing blade. I found that I needed to move the harness lines forward for the optimum position on the board for my comfort which provides more front hand pressure. I was sailing with Berowne a couple of days ago (he was using a 7.0m foil sail) and he commented that I wasn't really fully sheeted in at times. As the video points out, sheeting in on the slalom race sails creates back hand pressure and lifts the nose of the board, so I end up trying to move my hips way forward when I sheet in to counter the board uplift with more mast foot pressure. If I don't, sheeting in drives the weight disproportionately through the back foot - great for slalom, not so great for foil (for me). When going fast, I find it challenging to channel a gust into the board quickly without it rising, I have to make balance adjustments first.
That idea for foiling of 'pulling' rather than 'pushing' is a great description and makes so much sense for flight height control. Get the power further forward in the sail with harder leach. So for conventional slalom sails, reducing downhaul makes sense, I have probably been over downhauling mine. Now keen to try with less downhaul.
Option 1: Dig around under the house for retired high aspect/short boom 2000's sail 
Option 2: buy new, shiny (expensive) high aspect foil sail with carbon battens
Option 2 sounding good...
Select to expand quoteJules67 said..segler said..
It also helps to have a sail that pushes down, rather than up and forward, during gusts. See below. Listen carefully. He talks about foil sails pushing down.
Segler, thanks so much for posting the video on foil sails, just watched it and really interesting!
I have mostly been foiling with 4-cam slalom sails from 6.2 up to 8.4m, mostly a 7.8m Loft racing blade. I found that I needed to move the harness lines forward for the optimum position on the board for my comfort which provides more front hand pressure. I was sailing with Berowne a couple of days ago (he was using a 7.0m foil sail) and he commented that I wasn't really fully sheeted in at times. As the video points out, sheeting in on the slalom race sails creates back hand pressure and lifts the nose of the board, so I end up trying to move my hips way forward when I sheet in to counter the board uplift with more mast foot pressure. If I don't, sheeting in drives the weight disproportionately through the back foot - great for slalom, not so great for foil (for me). When going fast, I find it challenging to channel a gust into the board quickly without it rising, I have to make balance adjustments first.
That idea for foiling of 'pulling' rather than 'pushing' is a great description and makes so much sense for flight height control. Get the power further forward in the sail with harder leach. So for conventional slalom sails, reducing downhaul makes sense, I have probably been over downhauling mine. Now keen to try with less downhaul.
Option 1: Dig around under the house for retired high aspect/short boom 2000's sail
Option 2: buy new, shiny (expensive) high aspect foil sail with carbon battens
Option 2 sounding good...
option 3 buy a reasonably priced, fairly light weight, durable, Aerotech Freespeed sail with no cams and have a blast.
