To enjoy wing foiling in super light winds you need a big wing.. A big foil.. and a big board.. (well so do)

Yesterday I got to use my new huge 7.5m Naish MK4 wing.. and I used the big HA 2140 foil.. and also my new bigger board that I recently bought to try SUP surf foiling with.. The big 140L Hover.

The wind was in the 4-8 knot range with the odd 10 knot gusts.. Plenty to get my old 65 year old body that weighs about 100 kgs up and foiling.

It's an amazing feeling foiling in such light wind.

David John you are always having the best time, and I'm over here stuck in a snow storm

great video, that was some really light wind.

You definitely have some foiling beach paradise where you are

Browy said..
David,
Great to be up and flying in such light conditions.

The Hover wing board does not work as a SUP foil board, it does not paddle straight and lacks glide.

You just end up paddling around in circles trying to paddle onto the waves.

Cheers
Andrew

It must be your technique. I am over 100kg and used to paddle Hover 6'4. Moved to a different brand but larger Hovers are great SUP foil boards for heavyweights.

Seastudent said..

DavidJohn said..
To enjoy wing foiling in super light winds you need a big wing.. A big foil.. and a big board.. (well so do)

Yesterday I got to use my new huge 7.5m Naish MK4 wing.. and I used the big HA 2140 foil.. and also my new bigger board that I recently bought to try SUP surf foiling with.. The big 140L Hover.

The wind was in the 4-8 knot range with the odd 10 knot gusts.. Plenty to get my old 65 year old body that weighs about 100 kgs up and foiling.

It's an amazing feeling foiling in such light wind.

Another video triumph sir. "And the award for best picture goes to..."

Thanks mate

DavidJohn said..
We've just come out of a cold winter with temps so low I couldn't wear shorts and even needed a jacket once.

DavidJohn said..

Browy said..
David,
Great to be up and flying in such light conditions.

The Hover wing board does not work as a SUP foil board, it does not paddle straight and lacks glide.

You just end up paddling around in circles trying to paddle onto the waves.

Cheers
Andrew

Thanks Andrew.. but I agree with BigZ that it must be a technique thing because I recently tryed paddling the smaller 125L Hover and at first 'just like you say' I was paddling circles because each paddle stroke turned the board 90deg.. After 10 minutes of struggling I was thinking it's impossible.. But I continued trying and I soon found that if I sink the rail on the side that I'm paddling on I could get a few strokes on each side and keep going pretty straight.. After about three short sessions I was paddling ok without too much yawing.. In the glassy conditions that I was paddling in it was still hard work and I felt that I needed a little more floatation so I decided to order the bigger 140L.. I've paddled it the other day in calm conditions and it was definitely easier that the 125L so I'm a Happy Chappy

Cheers, I was on a 110 Hover. Now using dedicated 110ltr NSP SUP foil board and it is worlds apart.

airsail said..
I put the foil drive assist on my wingfoiling board. Stupidly easy to get going in winds I would have no chance with just the wing. Controller is taped to the boom, hit full power, nose comes up, lean forward to level off, apparent wind builds, power off and your foiling in 8 knots on a 5mtr.

I'm keen to do the same.. Is yours the first 'assist' version or the new 'assist plus' version?

SydHobart said..
Nice going in light air!
I am wondering: a long while ago you had the original Naish 7.2 (the one with the sigma shaped leading edge)- could you write a comparison between that and this current 7.5 wing? Be interesting to know progress between generations.
Cheers!

Thanks..

I had both of the earlier versions of their big wings and back then their goal was to make a big wing with a normal wingspan so catching the wingtips wouldn't be a problem.. Their design worked in that aspect but those long wingtips that ran parallel with the center strut caused the wing to wollow/wobble a bit when pumping.. They were grunty wing no doubt and they felt like a big spinnaker that loved going off the wind but I always found that they didn't like going upwind so much..

Their new big wing is a totally different beast.. With its tighter canopy tension and bigger wingspan it pumps great.. goes upwind great.. but catching the wing tip on the water can be a problem until you remember to not position the wing too vertical when pumping and once foiling and you do have it vertical you need to remember to keep foiling high on the mast..

You can see in my vid when I see that first stingray and I look back at it I let my hight drop.. and then I catch my wingtip.. and I then drop off the foil trying to recover it.. Just as I was thinking glad I didn't fall on the stingray I see the second stingray as I almost crash.. I think my splashdown scared it off.. I'm glad Naish put those side handles on the leading strut because they really help flipping it over after a fall if the wing lands upside down.. I also love the new long center strut handles and the wing feels very stable going one handed..

DavidJohn said..

We've just come out of a cold winter with temps so low I couldn't wear shorts and even needed a jacket once.

Great light winding I've been here for a few weeks now and even with the weather getting warmer my wimpy arse still needs a 3/2!

Dromana looks nice. Seems like endless choices around Melbourne to fit every wind direction. So far I've done Brighton, Elwood and Torquay. We took the ferry from Queenscliff to Sorrento yesterday and drove right past Dromana.

And speaking of foil drives, this guy hitched a ride off the tail end of the ferry trip. Couldn't have done without his foil drive. Very impressive!

Thanks for that .. Looks like the Plus is the way to go then.. Especially because of my weight.. I was hoping that the original Assist might be enough give me enough push to be able to pump up onto the foil.