VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

winddoctor wrote: I'm surprised the wind foiling crew haven't been exploring the air-side of things. Massive backloops in RB would be achievable for sure. Terrifying, yes, but achievable!

Were any of the windfoil crew air pilots on regular windsurf gear? Seems a natural extension. But if not, then maybe you'll lead the charge! I have my camera ready to go, your backroll GIF coming soon.

For kitefoiling, I always thought it looked kinda silly with the dangling sword, but this summer it was fun to play around with jumps after finally adding hooks to my board (two). You can load up and get pretty good pop.

The negative though....that puts major stresses on both foil and board....dramatically ups the chances of breaking shit. So, that fun and glory probably comes with a cost.

Shaggy is still a jumper on WS gear. I hear you about the dangling gear, though. Not very pleasing to look at. But that's winging.

I'd be very careful jumping with straps. If one foot comes out that is a lot of stress and leverage on your other leg. I personally know 4 people who have spiral fractured their femur when a foot came out of the straps on regular windsurf or kitesurfing gear, so for me I'll abstain from straps or jumping.

A broken femur is not something you want to have.

Ya I would rather be injury free. Speed bump bunny hops sound about my comfort level lol.

Yeah, kitefoiling jumps look silly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6UrROu5NmY

The real problem with wing jumping is the 28lb rig handing off your toes. It doesn't feel right. I'm sure Kai Lenny's board and foil are in the 12lb range combined.

Well I jumped in with both feet.
Bought a Gong Hipe 5.3 110L inflatable and their 1900cm2 medium aspect foil then found a 6m Wasp for sale used stateside. I should be winging in around a month.
Now I guess I need a pump?!

The board should be okay at my weight but if need be I can use my current windfoil board to start with.

grantmac wrote:Well I jumped in with both feet.
Bought a Gong Hipe 5.3 110L inflatable and their 1900cm2 medium aspect foil then found a 6m Wasp for sale used stateside. I should be winging in around a month.
Now I guess I need a pump?!

The board should be okay at my weight but if need be I can use my current windfoil board to start with.

Woohoo!! That is going to be a killer setup for you Grant! You're going to love wing foiling. Really look forward to seeing that board. Cheers!

grantmac wrote:Well I jumped in with both feet.
Bought a Gong Hipe 5.3 110L inflatable and their 1900cm2 medium aspect foil then found a 6m Wasp for sale used stateside. I should be winging in around a month.
Now I guess I need a pump?!

The board should be okay at my weight but if need be I can use my current windfoil board to start with.

I hope it'll work in the same conditions that I currently windfoil with my 6.3 since part of the budgeting process was putting that sail and foil up for sale.
I'm going to install a track system on my current 120L board that I windfoil with and use the Gong foil on it once I don't need it functioning for a couple weeks.

I may also try gluing a mast bast mount on the Hipe and windfoiling it. The shape is like the newest Wizard and going dead downwind in <20kts seems easier with a sail.

So what about all those container ships and ferries passing by, hmm?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6Pn6JM84Yg[/youtube]

I mean... that is kind of cool that it is possible, but not exactly exciting looking and I wonder how many times you bother before it gets proper boring. Kind of like riding your bike down a gravel road vs a downhill trail.

If we were to be brutally honest, "kind of cool that it is possible, but not exactly exciting looking" pretty much describes 99% of SUPing or supfoiling, 95% of wind/kitefoiling/winging, and 90% of surfing/surffoiling/kiting/windsurfing. Especially around here, present company included. Sorry guys.

But it's kinda like if you were to film average folks having sex ... it probably looks terrible, but pretty sure they are enjoying it more than it looks.

Like the songs says, "if it feels good, do it". Really doesn't have to be anything more than that.

So who's going to be the first one to ride a BC super Ferry wave from Victoria to Vancouver and then back?

juandesooka wrote:If we were to be brutally honest, "kind of cool that it is possible, but not exactly exciting looking" pretty much describes 99% of SUPing or supfoiling, 95% of wind/kitefoiling/winging, and 90% of surfing/surffoiling/kiting/windsurfing. Especially around here, present company included. Sorry guys.

I have to disagree with most of that but I'll agree with you on most foiling looking/being pretty boring with the proviso that kite foiling you are going WAYY faster on average and that alone can be scary.

A lot of average kiters can jump 20 feet after a few years of kiting. A good slice of those can almost double that. Spectators flock to Cook Street to watch it. There is very little debate that is more exciting to either watch or do with higher consequences than just cruising a foil on a ferry wake. Likewise with windsurfing jumps albeit they are not as high they are way sketchier. Either have crashes that are fun and dramatic to watch.

I might agree with you for the kookiest SUP surfers but even then the wave breaks, and they crash and get eaten and that is pretty fun to watch happen.

That video above is like autopilot. It's like hopping on a wave machine on one of those cruise ships and standing still. Snore.