I was talking to a buddy a few days ago who presented the idea that we (in santa cruz) can go ride windswell (say like 4’ @ 10 seconds) even if there’s no wind.
So I tried it with my foildrive (ArtPro 1201 w/ 360 skinny), and it worked… Did a 3 mile bay run in about 30 minutes…
And now it feels like I’ve opened a portal into another universe…
The parawing looks pretty cool, granted I have not tried it. But THIS is why a paddle is superior IMO… when the wind dies, the swell stays around 
Yea, I’m in southern FL summer so super weak to no wind last several months other than afternoon storm fronts. We had some decent storm wind in the 20s for 2 hours one day and by the time we were paddling out it shut completely down to 2-6 kts lol. Still had a cruisy 6km lap @ just under 16 minutes on my big foil. Was weird riding glassy leftover wind swell.
The swell can get quite nice and clean once the wind shuts down. Though paddle ups for those without FD can be tough.
There is a spot guys are doing no windswell mini laps in half moon bay…
@Mattchu_Pchu just curious, what large front wing? I’m in central Florida
1075R, had a lot of pace for that wing but it was only linking groundswell the whole way so makes sense.
I have wondered about doing downwind runs in Santa Cruz, I think often with geography like that the swell wraps around and gets mellower. Glad to see there is the possibility.
What type of conditions lead to being able to do this?
when i went out sunday, the buoys were reading 2-3’ @ 9 seconds. here’s a link to the CDIP buoys https://cdip.ucsd.edu/m/classic_models/#monterey
and this forecast is pretty solid http://www.stormsurf.com/page2/forecast/shortcast/ncal.html
hmu if you want to do the natural bridges run to the eastside. 3 miles in about 30 minutes. you can go further up the coast, but it gets sketchy up there bc there aren’t many places you can come in if something goes wrong.
i’m talking to a couple of buddies about stretching it from natural bridges to new brighton or rio del mar. that 310* windswell follows that track pretty well
Very cool and good to know. Hopefully will be an opportunity to try. I do worry a bit about the paddle up. I think 10 seconds is very fast for paddle up but at least in other areas when it wraps around it shows slows down, maybe that is happening?
The north coast runs can be really good, Scotts or Davenport to Laguna beach is a fun 5-7 mile run with several pocket beaches along the way to bail out if necessary. The downside is the backwash zone from Davenport town past Panther beach.
The local A team do Waddell to Natural Bridges or 4 Mile (~15-20 mi) a lot, but getting out from Waddell is not easy with smaller bumps and you need to cut right pretty hard.
I’ve done 4 Mile to NB’s on a west wind day and it’s good, slight backwash off Wilder but not bad.
There is a lane of bay bumps pretty much on a line from NB’s to the outside of pleasure pt on west wind days. I do a lot of fishing from a boat and it will be flat in Capitola/New brighton but pretty good size bumps coming around the end of the kelp off pleasure pt and then fade towards the harbor. I haven’t done it but I think that on a strong west wind day NB’s to Rio Del Mar or Manresa could be pretty good. From fishing over there, it seems like the bumps fade quickly west of the cement ship, so RDM or Manresa is going to be better than New Brighton
i went over and scoped out new brighton yesterday afternoon. you’re dead on with the direction and intensity of everything. there were a few bumps making it to the beach.
one of my buddies says there’s a channel through the kelp at privates… i live right off 17th, so i would love to stay this side of capitola village if possible.
I think if you want a longer run in town, starting at NB’s or 4 Mile is your best bet. The PPoint kelp goes pretty far out, so you would have a long run without much bump to get to privates. Might not be an issue with FD though
i really want to give it a go from 4mi - i was about to do it solo a few weeks ago and got talked out of it.
i think we have a few mutual friends/acquaintances - your name has popped up a few times when i blabber to my wing buddies about downwinding.
my short-term plan is to be able to make it from NB to 20th ave without falling (minimal falls) and then stretch it out from there
i have a buddy who spends all summer foiling behind a boat in tahoe who is coming back in town and he wants to partner up DWing. and we have a buddy with a boat who’s into it too.
@jbwiden any idea what foil setup Kyle was riding in the video?
Yeah, he had listed ART Pro 1121 here
this popped up on my feed this morning
https://youtu.be/XWeDLpcVy1U?si=wZ31-tighHgjBZZ9
basically what i’ve been trying to do. i’ve had a couple of runs on the 1300 v2 and love it. starting to learn how to pump. going to take some reps. the 1300 is really fun when i kick it up off the motor. super glidey.
can’t figure out how to embed
