Do I have the right gear for my size and skill level?

Hello everyone I’m new to the community. I’m struggling with getting the board off the water and getting onto the foil. I wanted to make sure the equipment I’m using is the right fit. It’s all Axis gear, froth 120L board, PNG V2 1300 front wing, 475 Progressive rear wing, Black ultrashort advance+ fuselage, with an 83cm 19mm mast. I am a 6’4" 220 lbs newbie. I appreciate your input. Thanks!

What discipline? Wing?

The gear sounds fine.

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Best advice I ever got when asking if I had the right gear was how often are you going and for how long. It’s all about reps and time on water. Once I made up my mind that it wasn’t the gear I started making progress. One day at a time. That and if you have plenty of speed and still can’t get off the water, you may need to move your mast forward.

thanks for the feedback!

Thanks for the feedback!

I do think that your board is probably part of the problem. It’s a great board for an absolute beginner because its so wide, but as soon as you are consistently balancing on the board and able to turn energy in the wing into speed forward, a wide board jeoporadizes your ability to unstick from the water.

Not only is it not accelerating forward, but its also sticking the surface because of all its underwater area. Even an as advanced foiler I have at times had trouble getting beginners’ gear foiling because of the additional effort needed to counteract a big boards adhesion to the water.

I’m a fan of riding the most efficient board you can consistently balance on.

Hey bro I started on very similar gear to you but am lighter. i really hope you’re asking this question after having at least a half a dozen sessions on it.

As mentioned those boards are pretty stable though reasonably slow & the PNG is a great foil with a lot of lift however there are two things that you my not be doing.

1. Not heading enough downwind - a lot of beginners get a bit spooked bearing off wind as they think they are going to get pulled off their board. There’s a sweet spot between riding too far downwind & too close to the wind. Unfortunately there’s only one way to find it - by falling off.

2.Those boards don’t get a lot of board speed up so you will need to pump the board to get up off the foil. When you are moving along a a decent speed push down on your back foot & then immediately push your front foot down & repeat. Once the front of the board releases that foil will send you skywards pretty quickly. Then you will have the chance to learn how to control the pitch.

Starting in winds under 15 knots is really hard. You didn’t mention what size wing you use. You may need to size up to a 6m or so depending on local conditions. I learnt more in 3x 1 hr sessions in a flatwater estuary with constant 15 knot winds than I did in months in local variable conditions.

There’s no denying it, foiling takes ages to learn so get inventive with your cursing.

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great beginner setup :+1: … you may find it easier to be a little over-powered in your sails when learning in an area where there is not much chop, such as inside a bay

Thank you. I’ll have some good wind this weekend, so I’ll be out again giving it a try.

Thank you. I really appreciate your feedback.