I’m back…as the struggling intermediate wingfoiler in the Gorge…I’m a couple weeks in, winging here in Hood River, and one of the things I’ve been experiencing in bigger swell (lower/downwind Hatch in 20-25knots) is getting launched in one of two ways:
Get caught by a big swell that I can’t stay with and immediately breaching and falling
Get rocketed down the line on a swell and foiling out for a high speed crash
I’m assuming in both cases I need to be able to get my weight forward, although I also do plant the nose sometimes when just trying to keep it together when going fast (which is challenging for me).
I’m also typically riding heelside, which means I can’t really see the swell I’m on, so I’m also just uncertain as to what my strategy should be beyond just keeping my shit together and trying to keep the foil trimmed and respond the energy around me…my instinct is to turn down the face when I’ve got excess power/speed then down the line to get back in the power…but sometimes I feel locked into more power/speed than I want and lose it.
The only real cutbacks I’ve ever made were not intentional
I’m 64kg, on a 72L Omen Flux (and currently shopping for a smaller board), riding Uni P140, med fuse and 14.5 prog tail with an 80cm Cedrus Surf mast.
I struggled with this exact scenario for a while and one thing that made an enormous difference for me was using shims to reduce the angle of attack on the stab. As a lightweight rider I felt that when I picked up speed down the wave it became extremely difficult to keep the nose down and I was always breaching or foiling out, or taking drastic measures to get my weight forward to try to avoid it. Taking some angle out of the stab changed that dramatically and my riding improved immensely once I found the correct set up. Give it a try if you haven’t played with the shims, it was a real break through in my case.
If you’re going to fast for your foil. Which is what it sounds like to me. You have to pull off the wave you’re on and go to the one behind. Or two behind.
Or ride a smaller foil. Shimming the til flatter will allow for more speed.
On Shimming - so I’m using the 0 shim now on my uni prog’s…so going a bit negative makes sense to me as I understand it (aside from talk about creating instability).
On peeling off the back…just what I was told this morning by a local expert when i was down at the shop… so will work on adding that
Nice, these are fun problems to have For me moving to a smaller foil helps for these scenarios, as they just handle speed so much better and give you way more control in those situations, however if you can’t yet then a couple of things that helped me (i’m not in Gorge but ride some solid bay bumps here)
Obvious one but move up on board (and/or if in front straps) move back foot up and get your weight over that front wing.
Same thing but consider moving your mast back (same effect)
If moving fast drag wing in water behind you - can work as a brake - more at top of wave then when charging in.
If coming in hot heelside, then look up over top of bump and almost go sideways across as opposed to dropping in. Sometimes I can cut back on almost backside of wave and then highside it across other way.
If tried all, just go smaller on the gear, the comfort in gear that is right for conditions really ups your confidence and makes it easier when we get back on the bigger gear.
Wow…what a difference a couple more solid weeks in Gorge swell makes (along with some gear dialing and guidance from you all)…I seem to have made the transition from consistently getting my ass beaten, to managing things, even at the Hatch on moderate days…
I’m getting a better feel for responding to the energy in the water, getting better at turning, but now facing the task of reading bumps and positioning myself relative to them with the right speed. I will occasionally lock into one and have a nice ride staying high on the swell and high on my mast where I can stand tall and cruise flagged out (love it), but more often than not I end up wallowing in the troughs. Connecting only happens with the help of my wing (I also need to up my pumping game).
I am checking out the other thread on reading bumps among other resources…
I think one of the main things I’m lacking/wanting are visual cues and where I should be looking…riding heelside goofy (starboard tack) I’m looking off to my right looking for a set and coming in behind a big bump, trying to head down the line on the one behind it, but I think I often just come in too close to the bump in front (I can see the big bump in front of me but am not getting the energy of the one behind it)…
So…What are the habits I want to working on now? Thanks for the ongoing help…just writing this out is good for me…
Do you film your sessions? If you can get footage. Join Casey Club for a month or three. He will telestrate it and explain exactly what you’re doing and need to do. Super good resource. I’ve gotten better just by watching other people’s footage from the Gorge with James drawings over the top of it so I understand what I’m looking at. I don’t even DW.
Yes…an amazing resource, even just watching other people’s videos w/James analyzing on Talk Back Tuesday is really valuable (and I should probably re-join, just for that)…but I can’t get footage worth analyzing yet
Ride the bumps sideways from one side of the river to the other. Try to work back to the bump behind you before you run out of speed. Avoid pointing your nose straight down the river (This usually leads to the bottom of the trough when you are learning)
For me moving to a smaller foil helps for these scenarios, as they just handle speed so much better and give you way more control in those situations, however if you can’t yet then a couple of things that helped me (i’m not in Gorge but ride some solid bay bumps here)