Speed wing foiling

Winging
1

I would like to go faster wing foiling and was hoping to get some tips from anyone who can help. I borrow my daughters foils - Mikes Lab 340 and AFS 560 Pure Race. I am also lucky to have a Zaoli wing so certainly can’t blame it on the kit :slight_smile:

I have been given these tips but would really appreciate some input. For most foils, I understand as you go faster the front of the board tends to lift up and many of these techniques are trying to stop this happening:

  1. Lean board over to reduce foil lift.
  2. Drive forward with hips.
  3. Lift up with back hand to drive downward force to front of board.
  4. Shim the mast to make board point upwards - makes it more comfortable in touchdowns.
  5. Hold wing further back along handles to put more downward force forward.
  6. Bear off as gusts hit to maintain constant power.
  7. Mast track further back relative to front footstraps so can get more load on front of board.
  8. Use harness.
  9. Use both footstraps.
  10. Negative shim tail so the foil is balanced at target speed. There is less drag by negative shimming tail but it makes stability harder to control.
  11. … and probably most importantly - go for it!!

Any other ideas or just practice?

2

I would think the board would tend to ride more nose down as you go faster as you need less angle of attack to generate the lift that supports your weight.

A longer fuselage allows use of a smaller stabilizer. The Naish race foil plane comes with a 30cm longer fuse than the standard.

Bear off as gusts hit to maintain constant power

I thought it was the opposite, bear off in lulls and close haul in gusts.

3

Most foils I have tried have more front foot pressure as they go faster. However, I have ridden a foil which had the nose down tendency at speed, so imagine a lot of the techniques are kit dependent.

I think the smaller tail longer fuse as you suggest definitely helps - a longer fuse feels like it has less marginal drag than a larger tail fin. And the longer fuse definitely helps with pitch stability - and having a more stable setup allows you to go faster…