Great to see what the Glider can do in the right hands

Are you using the 250 2D stab with it?

MilesH said..
Great to see what the Glider can do in the right hands

Are you using the 250 2D stab with it?

I was actually using a prototype DW rear. But I have really liked the 1400 with the 210 2D Stab for powered DW over the 250. For pump and bottom end, you can't beat the 250, but is it a big rear in today's DW world for hunting bumps at speed! My rear was 140 . Whilst this is not the production rear, it shows the versatility of the Glider, flatwater and pump foil on one stab then DW machine on another.

JB

kobo said..
Got a mate who has the 1400 and loves it too , it cracked the pumping code for him and it turns decent too.I'm really interested in the no pump DW run comment "running in 5kn 3:10 pace".? I've got a recurring back foot injury from pumping too much and I try to limit pumping atm. Are you saying you can stay on foil in 5 kn wind and no pumping ,but it slows your time to 3:10 ? If so that sounds encouraging and good technique practice without risking further injury to my " pump foot "I don't care how slow I go.

Age, skill and fitness (or, as in your case, injuries) often determine how much pumping you are able/willing to do. For me, matching the foil to the conditions, is the key to less pumping. Basically a foil that is just fast enough to stay with bumps should allow you to do minimal pumping. As we have zero wind fetch, our bumps, are a direct corellation to the windstrength, making it easy to pick a foil for the day. So, depending on my mood I can pick a no pump day by going up a size in foil. On really slow days we're sitting at 16-17km/h (3.30min/km+) using a 1600 or 2050 front wing. This may not appeal to all, but I'm not a spring-chicken (or lightest) and I also enjoy the softer days.

In open ocean swells, the fetch, direction (sometimes multiple) and wind strength change this game completely as it becomes somewhat more complex with typically bigger, faster bumps. I've never not had to pump in those conditions as they take a lot more skill to read and master.

Sounds like the 1400 glider has a nice wide range which makes it so much easier to pick a foil.

Be careful admiring the videos, most are sections of their best footage. When you actually speak to crew that foil the gorge daily, there is hard sections where they bump their ring off! But every run will have a section or two where work is required usually.

Some good points above for sure.
- Matching foil speeds to bump speeds. This is paramount to a good run. Identifying the main energy you will be riding and matching it with your foils comfortable speed will result in rockstar stand tall glides! A good way to understand this is using the swell beat calculator. It one helps you estimate the actual bump size based on fetch and wind strength, then two, estimate the physical bump speed and the bump packed speed. swellbeat.com/wave-calculator/ here is an example.

Wind at 20kn, blowing for 3hrs over 20km of fetch will be at approx 0.82m and 3.66 sec.


Then take this 0.82m bump at 3.66sec period and see that each bump will be traveling at approx 4.91m/s (17.6kmh) whilst the group/packet speed will be 2.46m/s (8.8kmh).



there is also lots of info in there like the actual gap or wave length etc.
But for a bay run of no swell run, this support the 17kmh odd speed mentioned above. When we start planing with ocean swells, it adds a whole other concept, and you will see why those 1m days at 7 seconds are faster days than those at 3m and 15 sec. The speeds are far more usable with less swell with today's foil speeds achievable.


9.2m/s = 33.12kmh and 5.05m/s = 19.8kmh = excellent swell speeds for foils.

VS.

12.88m/s = 46.4kmh and 10.95m/s = 39.4kmh.

All a bit technical, and only a guide as there is soo many other things that also change things (depth, refraction, reefs, headlands, etc...). but as an idea. The easiest and least exertion is generally the smaller swell or no "swell" and long fetch wind bumps.

Dream conditions would be,


Which would be 6.7m/s (24kmh) pumps in packets/groups travelling 3.37m/s (12kmh). Built on these conditions below,


.

Important to remember that if the swells straight velocity is 24kmh, then the second you cut or edge, you need to be travelling faster to stay on the bump. Mathematically if you cut at 45 degrees, you'd need a speed of 34kmh. We often cut at 20-30 degrees which would be 25-27kmh.

All a little off with the pixies, but explains why sometimes a big foil is ideal in slower conditions.

That Glider HA 1400 has such a huge range, it can cover you in soo many conditions.

Good to understand how fast you are needed to travel and how fast your foils actually go with you on them.

Hopefully not too confusing or left field.

On a side note, had an excellent DW bay run yesterday on the Glider HA 1800. Very light winds, only 2km fetch, micro bumps. Basically able to paddle up in 5-7 strokes, and averaging 16.5kmh which is crazy! Such a cool foil range. Some would have said, un-foilable conditions.

JB

Something further more to the above to understand is there is an infinite number of swells involved in a lot of cases, there is never just one swell, and the cross over and separate all the time. When swells cross through each other they actually combine their energy and size momentarily and likewise they eliminate size and energy from each other as troughs intersect.

This is a super basic visual I made of 3 swells intersecting.
1st swell is a short range, wind chop. Small in size and period.
2nd is a Longer range wind chop. Bigger in both, but still a wind swell.
3rd is a ground swell. LArge period and size comparatively.

Then finally is a look at what the ocean surface potentially would look like as they pass through each other etc...



Again, there is so much more in it than this, and they're not all moving liniarly, but it does help your mind understand whats going on underneath you. Try looking at just hte cross ahirs in the centre and imagine being on foil. The ups and down hills appearing and disappearing.

Kind of amazing how it grows and dissapears!

Enjoy,

JB

Some more crazy good fun on the 1400 Glider HA up in Cairns. This foils truly amazes me. The range is incredible. This was my favourite run of the week up there,

Here's the Share sheet. Note I did have one drop to seaweed on the 7th KM.


The Splits, Best split 2:29, but lots in the 2:30 range which is great for this type of run (Not really ocean or bay, kind of a hybrid run).

Bit of a summary. Some big peaks and best 5x 10's pretty nice also.


Easy to paddle up, turns better than you'd ever imagine, pumps great and most of all, very easy to use!! As you can see with my HR, not working very hard at all.

Highly recommend!!

Ride safe,

JB

kobo said..
Definitely is a good allrounder for DW ..got to ask what is the "croc " risk controls for foiling up in NQ ?

It is winter, I didn't even think about them. Far more dangerous crossing the road or flying up there! Coming from our runs here in Sydney where I pretty much see a shark every run, Cairns does not present any rational risk to me at this time of year. But at the same time, in the "High Risk" areas like Wangetti where we exited right next to creek/river mouth which supplies water to the Hartley Crocodile Farm (that during recent floods had Crocs swim over the fences), we did not hang out splashing in the shorebreak, simply, finished our runs and exited the water (which is what you would normally do) and waited for our crew on the beach away from the waters edge. Common sense and respect is all you need. I would go back up there in a heartbeat to do more DW, it was amazing!! 10 day trip total expenses including air, accom, car, food and everything was $3,500.00. Cant beat that for 28 degrees and perfect DW every day!