duzzi said..

Nobody can sail a windsurf in 35 knots with a 3.5 and 150 pounds of weight!!!!! I am so glad you can do it on a foil! It must be so much easier than windsurfing!

Can't see anyone foiling in those conditions described there. I did mention 1m waves max; 7.5m would be a handful

Just to give some context. This was the wind speed recorded very close to where I was foiling on a strong wind day in November, note the red boxes for time on water. Out there in gusts to 25kts is easy. Got stuck in the 55kt squall that lasted 10 minutes- In that wind with rain you can't see anyway so just wait in the water until it passes, I know I can't sheet in the sail in 55kts!
Got off the water at about 4:30 before the next 65kt squall came. Wind 35kts is doable at my weight on the right gear, lots of practice and a bit of luck.

A kiter was seriously injured and died in hospital that day.
So make sure there are others out with you as it can get dangerous in these conditions even though we were in a harbor with no way to get blown out since the wind was mostly onshore. We are lucky I windsurfers that we can just drop the sail in the water and wait it out during a squall, not sure how the kites do it, turned into a dangerous situation

Handling gusts is more of a strength / core tension thing than it is a weight thing. A 9.0 on the foil (foilracing sail, formula/ 1m foilboard racefoil with small wing, 772 for me) in gusts upto 30 knots is pretty doable. As long as you dont give, the kit will not move and you wont be "overpowered". Ofcourse the efficiency of the kit is important too, the faster your kit is, the wider the (upper) windrange you can get from it. For any 2 foils of the same surface area, the faster one of the two will have a way wider usable windrange.

In the Netherlands we have 2-3 storms a year with around 50 knots in the gusts, often one of those is in the 60 knot range on lakes and even higher at sea. I always try to go out those days because its the best practice. 3.0 on the waveboard is around the size for me to keep it within the realm of managable, like I said earlier, im 200lbs.

CAN17 said..

duzzi said..

Nobody can sail a windsurf in 35 knots with a 3.5 and 150 pounds of weight!!!!! I am so glad you can do it on a foil! It must be so much easier than windsurfing!

Can't see anyone foiling in those conditions described there. I did mention 1m waves max; 7.5m would be a handful

Just to give some context. This was the wind speed recorded very close to where I was foiling on a strong wind day in November, note the red boxes for time on water. Out there in gusts to 25kts is easy. Got stuck in the 55kt squall that lasted 10 minutes- In that wind with rain you can't see anyway so just wait in the water until it passes, I know I can't sheet in the sail in 55kts!
Got off the water at about 4:30 before the next 65kt squall came. Wind 35kts is doable at my weight on the right gear, lots of practice and a bit of luck.

A kiter was seriously injured and died in hospital that day.
So make sure there are others out with you as it can get dangerous in these conditions even though we were in a harbor with no way to get blown out since the wind was mostly onshore. We are lucky I windsurfers that we can just drop the sail in the water and wait it out during a squall, not sure how the kites do it, turned into a dangerous situation

That looks dangerous. Interesting how it more than doubled speed in less than half hour. Glad it is in a harbor! and yes, kites, unless you are nuts, have no place in anything more than 25 knots ...

Sandman1221 said..

thedoor said..

WhiteofHeart said..
Handling gusts is more of a strength / core tension thing than it is a weight thing. A 9.0 on the foil (foilracing sail, formula/ 1m foilboard racefoil with small wing, 772 for me) in gusts upto 30 knots is pretty doable. As long as you dont give, the kit will not move and you wont be "overpowered". Ofcourse the efficiency of the kit is important too, the faster your kit is, the wider the (upper) windrange you can get from it. For any 2 foils of the same surface area, the faster one of the two will have a way wider usable windrange.

In the Netherlands we have 2-3 storms a year with around 50 knots in the gusts, often one of those is in the 60 knot range on lakes and even higher at sea. I always try to go out those days because its the best practice. 3.0 on the waveboard is around the size for me to keep it within the realm of managable, like I said earlier, im 200lbs.

WOH. do you agree with the idea that slower foils make it easier for a sail to become overpowered?

makes sense to me from my experience, slower foil results in more wind pressure on sail so gets overpowered easier.

Yup I've been overpowered on an i99 and got much more comfortable switching to i76

Sorry, 78 kilos ready to go.

r3st0ck said..
I had my first high wind foilsession today with 27 - 49 knots. Average windspeed was around 35 knots.
I was well overpowered all the time, the gust were crazy and almost not controllable. The foil still worked fine.
I think my skillz and the sailsize and maybe the boardsizewere the limit.

I used a 2.7 goya guru, flikka custom foilboard and a Moses Foil W720 / S421

I think the wing/stab also limited you, W720 is rated by Moses for over 25 knots "of top speed", but I think 35 knot winds may be above its intended range as a freestyle wing with speed capabilities.

tintingwen said..
Gusts of wind to 30 kts during my holidays in Portugal ... sail 4.2

Beautiful

This is about a knot or two over my maximum. And it was like this all last week as well. I've been told it doesn't get any better until March.
www.seabreeze.com.au/weather/wind-forecast/perth

Hess said..
Have had several awesome sessions on a 3.7m and Moses 683/101 in gusts to 30-35 knots. At the upper end I think a sail closer to 3.0m could be more comfortable. We will see what Santa can do.

I find the way the foil tracks through the carves at speed to be so much fun. Being able to push the heel side carves to the point were the rail is near the water and the foil gurgles is loads of fun. At first I foiled more as a low wind option to windsurfing but now I realize there are plenty of ****ty high wind windsurfing days that foiling is a better option.

On the topic of windsurfer sail size and wind speed. How about gusts to 50mph on a 4.2 Hucker, I am 180lbs. And it was not a big deal as the water was glassy smooth. I mean 5 ft from a grassy flat shoreline. And I gotta say at 43.5mph those jibes had some G's.

Do you use the 483 stab? What fuselage?

Hess said..

Faff said..

Hess said..
Have had several awesome sessions on a 3.7m and Moses 683/101 in gusts to 30-35 knots. At the upper end I think a sail closer to 3.0m could be more comfortable. We will see what Santa can do.

I find the way the foil tracks through the carves at speed to be so much fun. Being able to push the heel side carves to the point were the rail is near the water and the foil gurgles is loads of fun. At first I foiled more as a low wind option to windsurfing but now I realize there are plenty of ****ty high wind windsurfing days that foiling is a better option.

On the topic of windsurfer sail size and wind speed. How about gusts to 50mph on a 4.2 Hucker, I am 180lbs. And it was not a big deal as the water was glassy smooth. I mean 5 ft from a grassy flat shoreline. And I gotta say at 43.5mph those jibes had some G's.

Do you use the 483 stab? What fuselage?

Yes I use the 483 stab and the 838 fuselage.

This is what I have as well. I've been contemplating getting a longer fuselage because there's way too much backfoot pressure, but the 900 fuselage is not listed as compatible with the 683.

I sail my i84 up too 16 knots. Any more, I take my bump n jump board out.

Ive raced in 20-25 with an 8m foil race sail and survived, but it wasnt fun. :P

Ian K said..

Faff said..

I can't imagine foiling without straps (I have them set up really big though).

Which is the opposite of what SmidgeUK is advising in a similar thread

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Foiling/Foiling-overpowered-tips?page=1#19
"Plus they run their straps overlong and flat so they can rotate their heels forward to move weight forward (or take back foot out altogether and move it forward)."

What's the consensus?
I've been trying Smidge's suggestion of overlong and flat recently. The widest available screw inserts and flat enough that you can barely get your toes under. Seems to be enough for foiling .

That sounds like a slalom footstrap setup.
I tried narrow and high, but it didn't work. So now I have normal width, but as loose as they can go (I wear boots though). Feels half way to strapless. Can adjust the foot position a fair bit, but also have some security digging the heel in, pressing the top of the foot against the strap.

I prefer long and relatively tight for straps too. All I want to use them for is leverage upwind, they don't hold me to the board like in wavesailing or even freeride.

Paducah said..

Maddlad said..
Ive raced in 20-25 with an 8m foil race sail and survived, but it wasnt fun. :P

As long as your board's nose didn't end up looking like the loser of a 15 round boxing match, consider it a moral victory.

Haha no, surprisingly although i got blown off the board a few times, there was no damage. :)