Why foil....fin vs. foil

[kevinkan]

i love the effortless glide of the foil and the smooth turns that can can be had. I live in a windy place (San Francisco), and yet foiling still has its place among many of the windsurfers here. Some only foil now, some tried it and hated it. Some of us do both depending on the conditions. It has greatly simplified my gear choices... I pretty much just rig my 4.0 these days. If the conditions are good enough for that to go windsurfing, I go windsurfing. If not, I take the foil board out. The ability to get upwind in iffy conditions at Crissy and to foil on the smooth, slopey swells under the Golden Gate Bridge makes magical sessions much more frequent. The feeling of making perfect feeling turns is mesmerizing.

When I go down to LA, I can foil at Cabrillo on 4.0 when the slalom guys are on 8.0s... and jibing in sub 15mph wind is really fun.

FYI: I'm about 195lbs riding the Slingshot Wizard 125, Infinity 76, S2Maui Jester 4.0.... and pair that with Fanatic STB or Stubbys in the 85, 88, & 95l range.

[grantmac017]

Kevin,

You can foil into high enough wind to plug that 4.0 into your 95L STB?

[dllee]

Ws'd with Kev for 15 years, foiled with for 4 sessions.
4.0 for him foiling would be around 15-25 mph.
Ws starts at 25 gusts with 4.0, up to a tuned sail gusts to 32.
So, while no overlap, it can work as long as the wind doesn't drop back to foil speeds.
NO downhaul, outhauled so sail touches inside boom when loaded.
Absolutely NO loose leech.

[kevinkan]

[grantmac017]

I'm hoping for a crossover with my 109L freestyle board with a 5.8-5.3 or so. Actually the plan is to foil with that board for a very compact quiver.

[dllee]

Sail and fin tuning makes a big difference.
You know I'm a bad foiler.
Yesterday, way powered on 6.6 and Naish setup, working on full harness line pressure, foiled in 12-20 mph breeze for 21 jibes, then switched directly to 100 liter RRD for 20 minutes well powered, then switched back to Naish foil for 3 jibes....came in feeling lucky and not push it.
Wind stayed the same, other's foiling with 5.5's.

[dllee]

I did use a 38 FinWorks blade instead of the normal 36 that always spins out.

[coachg]

The advantages & disadvantages of foiling have been discussed many times over so I won’t address that issue. This topic is why foil vs. windsurf & a key issue in that topic is will it increase your TOW.

We all have differing opinions on what size sail becomes too big and there are many factors that weigh in on that decision; location, size of the sailing area, wind strength averages, rig weight, vehicle, sailor size & ability to name a few factors. So, obviously sail size is a factor of TOW. Another key factor of TOW is the type of windsurfing you are willing to do/invest in. And yet another key factor is probably how long you have been sailing. Some of you sound tired.

For sailors like me, foiling has not increased TOW, it has merely replaced the type of gear I use on a given day. I’m not allergic to long boards & get on the water long before I or any other foiler can fly. The sailors that I have seen having their TOW increased are the wind snobs & the tired sailors. For them foiling has been a major revelation. Many of the “say no to 5.0” crowd at Sherman have now taken up foiling which gets them out on the water in winds under 20 mph for the first time in decades. At Sherman, it has doubled the number of sailors on the water when the wind drops under 20 so it has obviously increased participation there.

Coachg

[dllee]

Some of my best days at Sherman Island were flood tide 12-17 mph days.
124 liter 12 lbs slalom board and 6.6 3 cam sail with a 44 cm fin.
Full speed flying from berry shore to past the 2 islands, 26 mph and not needing to pinch to get upwind... flat 6" windswells max.
40 would be windsurfers watching from shore, bigger guys slogging with 8 meter sails,
So now, I'd be on foil and 5.5.
But big guys would be foiling that day, on 6.5.
And we all would be going 17 mph.