Foil Question

[drroc]

Is the appeal of foiling that you can go fast without destroying your knees?

[ozchrisb]

It's smooth, it's fast, it's hard to learn yet rewarding to master, it works in light and strong winds. That's some of the reasons, the best one I can come up with though is that it just feels good to do. Different to riding on the water surface for sure.

[Aloha]

Foiling is a more "pleasant" experience would probably be the best way of putting it in my opinion.

Kiting season overlaps with track season for me, and even with super sore legs foiling still feels low impact and something I can get excited about when I'd have no desire to take the beating of a regular board.

You also have the silence of riding without wake or friction, no cold water splashing up on you ("feels" warmer?) and once you really get dialed riding strapless it truly becomes the completely surreal experience of flying above the water "a magic carpet ride"

I should mention all of this is said MINUS the learning phase ... where you need to be ready for considerably MORE of a beating than traditional kiting when every fall is 3 feet to the water ;]

[peter19ue]

Yeah, it's a pretty cool experience floating above the water. My knees where shot from wakeboarding and I got into foiling because it is a low impact sport, that is when you learn how to fly the board.

I initially got the crap kicked out of my when I was learning to foil behind the boat. I started wearing a helmet and rib protector because I constantly had sore ribs from falling sideways from 4 feet in the air going 22mph.

If I primarily will be kiting and Sherman will a 12m kite be the biggest kite I would need for light wind days. There were many times last season when it was not windy enough to windsurf and there were guys out there on foils tearing it up.

[le noun]

12m even sounds too big. I usually see people 3 sizes down from me when they are on foils.
If it's light and I'm on my 12m with a surf board, I usually see people foiling on a 9m.

[peter19ue]

That's good news. Just picked up a used 9m and 12m and was hoping that would cover all conditions, including those light wind days on a foil, when it's not really really windy. I still plan to windsurf on those days if it's 4.7 or smaller.

[ozchrisb]

A 12m and a foil is a nice combo for the Sherman light days.

[peter19ue]

If I have a 9 and 12m kite what would be the smallest kite that I would occasionally use at Sherman on windy days. When I took a lesson in Maui it was blowing harder that it normally does on a really windy day at Sherman and I was on a 7.

[ozchrisb]

On a foilboard? A 6m or 7m, but mainly because they're about the smallest kites companies make. But really, don't worry about that for now, 12m and 9m should get you started. Just be sensible about when you go out.

[yojimbo]

I'll probably still windsurf when it's really windy and kite the other times.

Recently purchased a 5m kite, so now I have a 5, 7, and 9m. Used my 5m recently when it was in the blowing in the low 30's and gusting up to mid 40's(mph). Totally comfortable in those conditions, never felt overpowered, if anything, sometimes underpowered. Should have gotten a 5.5 meter, but I will do that next time.

I have a 12m, but haven't used that in ages. Don't even want to kite when the conditions require a kite that size.

My knees where shot from wakeboarding and I got into foiling because it is a low impact sport,

Always got the impression that wake style riding would destroy your knee, hip and ankle joints. Never was drawn to that style of riding, but from watching videos I don't see how you are not destroying your body from those landings-or is it a softer type landing when kiting wake style?