Here’s a video of wind-foiling in Kailua. If anyone tells you it is too difficult or hard to learn, don’t listen. If they tell you that you need a race foil, super wide board or high performance race sail, don’t listen. Here I am riding the Hover 122 with Thrust foil and 90cm mast. My sail is a 5.7 meter Lift... three and a half batten soft sail that anyone can rig in about a minute. Wind is 10-15 knots... not really enough to get planing on normal windsurf gear, but enough to kite foil on a 9 or ride a twin tip with a 14-16 meter. And I am out windsurfing, flying around and having a blast!!
This is for all those people that “used to windsurf” but got tired of waiting for wind. This will bring the fun of just riding the wind back to you. If you are good enough to get into the footstraps and occasionally make your jibes, you are good enough to ride this foil gear. I meet people all over the world that tell me that they used to windsurf but stopped because the sport passed them by, the gear got too small and too complicated and they needed too much wind to have fun.... spending too much time waiting and chasing wind and not enough time actually windsurfing... so they moved on.
No, this is not as exciting as doing back loops or hitting the lip at Hookipa. But I have been windsurfing at the highest level through the entire evolution of our sport for over forty years, and I love this. So will you. Just windsurfing back and forth, reading the water, gliding with almost no resistance, going really fast with a small and simple sail... it really is incredibly fun. And yes, you do “feel” the water. If I look away from the front of the board for more than a few seconds, I drop off the foil. You are constantly making little adjustments,shifting your weight, sheeting in and out etc. you are not “disconnected” as some people have questioned.... this is real windsurfing. But you can do it and have fun in “normal conditions”... flat water and average winds that you can find pretty much anywhere.
If you know someone that “used to windsurf” and loved it.... send them this post.
I really feel this can bring windsurfing back to a lot of people. I hope that I’m right. See you on the water....
Aloha and good sailing,
Robby
