My unemployed friend has been kitefoiling (that is kitesurfing on a hydrofoil) for the last couple of months, and keeps on reporting to me what an awesome session he had, that he was foiling in basically no wind, that he learned to do tacks and gybes without going down to the water, that I will love it because its a new thing to learn. I agreed that it sounded sick, so when I got out of the army and would be free all day to surf I picked up a used liquidforce hydrofoil fish.
We dont have much strong wind here, so up till now ive been surfing a north nugget with my trusty 2014 bandit 10, a set I absolutely love, and which works for me from 13+ knots I start to have fun already. I also had a zephyr for the really light days but rarely used it recently because it didnt work anyway below 10 knots, and with 13 I would rather be with the bandit.
Anyway, I started going in in stupid light winds (thats all there was… my first session it was probably around 11-12 knots) with the bandit 10, I mean in the lulls the kite barely even stays in the air (in the future I go even lower, but for now it seemed like it was stupid low). Maybe its because the foil is a beginner board, maybe also because I am quite proficient at strapless wave surfing, the foiling came to me pretty easy, my first session I was already going up and down from the foil for legs of 10-20 meters, my second session I was already doing full legs pretty much on the foil, turning the board around, and going the other way. On my third session I started doing tacks/gybes on the water, and from then on just tried to keep improving.
On my 5 or 6th session I was out in the depths, I saw a sailboat tacking upwind, and just out of curiosity I tried to race upwind with them. Quite quickly I discovered that I was going upwind faster than them (this was a simple sailboat no race cat, but also am I no racer) and that kindof put things in perspective about how efficient the foil is, because I always recalled fondly the insane angles upwind sailboats could go from when I was a kid and sucks that kites cant do that.
Another thing that happened was that one day there was forcasted some stronger wind in the afternoon so North kiteboarding came to the beach to do a demo of their equipment (until then I was surfing alone, no one even bothered to come to the beach – it was that light). So I was foiling all afternoon having fun in all directions, then some other kiters showed up, at first some people were going in with the juice 18 and some dice 12s but no one was really able to have fun, just maybe hold a line if they were lucky. After a while the wind did pick up a bit and people were able to surf, so I took the nugget (a board I loveeeeddd before the foil) for a test ride.
I had a hard time surfing the nugget after the foil, it just felt so slippery on the water and SO MUCH FRICTION!! I did a 20 minute session just to try to get used to it because it always takes some time when switching boards to calibrate, but I didnt really have much fun, just seemed such hard work after foil.
The feeling of floating along the water, no chop, no noise, just pk pk pk of the light spray the mast of the foil makes, the absolute grip in the direction your facing, the ability to surf literally in any direction you want to without worrying you will have to work to tack back upwind, is new and unlike other kiting experiences.
This was when I realized once you go foil you never go back. Since then I wave surfed (no kite) a couple of times but havent kited with a planing hull board. Its been only foiling for me, and since I can go in such light wind (frequently there is 9-12 knots summer breeze here, a range previously not worth kiting for me) I have literally been doing morning sessions (something previously reserved for wave surfing due to lack of wind) basically every day at my home spot (!), instead of having to drive 1+ hours to a spot which has wind. This saves tons of time, because I hate driving to surf, just wastes the whole day and I like doing a lot of stuff.
Kite foiling isnt for everyone, I met people who have a hard time learning the balance, although I have a friend who bought a foil with me who has been kitesurfing for a short amount of time (only like half a year and only twin tip) and hes had quite an easy time learning it. You need to be completely comfortable and effortless controlling the kite, balance, patience, but for the more proficient kiters out there – foilboards are the future, Laird Hamilton was towing into waves apparently a while ago, also a few weeks ago there was kai lenny SUPping downwind on a foil SUP (~1 paddle stroke per minute, video here), last week kai was paddling into waves on a foil surfboard (sick!). Kitefoiling is easy relative to those I assume, get in while were still small.
So thats enough for now, more interesting insights and progression coming soon 🙂
hovermanbronz 