Anybody in Vancouver Downwind SUP Foiling?

[JonathanP]

Swim docks at lakes are easy to learn on. Squamish and Whistler have a few, not sure about the city though. I tried at dundrave pier, but was too tricky with the big board I had and foot railing on that dock for the running with board in water start I use. Jerry from Pemberton has had success with the drop board and hop on technique at the Ambleside floating dock for getting swell rides to the beach there. Cates park looks to have some good docks, gets some ok wind too I hear.

I've been using a drift sock attached to my flagging handle to just ditch my wing and ride swell (cheap, large alternative to Anchorman). Then wait for it to drift down to me. Pretty good way to practice riding swell with no wing to aid your balance. Can get far downwind of the wing pretty fast though, mine drifts very slow.

Mast stiffness and foil efficiency seen very critical to efficient pumping/down winding unless the swell is pumping. Planning to upgrade my gong kit to the full pro setup, as my current monoblock is way too flexible. Anyone want to get in on a going order/split shipping?

[adam2]

Hey Jonathan! What size drift sock are you using? I have been thinking of trying one on my leash. Did you need to add weights or anything else? I have logged lots of hours downwind winging at Spanish Banks in the past month and am.not convinced I'll get enough energy out of the chop/swell on all but the really good days, a drift sock will give me a better sense of this.

[adam2]

Hey Jonathan! What size drift sock are you using? I have been thinking of trying one on my leash. Did you need to add weights or anything else? I have logged lots of hours downwind winging at Spanish Banks in the past month and am.not convinced I'll get enough energy out of the chop/swell on all but the really good days, a drift sock will give me a better sense of this.

[Michael]

There are a few guys dock starting out at Deas Island. I'm going to try it out soon. I'm also looking at getting a downwind board and would be into trying a downwinder from Acadia.

[JonathanP]

Hey Adam, I got this one, attach to the end of my wrist leash and stuff it kind of under the leash or waist harness. https://www.amazon.ca/MOPHOEXII-Anchor- ... B08XMV33GX

It's definitely overkill in size, but very secure. Don't need any weights, thinking I'll actually trim it down a fair bit to drift faster. Wing flops around a bit, but connection to the flag handle is very solid and keeps the wing from lifting whether upside down or right side up. I wouldn't use the standard tiny string leash connections wings have, which I think makes the wing lift off. Have heard of the Anchorman not gripping in some odd cases in strong wind, but these kayak drift anchors are huge in comparison. I'll actually throw my wing into the air to get it to fly downwind. Just have to make sure you don't stray too far to the side as you go downwind or you might need to paddle quickly back in line. If your near a shore/slightly onshore wind, you can do long runs down and just walk back up the beach or hang out waiting for it to drift near to shore.
Here's some practice in fairly small swell
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CtmBUlLA ... 9obHUxcA==

[Michael]

Here's some practice in fairly small swell
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CtmBUlLA ... 9obHUxcA==

Dude that looks so fun! What foil are you using?

[Slappy]

With the wind dying off yesterday I finally got over to the Jericho dock to try it out. I got a $25 rope ladder off amazon and made some dyneema loops to help attach it. The ladder worked very well. The Jericho dock not so much. I found that run starts are pretty much impossible because of the side of the dock going deep under water.

On the bright side though I did manage to get dead starts to the point where I can land on the board pretty easily. I found if I did a bit of a drop/throw of the board in the air it worked best to give me that extra bit of time to wind up my jump.

The dock deck is concrete so it was a bit rough on the nose of my board when bringing the foil back on the dock. I think I'll bring a small mat next time. The sides of the dock are wood so the board hitting them isn't so bad, but there are I bolts in some places that would do damage if you got unlucky with where you hit.

Just the dock starts


Full session

[JonathanP]

Dude that looks so fun! What foil are you using?

I'm on gong veloce H XL. Pretty high aspect ratio, 1150 sq cm. Seems to be a good fit for the slow and tight period swell around here.

[JonathanP]

With the wind dying off yesterday I finally got over to the Jericho dock to try it out.

Nice progress, that definitely seems to be the technique where running doesn't work! Just need to get that landing a bit more precise. I've found I need to be way more forward than it feels, but still have to keep the nose up until that first pump gets your speed/lift engaged. I haven't successfully drop started yet though.
What foil are you using?

[adam2]

Thanks for the sea anchor info Jonathan! I look forward to trying this out with a bit of onshore wind. I'll likely bring a set of hand paddles with me initially just in case I need to get to it quickly.