Anybody in Vancouver Downwind SUP Foiling?

[adam2]

I ended up going down from my 156cm span foil to a 106 and immediately things feel so much easier. I'm no longer long jumping halfway across False Creek to get onto the board, plus it weighs about half as much making this entire process of getting the board out of the water way easier. I know I'll struggle more pumping this foil, but if I can't even jump on a wide wing in the first place then what's the point?

[cjsknight]

Ok I’m finally motivated. 6am ladder session tmrw at eagle harbour beach if anyone is interested in joining.

Btw if you haven’t seen this guys videos, great real time learning curve:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3umnqpmxtxo

[Slappy]

Great views of all 3 Cat Lake docks in that video. They all look good.

Sadly 6 AM is too early for me.

One thing that a lot of people tell you to do that I had skipped was the dry land training with the board. But I decided I should switch to starts where I keep my hands on the board and have found dry land training with the board and something soft quite helpful. It's quite a struggle for an inflexible old guy like me to get my feet up under me while holding the board.

Yvon also just released his dockstart video and his "reverse" start looks quite interesting and totally unintuitive but feels pretty good trying it on land. It prefers a higher dock though and would only be doable for goofy riders at Jericho. It definitely seems like the lowest energy start of all the starts, and very easy on the hip flexors too. My left hip flexor is taking a beating.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSXoRP9TB3U

[adam2]

Yvon's dropstart looks promising, especially for those of us "mature" foilers. I need to think of where this would be an option locally, maybe I will bring out a milk crate to the dock next time. I know better by now than to think that it's going to be much easier than any other start, but it's worth a try.

@cjsknight I sent you a PM!

[Slappy]

I'm going to hit up Vanier boat ramp tonight around 7:30 if any others are interested. Should be a nice incoming current for regular footers. Hopefully not too many boats.

[JonathanP]

Roll the glutes/piriformis with a tennis ball for those hip flexor woes! Works immediate wonders for me

[cjsknight]

Well, first time “dock” starting in a while. Took me almost the whole session to start nailing the launch again. Now just gotta figure out the pump with the APF 1675. This foil is definitely less forgiving than the cf2400 but feels way more efficient when you do land it. For me the keys to successful starts:
- ladder vrs dock, you get WAY more attempts in with less swimming, when you biff a start you are in waist deep water;
- hands onboard, switch to palm down immediately then swap hands for feet;
- height above water, a bit higher is better as the “drop” accelerates yr first pump;
- slow vrs fast start: you can push the board as fast as you want, but if yr body isn’t moving equally you’ll stall. I find a slow start let’s you get up and over the board;
- still feels very f-ing hard…

[cjsknight]

Omg I just watched that yvon video. Mind bending - I can barely stick my starts normally and he is throwing in a 180???

Nope. Just nope.

[Slappy]

Nice to finally have some company!

Adam joined me for a sunset sesh at Vanier, good times. I'm really liking the feel of my new running start technique (hold on to the board while jumping on it) and we also got to try out the buddy launcher system.

It's crazy how many and how fast you can do attempts with your buddy holding the foil for you. Super easy to get the glide with the run up, and for sure the easiest way to start as a total beginner. I felt like even though my glide was better with the buddy starts my feet weren't always in as good a position to start pumping.

[JonathanP]

Getting really close, great bails too! Think you just need to get a bit more forward in foot position so that you can be balanced right for the speed/lift increase you'll get from the first pump without rising and stalling too much. I struggled a bit to convince myself of how far forward I needed to land and lean. Think about projecting forward. Then it's just a matter of feeling the rhythm!