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@@slappysurf thanks for the tip! Good ole baking soda saves the day again 😁

@@Stev-0_The_Foiler_69 😅 Not easier just smoother. The performance is still with the shorter fuse but after watching myself on camera a lot recently I’m trying to find some flow. I’m still using the silly with the 1401 and it’s like. How are you finding the sillyshort?

@@downwind_drifter I watched your video chat with Dylan and you were discussing that the bigger the span foils like the 1401 work best with the shorter/Silly Short the fuse for better turning, and the smaller the foil the longer the fuse as helps with pitch control. Off the back of that info I got the Silly Short but I'm still figuring out the Silly Short. I'm using a Foil Drive and 1401 on a 6'10 PPC Link SUP board to do mini-downwinders and to learn to pump. I also got the 1300 PNG and found that easier and more forgiving than the 1401.

@@Stev-0_The_Foiler_69 the 1401 is more technical than the 1300v1 and likely the v2 But if you’re having some success with the 1401 it’s worth persevering as it is a huge upgrade from the v1 I can imagine the transitions could be quite tough with the sillyshort and foil combined. It’s hard enough as it is going from powered to unpowered! I’ve used a foil drive a couple times and found it tough.

Thank you 🤙🤙 and great question. What’s different about your setup?

Or better yet, what is your setup?

@@downwind_drifterAxis 7.5’, 1180, Adv+ Short, P425 stab, 80cm HMC mast, 71kg 6foot rider

I think that setup will be a bit hard to pump efficiently with the long fuse and large rear. Going to the skinny stab range and likely the 55skinny for ease of transition to a new system would be my first push for you. Beyond that, there are too many factors to take into account. Here’s a couple of things for you to consider. Is your stance correct. The reason you might be feeling back foot dominant in your pumping could be that you are too far forward on your board. This is very common and something I’ve had to work on myself. The fix. Make sure that both your legs are carrying your weight as you glide. You don’t want to have one leg doing the majority of the work as far as lifting your weight. I was a very back foot dominant rider, my front foot was essentially a -petrol- *pitch controller. That had my rear foot lifting all my weight as well as being the strength for pumping. Let me know how that sounds to you and if it is something that resonates. We can move forward from there!

@@ragebrothersadventures1820 Well welcome to the Foil world! 1050 might be a bit fast for first Foil, what discipline are you thinking of doing?

@downwind_drifter I live in Exmouth WA main Target will be down winding and we do quite a bit of toe in surfing here as well they are my main two targets. We get a lot of southerlys in the Gulf so down winding will probably be the main Target especially for the summer. Thanks for your prompt reply

I have been learning on an old signature 195 / 1260 rear wing 215 I have found this setup very twitchy under feet and I would say hard to ride

@@ragebrothersadventures1820 is it your first dw foil, if so that would be very small to start with!

@@ragebrothersadventures1820 tow foiling though it would likely be fun!

@@wingfoilrentals what do you mean you missed one! There are so many mishaps… I publish all my runs, but many others runs, as you say don’t make it to video. a plb (personal location beacon) close to hand and life jacket is likely the best option in case of emergency… if you become incapacitated, then using a device like a motor might not be accessible. In a self rescue environment, like in Fiji where rescue resources are extremely limited you probably want to cover as many bases as possible! 🤙🤙

@ lol busy trying to stand up paddle. Yep. Feel it’s all glow n show for the moment. I get it though. Cheers mate. Appreciate your work.

@@mederoby4391 it truly is 🤙🤙 Thanks for the message!

No real final preference... But I wasn't a fan of the 1180 silly 55 combo. It felt like the rear was working hard but the system/fuse was restricting it. It felt like some kind of motorized craft up against a brick wall... like it was churning water. It improved massively by going to the 40 skinny. The 40 wasn't trying to disturb as much water as the 55 and went with the flow better. The 55 was fine though on the crazy60cm I think because the fuse being longer, it gives the stab higher leverage to get its job done... Instead of just disturbing water with no effect it was effecting the system big time creating lift and stability. Which is great if that's what you're after, and I am. The 40 on the crazy is also great. I guess my conclusion in this kind of wave environment, is the 55 skinny is too much rear for the shorter fuse, its trying to lift, but to no effect... causing turbulence and the occasional drop out/down surge. Sorry it's hard to make my thoughts clear sometimes! ^ is that followable?

a longer mast and wider/larger front wing will help stabilize the board

I do wish you luck! Enjoy the learning process, there will likely be some lows… but there will be many many intense highs!! And a whole new skill to add to yourself. Yew!! 🤙🤙

This. Be wary of a long mast in the surf though, I’d still suggest a shorter mast, it’s more twitchy but makes it much much easier to get and handle things on foil. The body soon learns to adapt to the short masts reactions, I actually find it tricky when I go back to my 80cm… everything feels delayed and I’m often over reacting or reacting to quickly for it!

I am certainly trying to live out the dream! Awesome, thank you thank you, I'm stoked you enjoyed it. Work with what we've got 🤙🤙 Thanks for the great message!

Good question. Until you know better through personal experience, I'd recommend 8ft as a minimum. That also requires you to go through the downwind program of starting in wind bumps, bay runs and just normal wavs like this. If starting in ocean long period swell you might need something more like 9-9'1/2ft and narrow just to make it work 😬 Bay runs you can "quickly" size down to slightly shorter and wider boards, to whatever you find fun to surf whilst still retaining a stable platform to be able to stand on easily while you try catch the bumps. Wave I'mm not so sure about... but I can say, a downwind board makes catching them pretty easy and allows you to get on them earlier. Waves being waves though if you in the right spot they will catch you regardless of you craft! whether or not you can manage it is another story. Transitioning to foil from a board is tricky as it is and requires time to learn to go with it, adding in a wave surge makes it much harder to keep it together... A DW board allows you to do this further away from the steep parts of the waves. 8ft is still very fun in the waves and seems quite surfy, if entering sup as a beginner id potentially recommend even bigger to have a smother learning curve... 8ft can feel smaller more often than it feels bigger. 🤙🤙

It happened so fast! Glare on the water and a fast lowering tide caught me out. The foil got a ding but still rode really well despite it 🤙🤙

I'm "glad" you liked the "music" My words or JFK's? Both are likely great 😛

Thank you for saying and sharing the stoke. I think so too, if the gear feels easy then you can push it to its limits! and maybe even get to look good doing it. I don't like running out of space, so I usually ride up until the last few inches! 😬

Let me know how it goes with the smaller rear, I imagine very well! Im using a 70cm fuse with the recent fireballs 😁

​@@downwind_drifterhow long until fireball video? Looking forward to it

@ good question! I have got footage coming 😅

JFK I really enjoyed working on this one and sitting with his words while I edited. Thanks for sharing 🤙🤙

Which god ?

Good question 🤙🤙

You did, I was very impressed with your first sessions!

@@downwind_drifter I have a good teacher 😉

@@alisonventures2780 who! What’s their name!

Thanks for the beta, I will explore it if I still have the footage. I am as you say peering at the drone! if I didn't duck I was going to take it to the head!!

@@mathewmacpherson857 wing span(ny) High aspect foils are long and skinny and often termed as spanny, especially if its a big foil. An Albatros wings spread out would be classed as spanny, a chicken… not so much 😁

@@Alfonso_111 the dragonfly is in New Zealand… travelling with two boards was enough! Very different boards, both have a partially rounded bottom though.

@@michellesong1582 just for you 😁

@@halfeld 😬 I hope so

Dave! Welcome back! I’m happy to have Casey’s sloppy seconds.

Always through the nose! Even though only one nostril works… Thanks for sharing the Stoke 🤙🤙

@@dcharlton07 currently I’m preferring the 1180 for these conditions. I view the 1180 as a surfier foil. I started out here with the 1201 as it is more of a dw weapon. Overall they are quite similar in performance… with the spitfire winning in turn and the 1201 with glide… but the cross over similarity’s are the middle 80% of both

🧐 Lovely message, thank you 🤙🤙

Besides his skills, it’s the narrow board

Yea narrow board helps heaps to keep some forward speed. I can actually get up with a wing board in very similar wind strengths to the dw board. Im really working the foil more than the board and will go about it in different ways depending on the board. The dw board I’m mostly trying to get true forward speed to lift off. A wing board I’m trying to create clearance and initiate wingless pumping, with the wing as an assist. A lot of it is feeling the pressure in the wing and being able to use that pressure as efficiently as possible. I find out there on the water, that I can either feel pressure or I can’t and wing size doesn’t make too much of a difference to me. The smaller 2.8 meter wing allows me to pump freely, a big wing like the five meter, I’ll only be able to do short snappy pumps so that restriction in movement with the big wing equalises both sizes outcomes… Once up though the bigger wing will be more helpful unless there’s lulls… when there is lulls no size wing is good and a bigger wing is much heavier to hold up!

@@vividorrrr🤙🤙 spot on!

@@vividorrrryes thanks. I have a 8’x21 down wind board so gotta work on my skill 😂

@@downwind_drifterthank you for the replay!! Awesome videos

Back at you 🤙🤙

Yea it would have been maximum 9kts on the inside there and with hind site likely 12kts out to sea… I can get started with the 2.8m from 6kts but it’s tough and I’m using all my tactics! And then I’ll be fighting to stay on foil and only just holding ground from dropping downwind… Every kt up from that makes a big difference as well as gusts. I’m most happy from about 12kts up with the 2.8m but 10-11kts is still comfortable 🤙🤙

@@downwind_drifter Impressive

@@SebastianCruz-f7iplenty of experience now 😅 Thanks for the messages and sharing the stoke 🤙🤙

Great message thank you 🤙🤙 I just checked… the closed captions pretty much got it right somehow. Different Dave! 😁 and yea, no filters used on any of these vids. There’s some fancy footwork coming up soon I think!

​@@downwind_drifter Ha - I'm not Dave but I recognize the reachout to Dave West.

@@1rovingeye Ha, yea nah. Dave West is not my Dave… I see the confusion! Oops funny. I have another mate named Dave who was following all my vids. I’m just letting him know I still appreciate him, he’s a good guy, who I havnt see for a while. He did a downwind coaching trip with James Casey… so many parallels 😅

@@alisonventures2780 hope you found some time to breathē

@ I try to, my brain often feels like the beginning of this video. Thanks for the reminder

@ well… you’ve seen who’s brain made this one.

Great shots Alison - I hope I'm tagging the right person

@@1rovingeyeindeed you are 🙂

@@avinashbikha this is in the Yasawas, the north western islands. A great place to wing!

And it’s on tap! 😎

@@michellesong1582 oh, you remember that…

@@OCEANBOUND1🤙😎🤙

@@foilosophy you may. My back foot is already doing too much work on some of these runs… if I brought it forward it would be even more loaded 😅 I’m in the middle of some big stance changes, I definitely fell back into bad habits on this run though! My biggest efforts have been, to bring my front foot back towards the centre to take a lot more weight and duties besides just being the pitch controller! I always try stand according to the front Foil pressure, I wouldn’t know where to begin to locate my mast position from above on the board. I move by feel. I filmed a few recent runs where my feet are very close together in the recent more popular stance, mostly to show that I can do it if I want! I’ve written it a few times now but if you went back to years and watched me ride you would be shocked by how close my feet were together! I was called out by a couple of pros to widen my stance to make it more Surf like… And now the fashion is narrow Stants I’m also getting called out by pros again to narrow my stance! I can’t win! But I’m having fun trying. What brings stance to mind for you? are you working on something? Since I started working on mine maybe four months ago, I take a lot of notice of stance of others riding 🤯

@@downwind_drifter Sounds like a great topic for a video! I'm on the journey back inwards toward the mast so I'm making more frequent smaller adjustments in pressure between left and right. Was watching my brother ride almost facing directly forwards. That's mind blowing to watch. Love it all. Work less. Foil more.

@ good idea for a video, I did cover it with Dylan Bez at one stage during a podcast… but a dedicated vid would be better. I also understand a lot more now too! Be good, stay in touch 🤙🤙

@@andycorbe great question! And thank you. My girlfriend pointed out how wide my stance was looking on this run… Stance comes up a lot for me with my practice, I am in the middle of a big stance change over! In the past I would have my front foot far enough forward, that it could overcome any excess leverage my system might produce… but that would leave my back foot doing all the work, all the heavy lifting. That includes holding my weight like standing on one leg pumping through that same leg controlling the turns through that same leg, basically just all the jobs. Meanwhile my front foot would be on holiday just waiting for something to do, often just pitch control. I have since learned that I need to bring my front foot towards the centre of the system, so that it takes at least an equal amount of pressure that my back leg was trying to maintain by itself. This now means that the pressures come up quite evenly through my legs it makes everything feel way better and I mean way way better. It takes a bit to overcome/learn because all of a sudden my back leg is often the pitch controller or simply my weight leaning forward or back. This doesn’t necessarily mean that my feet are closer together and truly it might only be an inch of difference for my front foot. Therefore there will be some videos coming where I am actively standing in a narrow stance, it’s mostly to show that I can do it! I’m not a big fan of it people think it’s more efficient or they say it’s more efficient but you have less leverage over your system which can take more energy to move. So I’m not convinced about the energy savings. The main thing I was just trying new things for fun and to explore. Even if you’re doing everything right it’s worth doing something is wrong just to learn. Funnily enough I used to have quite a narrow stance! I was always getting called out for it and told to widen it into more of a Surf stance. come forward a couple of years and now I’m getting told to go back to a narrower stance by some guys… The moral of that story is as you say, just to do what’s comfortable and best for you. Hopefully you’re around to catch the video where I make a point of standing narrow, it will be coming up soonish!

@@downwind_drifter Yeah it's a never ending journey of discovery, every time I think I have it sussed something changes and NOW I have it sussed (until next time). I find winging the same set up I naturally go to a very narrow stance but as soon as a paddle is in my hands I go wide. I for sure need to bring the front foot back a bit but then my reaction to sudden pitch changes in messy conditions suffers and as you say it takes more energy. I've also found my back foot creeping further back than it used to (shorter fuses?) but theres a lovely position where pumping feels like it has a certain spring that I can't find further forward. It used to be for me that the back foot position was slightly in front of the mast but these days it seems to be slightly behind.

@@andycorbe sounds like we are in the same boat. I’m using any winging sessions I do to work on stance and then the required adaption to my pump from the new stance. You summed up my experience perfectly with the “now I have it sussed” comment 😅

@@stkl23 good job getting out there! The 1180 might still be fine in those conditions, I was using it a few days ago in 25+kts with 37kt gusts with 6km fetch and I was having a ball! I used both the 40 skinny and 50skinny that day with the 1180 and the crazyshort+A I actually like a bigger foil often in that scenario because it won’t go so fast, I can just hit turn after turn! What was the rest of your setup?

@ I had the 55 skinny stab on the A+ Short Fuse and the 75cm 19mm red mast. 8.0x20 Axis DW board. The biggest problem was the 4m Wing - WAY too big in those kind of winds. I don‘t have a smaller wing as there aren’t many days where it’s THAT windy.

It’s the old A+ fuse. I recently bought a new ultrashort A+ fuse. Will be using this one for every discipline: dock starting, winging and flat water paddle ups.

@@stkl23 yea the wing can really be a pain… you could get a travel pump and dry bag and start working on deflates. Just undo the leading edge and if you come off foil it’s just a quick pump back up (much quicker with the 2.8!) it’s a good step into dw without a wing. It’s quite the adventure 🙂

@@stkl23 going to a shorter fuse should help, it will allow you to put the foil where you want it and not just where it can go. I really like the crazyshort+a at the moment with the 1180 The 45 or 50 skinny would feel much better to, much easier to force the system around.

@@christomo 🤙🙂🤙 🤙🙃🤙 🤙🙂🤙 6mm! Well at least it’s some padding!

@@smotruns so beautiful! How far?

@@downwind_drifter Saint-Petersburg

@@smotruns amazing! It would be fun to trade places for a few weeks 😁

@@downwind_drifter today +7 Celsius

@@downwind_drifter 🤣

@@alisonventures2780 youre the one that let me use the drone!

@@markreadett7412 yea… I tried to save it! Which can go one of two very polar ways. 🤙🤙

@@toms74094ts a little bit smaller and slower. Ive taken the 1201 out in big stuff too many times to count! This is likely where my personal stance issues were born… due to me taking out bigger foils in bigger conditions, I needed a way to make it work. That led me to finding a solution which was to move my front foot forward enough that I could over come any potential overpowering that I might face. It worked… but left me with a tendency to leave my front foot forward in expectation of big lift forces. It was a good enough solution and I still go back to it now if I need to, if I’ve picked the wrong setup. The issue is that it leaves the back leg doing way to much heavy lifting, along with all its other jobs. It’s taken me time to learn to bring my front foot to a position where it can hold my weight and not just be the pitch controller. But yes , I’ve taken the 1201 out in much bigger than just head high bumps! But it is definitely more on the survival (engaging) side of the spectrum!

@@joebenjamin6139 😎🕺🏻🌬️🏝️👯‍♀️🦋🦭🤙

Excellent result! Id go a step further and actually size up the 35 if you've got something to try. I had so much fun today with the 1180 crazy 40skinny and 50skinny. We had stonking bay run conditions. Thanks for getting in touch with such a great message!

Interesting, still trying to get my head around the difference between +ve or -ve shimming V going larger or smaller rear foil. Somehow it feels like there is a different feel, for example could have gone 45 skinny no shim today but I think I actually had a different feel with 1 degree positive 35. Much experimenting to do - just need to document so I don’t forget the results of the million and one options!

Thanks for the great message! You're crushing it! I love the video. When does the season end for hood river, or actually when does the season start and finish? Thanks for reaching out and sharing the stoke!!

@downwind_drifter the main season in Hood River is June -September. I'm heading down to La Ventana Baja for the winter and there it's a nice bay run with good bumps. Keep up the great videos....we all appreciate your efforts.

Agreed! We are trying to give you the best view of the bumps each time! There are huge gains to be had just by mind surfing these

Thanks Mate! I've tried board shims plenty of times, stacking up to 3x 1degree shims! I've never found a use for them personally, I wouldn't bother spending any money on one. My greatest fear was that the shim would slide out causing my bolts to be loos and then losing my setup.

Great filming on this on! I like the perspective throughout.

This was decent riding and good camera angles, well worth the second watch! Thanks for the great message!