Cheers Bill, you should put downwinding on your radar, with a foil and not your 14 footer. The DW set-up is also fun in small waves. The challenging water off Taps definitely sharpens my skills. I am a Fireball fan, with a new 1000 being my go-to wingfoil wing in 15 knots plus, replacing my 999 ART and 1051 ART Pro.
Your advice is always welcome Jason, thanks. I briefly tried the sillyshort on an earlier set-up, but did not continue with it. I will re-visit it. Cheers, Mike
I’m 80 kgs (176 lbs). Wind was gusting 20 knots +. Messy water with a reasonable swell, wind chop and cross currents. Winging upwind on a big foil and narrow (20”) downwind board can be very challenging in these conditions. Also, gybing with my paddle strapped to the boom and a big blade hanging out the end makes it difficult. Soon I will move to a 17” wide DW board and I am concerned about winging it in lumpy conditions. Wingability is critical for my downwinding, so I am conservatively going for an extra 10 litres of volume (120L).
@@foilingnz3658so your paddle does not break down and fit into your backpack for winging? What is the biggest challenge with winging a very narrow board? Balancing to get going? Touchdowns? Or limited space for offset foot stance?
My paddle does not break down. I strap it along my centre strut. A fixed length (ie: not adjustable) shaft is way superior for paddling. You will never see a good SUP racer using an adjustable paddle. Often when the bumps are tricky I need every paddle advantage to get me on the foil asap, and even then it can take a while. Here is an earlier video where you can see exactly how I deal with my paddle: th-cam.com/video/tl-NPcJdvzg/w-d-xo.html Yes, winging a downwind board is challenging and can take a while to get used to it. A DW board is the opposite of my regular wingfoil board, an 85L Axis Blast (22”) or 85L Axis Froth (25.5”), which is short and wide, whereas, my DW board is long (8.0’) and narrow (20”). That contrast alone is enough to make it challenging. All that length is hard to manage in choppy water with more swing weight when foiling. A narrow deck means less area to find the sweet spot for your feet, particularly when gybing. Yes, it is much less stable getting going, plus being less stable makes touchdowns more challenging. In light breeze I much prefer winging my DW board with a big foil and small hand wing. As opposed to the opposite on the typical wingfoil board. I just like gliding on small bumps and flagging my handwing (mostly never bigger than a 4m). With a 4m and Fireball 1350 on my DW board I can get foiling in 7-8 knots. All this time wingfoiling my DW set up gets me so familiar with it, making downwind paddling it much better. These days I only seem to ride my “traditional” wingfoil set up (85L board and smaller front foil) when the wind is strong and there are decent waves. When the wind is strong and waves ok, a DW board is not much fun wave riding with a handwing - paddle only, they wave ride really well. The days when I want to be DW sup foiling often means decent breeze and a big sea state - so, winging that with a big front foil is very challenging.
Nice work Mike, your DW skills looking very polished on that Fireball 👍
Cheers Bill, you should put downwinding on your radar, with a foil and not your 14 footer. The DW set-up is also fun in small waves. The challenging water off Taps definitely sharpens my skills. I am a Fireball fan, with a new 1000 being my go-to wingfoil wing in 15 knots plus, replacing my 999 ART and 1051 ART Pro.
Nice video, also liked the detailed description and the map. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers for that.
I recon try the sillyshort a+ with that front an rear combo for these smaller bump sessions 🤙🤙
Your advice is always welcome Jason, thanks. I briefly tried the sillyshort on an earlier set-up, but did not continue with it. I will re-visit it. Cheers, Mike
Axis doesn't have the 1350 on their website yet. Would you share the specs?
It's on their website now. chord 132mm, mean avg chord 96.88mm, actual area 1309cm2, volume 1112cm3, aspect ratio 13.93
Rider weight? Windspeed?
I’m 80 kgs (176 lbs). Wind was gusting 20 knots +. Messy water with a reasonable swell, wind chop and cross currents. Winging upwind on a big foil and narrow (20”) downwind board can be very challenging in these conditions. Also, gybing with my paddle strapped to the boom and a big blade hanging out the end makes it difficult. Soon I will move to a 17” wide DW board and I am concerned about winging it in lumpy conditions. Wingability is critical for my downwinding, so I am conservatively going for an extra 10 litres of volume (120L).
@@foilingnz3658so your paddle does not break down and fit into your backpack for winging?
What is the biggest challenge with winging a very narrow board? Balancing to get going? Touchdowns? Or limited space for offset foot stance?
My paddle does not break down. I strap it along my centre strut. A fixed length (ie: not adjustable) shaft is way superior for paddling. You will never see a good SUP racer using an adjustable paddle. Often when the bumps are tricky I need every paddle advantage to get me on the foil asap, and even then it can take a while. Here is an earlier video where you can see exactly how I deal with my paddle:
th-cam.com/video/tl-NPcJdvzg/w-d-xo.html
Yes, winging a downwind board is challenging and can take a while to get used to it. A DW board is the opposite of my regular wingfoil board, an 85L Axis Blast (22”) or 85L Axis Froth (25.5”), which is short and wide, whereas, my DW board is long (8.0’) and narrow (20”). That contrast alone is enough to make it challenging. All that length is hard to manage in choppy water with more swing weight when foiling. A narrow deck means less area to find the sweet spot for your feet, particularly when gybing. Yes, it is much less stable getting going, plus being less stable makes touchdowns more challenging. In light breeze I much prefer winging my DW board with a big foil and small hand wing. As opposed to the opposite on the typical wingfoil board. I just like gliding on small bumps and flagging my handwing (mostly never bigger than a 4m). With a 4m and Fireball 1350 on my DW board I can get foiling in 7-8 knots. All this time wingfoiling my DW set up gets me so familiar with it, making downwind paddling it much better. These days I only seem to ride my “traditional” wingfoil set up (85L board and smaller front foil) when the wind is strong and there are decent waves. When the wind is strong and waves ok, a DW board is not much fun wave riding with a handwing - paddle only, they wave ride really well. The days when I want to be DW sup foiling often means decent breeze and a big sea state - so, winging that with a big front foil is very challenging.