Hey all, I’m brand new to surf foiling… only a few sessions in, but enjoying those small successes where I get them. I’ve been windsurf foiling since July and got to be pretty consistent at jibing after a couple of months. I dawn patrol most days for surfing… me and a buddy decided to add surf foiling after seeing someone at RJs getting 2 and 3 for ones… I had written it off because I just didn’t think the area had good spots for surf foiling.
Anyway – here’s a topic starter: If you could go back in time and give advice to yourself as a new prone surf foiler, what would advice would you give?
So far we’ve foiled Bolsa Chica and Seal Rivermouth. Folks have been pretty friendly and helpful which is nice.
I’m riding the same Slingshot 76 front wing I windsurf with… but I bought the shorter fuselage and 71cm mast. I got that big Slingshot board from a couple of years ago … The “Skywalker” pretty easy to catch waves on. My buddy is riding the same foil set up but a 4’6 beater from freedom… it’s trickier!
Learn the basics of surfing first.
Then learn the basics of foiling.
Learn the technique to keep weight over the nose while you stand up. Once comfortably standing, then bring the board out the water slowly. I’ve seen far too many guys struggle to keep the foil down while trying to stand up and it slows the learning curve and can also be dangerous…
I would say learn to give up waves to others you are foiling with. They will appreciate it and you can watch how they do it and try to mimic it. And also, don’t pull on anyone’s leash like burkhardt did that one time.
Agree with Jezza. Take off in the white water, just close enough to the breaking wave that it propels you forward for 5 seconds, but not so powerful that it throws you around. Popup quick (no knees!), then do a little ollie motion to unstick the board and get up on foil. Do not try to get up on foil while popping up. And when you fall (and you will fall) jump off and away from foil, don’t get in between wave and foil. Do not get into pitching waves! I am a believer in wearing a helmet to start. Impact vest isn’t a bad idea too. Kooky as hell, but so are you, for a while anyway, so embrace that kookdom, it’ll be super rad soon
PS buddy spent his first year on 76 and that board…great learning/intermediate set up
Thanks for all the tips guys! Very helpful. There’s surprisingly little content about the surf foil learning curve out there.100% agree… been having a lot more success keeping nose down and moving in front of the wave before popping up.
We’ve definitely taken our lumps. We’ve tried to surf Bolsa when it seemed “small”, but our surfer goggles need to be taken off to understand just how weak and small you want waves to be. When it gets to a certain size, waiting for non-set waves ends up not being a great strategy when you’re eating it/duck diving so much on the inside.
Early dawn patrol at SanO seems ideal right now… Cold enough to keep the water from getting crowded for a little while.
Depends on the spot, but where we are foiling the outside wave breaks, then reforms inside. So my rule is, I only have to paddle out far enough that it feels like I should do a duck dive – that’s where I can start to catch them. Maybe that helps?
But also: in a crowd, my MO is to take off in the white water deeper than the surfers, ride behind them until they fall off or it peters out, then I take over. Or if they are going to make the wave, then go left or kick out and practice pumping. That opens up a lot of waves while staying out of the way and not having to be aggro/assertive. I think of it as taking the scraps no one else wants or can ride. I know that technically it’s a drop-in if the surfer is up first, but most people misunderstand the rules and think that since you’re deeper you have priority, so it’s a sneaky way to get more sets. If you do it with a smile and give them a hoot, everyone seems stoked to “share” a little.
There’s a guy in Ventura. He goes prone on the drop. Every drop! He claims you can take the steepest drops ever on the foil. When he get’s to the bottom and it’s all in control he get’s to his feet. He’s real good too. Just a very interesting approach on dropping into waves.
Hi there. I’ve been foiling for 2 months on a used setup. The wing is really banged up from all of the rocks and hitting bottom. I’m ready for a new all carbon wing and board. But I’m afraid I’ll really F up the wing. How do you guys keep your nice wings from getting dinged up?
pretty easy to catch waves on. My buddy is riding the same foil set up but a 4’6 beater from freedom… it’s trickier!