Hi,
Quick question: With a long, narrow board (Downwind) board like a starboard ace 7'10 ? 23 ? 5'1 140? is it possible to catch small bumps (unbroken wave or maybe just a little bit of white) behind the shore/sandbar break and play out behind the shorebreak with just paddle power (see picture spot A)?
The rambeling:
The screenshot is my local spot, beach break, river mouth. I think it is actually a good representation of the spot, as you can see the waves breaking onto a shallow sand bar, and you can see the small channel on the right-hand side of the picture.
It is not the best location, but it is consistently decent, with always something to do. Strong winds, I can windsurf and light winds, I can SUP surf. Unfortunately, foiling does not play a big part. I'm interested in it, but the shore break and waves dumping on the sandbar usually stop me from taking my foil out, especially if I am wing foiling.
In the past, I had a Hypernut 7'4" x 30" 116L (5in1), which I used mainly for WindSup, I found the small volume hard for me to SUP foil or supping, and it was too long for foiling. After changing to an 8'8" x 33" 145L Quatoro glide, which I use for Supping and WindSup, the Hypernut and Starboard converse 9' x 30" sat around not being used, so I sold them.
I recently purchased an old Fanatic Sky Wing 6'0" x 30" 130L (made for winging). I gave it a try for SUP foiling with the hopes of putting a mast track into it for windfoiling.
I started where you can see the A in the picture, bobbing around, trying to get my balance with the hopes of moving in towards the beach to catch waves. Actually, at point A, the waves just pop up a little, sometimes a little bit of white and then reform. But with this short fat board, I can't seem to get any speed. I think even if I were on my current sup board, I would not be able to catch them.
But what about these new Narrow skinny downwind boards with just paddle power? Is it possible to catch these small bumps that are outside and just play outside behind the break?
Sorry to give a long-winded question, which just boils down to "what is the smallest bump I can catch?".
Also, before heading to the beach, I check the forecast, reports and web camera, loading the car with what I think I will need, little to no wind, then SUP, paddle and a windsurfing rig (light wind training), wind and waves, then appropriate sails and a board.
But there are times that the forecast and webcams show light to moderate wind and no waves, and I really wanted to foil on those days, which is why I went down the short/ wide sup foil with a mast track route, so I could load the car with a board that I could either windfoil or sup foil with. Is it possible to catch these small bumps with a short, narrow board which has high volume?
Looks very possible.
