Hello everybody, I have a question for you, if you will be so kind!
I had some sessions (less than 10) on the wizard 105 (my first experience on foil), few of them were with i76 but after 2/3 times I broke the little piece where you have two bolts to attach the wing, and because I was thinking that that little piece was a different one for the i65 I only went with this wing for the last 6/7 sessions.
So, in the end, I have more experience with the i65, which I found a good one anyway, not so difficult to learn on, maybe more easy as the speed grows that the i76, but I'm not sure.
I started with an other guy, same setup, 10 kg heavier than me (70).
Both of us were good, after the first day of trouble, of going strait in control.
BUT, both of us were out of the straps all the time and in front of them with both feet, and being there was the key of success.
When we started we were trying to foil with both feet in the straps but we felt immediately unbalanced and unable to keep the foil in the water.
In fact, It was when my friend tried to go out of the straps, and me as well few minutes later, that we immediately started to feel good and gain confidence. (except the fact that running without footstraps was a little annoying, but not as much as it would be with the regular windsurfing, I imagine)
We were out from 15 up to 25knots of wind, from a 5.5 wave sail to a 4.5/4.2, but every time the sensation was exactly the same, not properly balanced, all the time searching for more front pressure.
How can we get in those, so far back, footstraps without taking off to sky??? We already tried the mast mount in the most far away setup but anyway was not enough... and because the 105 have a fixed foil position I was only thinking about sell that board to get a freestyle one or the new 114, only to have the chance to move the foil to find the sweet spot. But before doing that would be great to listen your experiences!
thanks a lot
Andrea
You wrote, "When we started we were trying to foil with both feet in the straps but we felt immediately unbalanced and unable to keep the foil in the water." You kindof answered your own question, but here below is my input (once an instructor, always an instructor):
This sounds like a classic case of front wing being too far forward and not at or near the midpoint between your footstraps.
You can do one, or more, of three things to correct this.
1. Since you are using Slingshot, you can change the ABC position on the fuselage to move the wing further back.
2. You can move your footstraps further forward if you have holes available.
3. You can move your sail mast base further forward if you have track space available. This is usually only a fine-tune and less of an effect that 1 or 2 above.
Try 1 first. It is the most effective adjustment in balance you have.
If you read around these fora you will see a ton of discussion about the fuselage ABC positions. This was genius of Slingshot to come out with this before anybody else did. By the way, if you have a choice, go with the newer and longer Slingshot fuselage.
The 105 is a great board and should work fine for you using any wing in the hoverglide line, except the 99
76 in B
65 in B
84 in C
Those settings work for 99% of regular people. There should never be any reason to use A on a wizard.
Mostly likely explanation is that you are just too back foot heavy or you are over sailed so you sheet out too much losing mast foot pressure and therefore breaching.
If you can easily water start you are oversailed. If you can easily foil without pumping then you are oversailed.
My suggestion would be 65 in B or 76 in B, front strap all the way forward, remove back strap and mast track all the way forward. If you are still breaching then you are not putting enough weight on your front foot. Most people will gradually move their mast track back as they learn to keep their weight on the front foot.
The w114 is great, if you have the cash, but I do not think it will solve your problem.
I had the same experiences as the OP when I first started, and I generally agree w/ the points made so far about Slingshot wing position. The other thing that took me a while to realize (lots of full kit launches while sailing!!) is that if you are coming from traditional windsurfing, there's a tendency to be very back-foot oriented and overloading the foil which causes a breach or unintended air time.
More time on the water will help you find the balance point. It took me 20+ sessions to realize this and get it dialed in.
The other thing I did was raise my boom to get more downward pressure on the front of the board. This helped immensely.
Seems one key is around 60% of your weight on front foot, once foiling.
This appears about right for 70 kg foilers or 95 kg foilers.
Both straps should work for most everyone, once up to planing speeds.
