Does anyone know if anyone has done a foiling tack yet on IQ foil race gear or the equivalent?
I've seen some very smooth tacks where the touch down is minimal, but i doubt an actual tack (where the sailor goes around the front of the mast) foiling is ever going to be physically possible. A duck tack maybe, but even that would still cause too much unbalance to be feasible.
Ballz has a video where he does a flying duck tack. It's a pretty small sail. I say that not to lessen the accomplishment but to make clear he wasn't on PWA course gear.
I'd love to see some experts try freestyle moves on IQ gear. Even a downwind 360 would be fun to see.
In the old daze, freestylers, wave sailors, freeriders, bump sailors, slalom racers, course racers, and speed sailors tended to stick with their own gear, hardly crossing over to more than 3.
Yes, Naish, Dunk, and Pritch could do everything well, but they were sponsored on gear.
And not all of us are trustfunders.
It's starting to look possible!
I have been saying no way if the body goes in front of the mast. Thats why I have been focused on the heli tack. This video has me rethinking that.
I noticed the back foot cross centerline early and looks like with the front foot he is trying to pull his body around the mast without touching the deck. Also look how far the sail gets raked back its bending the batten, that is helping to counter balance the body going forwards.
Young guns will pull that trick at some point. But it won't be available to 90% of us.. Amazing how the sport has evolved in only 4-5 years.
www.instagram.com/p/CcOHrOTjgyQ/
I'd love to see a few more seconds of video to see if he stays up on the foil... It looks like he's about to drop the sail on a couple of those attempts!
Amazing. He's figured out how to get around the mast without putting to much pressure on the nose. I posted some screen shots from the video above and his video on Instagram at boardsurfr.blogspot.com/2022/05/foil-tack-footwork.html
Full video of the breakdown he does on his page - amazing to see!!
www.instagram.com/p/CdOOkRzMA3f/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet