Sarah Jackson learns to love windfoiling

www.windsurf.co.uk/sarah-jackson-foil-garda/

A couple of excerpts
"My prior experience of Lake Garda was limited to a 10 day trip in July 2018 for the IFCA Youth Slalom World Championships in search of a world title (I finished 4th after an altercation with a ferry), so I wasn't in a position to really take in the beauty and magic of this location. I was on a mission, the mission failed and I was left with a bad feeling about the place as it just didn't deliver the conditions we needed for slalom racing. These were the days before foils, when light, gusty and shifty conditions meant we finished the week with only 3 rounds completed. Why am I dwelling on this? Because it could have been so much better if only I had a foil!"


"My absolute golden advice for learning to foil though, is don't let go of the boom!! This way you can't be hit by the foil at all and it keeps you nice and safe. Apart from the new gear, I think one of the biggest things that's helped me progress in my foiling has been getting longer harness lines (ok it's gear again, but also technique). I am now using the Clamcleat? racing ones like they used for RS:X, where you can make small adjustments really easily. This means as the gust hits you can make them really long (around 40 inches!!) but then when you hit a lull you shorten them and you're at 24 inches. The really long lines help you get away from the gear and then it's much more comfortable. Most of my catapults these days come from when my lines are too short and I can't react quickly enough to get away from my gear. For free foiling I don't think you quite need 40" lines as you're more over the board, but it's the same as with freeride, the longer lines let you get away from your gear and give you more time to react to gusts."