I can foil.I had a Naish 125litre 6'4' 30 wide, everyone said I was hindered ,buy a new board, they said, it will be fun, yeah right.
I brought an Armstrong 135 litre 6'2' 271/2 wide Fg,but I keep falling of the back of it.Even when just tooling along.
Gybes are a nightmare,havent made one yet.
Is it my feet position???,stand further forward, stand further back.My foil position???should I move it forward or back??? tried both, no joy
I just can't seem to figure,it out.Im on an axis 1050 standard fuselage.
100kgs,6'or am I just old and useless.Ive tried to blame the board, but I can't.
if anyone has any ideas,feel free to reply if you have time.
many thxs
The Naish 125l was the board i started on (95kg). Once i got gybes and touchdown foot-switches I moved to a 99l Armstrong board (took a couple of sessions to get used to it). The even bigger 135l Armstrong board should be a tank and very stable. Is there any reason you didn't get a smaller volume board (maybe around 100-110l)? That's normally what folks thinks makes it more fun once you get the basics - an even bigger board will feel more sluggish etc.. See if you can get one of the more experienced riders to try your board.
Your front foot generally should line up with the front foot strap inserts. If you're falling off the back, probably means you either (i) need to stand forward, and/or (ii) move the foil back a bit (assumes the foil is too far forward and you can't get weight forward enough to keep the foil down).
Select to expand quotekiwiupover said..
If you're falling off the back, probably means you either (i) need to stand forward, and/or (ii) move the foil back a bit (assumes the foil is too far forward and you can't get weight forward enough to keep the foil down).
My guess would be the foil is in a different position relative to where you're standing on the new board vs the old. Are you falling off the back because the board is pitching up too much? The board itself won't really affect the trim of the foil, but where you stand on it will.
Agree with the advice above - stand with your front foot on or around the front footstrap inserts (which is where the board is generally designed for your front foot to be) and then spend some time adjusting the mast (probably backwards, by the sound of things?) until you're balanced. And don't stand with your back foot too far from the front foot - keep your feet about shoulder width apart.
Try the old balance trick to see if your board is roughly balanced. Hang your board upside down from your fingers placed a third of the way back from the front of the foil & see if it lies parallel to the ground. This will give you a rough indication of if the foil is in the correct place.
Naish hover boards are a very stable,forgiving unit,feet position not an issue
Ive always run the foil at the front of the box to trade speed for lift,trying to keep up with faster boards.
Never really considered,not sure why,putting the mast all the way to the rear.
So thanks for everyone's help,I'll push it all the way to the rear of the box,start from there.
Had a PM from a guy asking if I surfed???yeah most of my life,he said I might be back foot heavy.
Try,as you guys stated,standing a lot further forward and transfer weight to my front foot
thx again for the advice
Select to expand quoteRon54 said..
Naish hover boards are a very stable,forgiving unit,feet position not an issue
Ive always run the foil at the front of the box to trade speed for lift,trying to keep up with faster boards.
Feet position can always be an issue on any board and foil. Remember when on foil you're not riding the board you're just riding the foil.
Running the foil mast at the front of the box only 'increases lift' if you keep your feet in the same position - foil position is 100% relative to feet position.
I think you've identified the issue there and you can solve it by standing further forward (as you say) or moving the mast back and keeping your foot position the same.
No need to slam the mast all the way to the back of the box, you might be surprised and find that movement of one or a few centimetres is enough to solve your issue.
I think you hit nail on the head with the "old and useless" in terms of your mindset. I watched a friend who's near 70 and an ace kiteboarder, and before that, windsurfer try and try, and always get on foil then fall off the back. Finally quit and just does what he knows. You need to approach foiling like a balance board on a roller. If you are timid in anyway to get the balance board level, you're going to go up, then fall back. You just have to learn to unweight and then use your weight on return to level out. Foil lift point as above post (the Kane Method) is a must, otherwise with foil lift not balanced with board, you will have to compensate with awkward pressure on front or back foot. The sail is there to provide momentum, but you need to use your weight off and on to pump the foil and be balanced over it. In general terms, falling off the back means you are waiting for the sail to pull you, and to keep your balance when it does, you are shifting your weight back to resist the pull. Instead, start making a more up and down rhythm pulling the sail/wing from up to down while lifting your body to unweight the board and foil. Lots of helpul videos with a bit of google search, but I've always liked Alex's:
