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The #3 WWF Drill On The Water

8/13/2024

You've probably read my recent blog posts called The #1 WWF Drill and The #2 WWF Drill, but if not, now would be a good time to read those posts. Today, we'll talk about The #3 WWF Drill.

Here it is. The #3 WWF drill on the water is to gather more speed before carving onto the wave. This drill requires proficiency in the #1 drill before proceeding to this #3 drill, so work on that drill first as you aspire toward gathering more speed going into your waves rides. The #2 drill will also help you to obtain success in this #3 drill, but it is not a requirement.

The first part of the drill is fairly simple. Get out of the harness, let the sail fill with wind as you accelerate as fast as possible going mostly parallel to the wave and aiming for the spot where you intend to carve down the wave. The next part is a little more technical. With all that speed there is a high probability that you will over-foil when you carve down the wave if the sail remains powered, so you must learn how to dump the power in the sail at the exact moment you carve. Here is the how you do it. At the exact moment that you intend to carve down the wave slide your hands up the boom closer to the mast to flag the sail, pull the mast close to your chest, and drop the mast and boom down toward your rearward hip. This is the most neutral position to place the sail in order to dump the power so that you don't over-foil. It takes some practice, so don't get frustrated if it feels awkward the first 100-200 times. If you try it 25 times per session you will probably get comfortable with it after a half dozen sessions or so.

The extra speed is critical for long, snappy waves rides, but you can't get long, snappy wave rides if you over-foil. By pulling the mast close to your chest and dropping it down toward your rearward hip the clew of the sail will flag out and not hold much power. You can then snap the board down the wave with excellent height control so you can surf instead of sail. As you continue down and/or across the wave use the sail to help control foil height. If you want the foil and nose of the board to go lower then push the mast away from your chest toward the nose of the board. If you want the foil and nose of the board to go higher then pull mast closer to your chest toward the rear of the board. By pulling the mast closer to your chest you can also gain more glide when needed.

This is a drill you can partly perform even if you are confined to flatwater. Get out of the harness and power up the sail to go as fast as possible. Then, just as you are about to carve into your jibe at full speed, flag the sail and lower the mast and boom toward your chest and rear hip. This is also a super fun way to jibe on flatwater because you can easily place your rear hand right next to the mast on boom while it is down near your hip and then flip the sail one-handed as the board carves around. It a fun maneuver to practice when you are on flatwater. This one-handed jibe is equally as fun on the wave.

Have fun out there!

The #2 WWF Drill On The Water

7/15/2024

About a month ago I wrote a blog post called The #1 WWF Drill On The Water. Go back and read that post if you have not already done so. In that post I explained that, by far, the #1 drill you can do on the water is wave riding with the sail flagged out and one hand on the boom for at least 5 seconds with glide. Do that drill for 100 sessions and it will save you years of time. Not only will you learn to ride waves, but you will learn to jibe, you will learn to ride switch stance, and you will learn pitch and roll control. It's like magic! It is the very first drill and skill you should learn. If you are a beginner, get a half dozen sessions on flatwater and then IMMEDIATELY get in the waves and practice this proper wave technique. I was fortunate enough to take this advice in my beginning season. You can learn that proper wave technique in my article Windfoil Wave Technique.

This blog post is about the #2 WWF drill on the water. That drill is simply to ride more sensitive foils. While I embraced wave riding in my first 10 sessions, I did not try riding more sensitive foils until the end of my first season. Looking back I wish I would have started in the middle of that first season. I did 63 sessions on the Maliko 200 in that first season, and then I spent the last 2 sessions (3.1%) of that season on the Iwa which is a more sensitive wing due to its smaller size. In my second season I spent 20.7% of my sessions on the more sensitive Iwa and the rest on the Maliko 200. Again, looking back, I wish I would have spent more time on the Iwa. In my third season I spent 51.8% of my sessions on the more sensitive Iwa, but I also added 3.6% of my sessions on the even more sensitive EZ1600 and 10.7% of my sessions on the most highly sensitive RS1300. That third season saw a MAJOR improvement in my skills. All my skills popped! In my fourth season I spent 74.5% of my total sessions on more sensitive foil wings as follows: 25.5% of sessions on the Iwa, 29.4% on the EZ1600, 13.7% on the RS1300, and 5.9% on the EZ1800. As of the time of this writing we are almost halfway through my fifth season, and I have spent 37.5% on the EZ1600, 37.5% on the EZ1800, 17.5% on the NL's, and 5% on the RS1300. As you can see, this season has been almost entirely on high sensitivity foil wings. It makes a huge difference in skill improvement.

If I could go back in time I would have started riding higher sensitivity foil wings sooner. It is a fantastic training tool, and it will help you improve much more quickly. In addition, it is a training tool you can use to improve your WWF skills when you do not have access to waves. When you're on flatwater use the most ultrasensitive foil wing you can get your hands on. It will improve your skills more than any other flatwater training tool. That was the initial reason that I purchased the RS1300. I bought the RS1300 as a flatwater training tool because at the end of that season, when the weather was cold, I wanted a training tool that I could use when confined to the safety of our harbor. When you get back in the waves after using a high sensitivity foil wing in flatwater you will notice improvement. But don't limit yourself to using high sensitivity foil wings in flatwater. They have amazing glide on the waves. They do not grip well, but the glide is a fun experience. Commit to using them in the waves as well. You will be very glad you did. Your skills will improve much faster than you ever imagined!

NL190 and NL160 For Advanced Windfoiling

6/25/2024

Recently, Gofoil has had a clearance sale on their NL model front foil wings. I got 2 of each for me and Lisa, both the NL190 and NL160 for $149 each. Crazy cheap! Normally they were like $775. I've had 6 sessions with them, and they are really, really fun in flatwater. I have not yet used them in the waves as I don't expect them to perform well for waves, but I love them in flatwater. Eventually I'll try them in waves. They have nearly the glide of the RS1300, but they have much better grip. They have almost as much grip as the EZ1600, but much better glide. The roll stability is much more sensitive than the EZ1600, almost as sensitive as the the RS1300 but not quite. I had to push these wings through turns very hard to get them to slide out.

Today I rode the NL190 in very gusty 25-30mph conditions with my 2.8m Microfreak sail. I did 100 jibes in 50 minutes, raking the sail back and sheeting in hard and then letting the sail rip on the flip. The foil just glides and glides. There were some big lulls and it just glided right through to the next gust with no problem. If you have a few bucks to spare I suggest getting both the NL190 and NL160. Here's the link. Have fun out there!!!

Does Windsurf Wave Foiling Improve Regular Windsurfing Skills?

6/24/2024

The answer is YES! I started WWF in 2020, exactly 10 years after I started windsurfing. By the 2021 season I was so into WWF that I have only windsurfed a few times each year since then. But the interesting thing is that I got significantly better at jibing and wave riding while windsurfing even though I wasn't practicing that discipline much. The foil taught me how to better distribute my weight over my feet which directly transferred into much better planing in my jibes. The foil also taught me to become comfortable in a twisted switch stance position which directly transferred into better frontside turns in onshore windsurfing conditions.

Yesterday we had 35mph wind most of the afternoon. We wheeled our gear down to a fairly secluded beach on Lake Erie. It was a gorgeous sunny day. I rigged a 3.3m sail and blasted upwind to the usual set of waves that break on a rocky shoal when the wind blows over 30mph for an extended period. I hit a backside top turn and dropped right into frontside heading directly down the line. A quick frontside top turn and I was back out in front of the wave. Hit the jibe and do it again. I was able to get more than one frontside turn on a single wave for the first time ever. Five years ago I was just starting to ride frontside. Since then I've had an average of 5 windsurfing wave sessions per year. So that's a total of 20 sessions. The improvement has been far and beyond what 20 sessions could possibly accomplish on its own. The WWF is what has made the difference.

My wife, Lisa, has had a similar experience. She now surfs through her jibes rather than sail through her jibes, and the motion looks effortless. Using the wave to make turns. I have carefully watched other riders who have learned WWF and I have seen those new skills transfer to windsurfing. The most common improvement I see is with efficiency. WWF forces you to sail more upright. This transfers to windsurfing, and when you ride more upright on a wave board you are more efficient because you keep the full sail exposed to the wind as opposed to pulling the sail over yourself. WWF riders are using smaller sails for windsurfing with this new found efficiency.

By learning proper wave technique with WWF you will become a better windsurfer. Have fun!

The #1 WWF Drill On The Water

6/14/2024

Back in 2018, two years before I ever rode or purchased any windfoiling gear, I began interviewing foiling athletes from the intermediate to professional level to understand what it takes to learn these foiling sports as my wife and I were interested in learning. At that time, these were mostly windfoilers and wake foilers, and a year later I added wing foilers to the interview process as that sport emerged. I needed to know how one improves quickly in these sports because I didn't want to spend 3 years falling in the water if I decided to learn WWF. I wanted to learn fast if I was going to do it. Now, I've been successfully windsurf wave foiling for 4 years, and I've interviewed over 80 foil athletes of different disciplines trying to find the quickest ways to improve as a WWF rider. As I've mentioned in previous articles and blog posts, I have very little natural talent when it comes to skill sports. I rode the bench on my high school basketball team. I was an average player in the town ice hockey league. It took me many years to learn how to snowboard at an intermediate level, and I'm still not much better than intermediate after 12 years of snowboarding. I played table tennis for most of my life until I finally reached an intermediate/advanced level by the time I hit age 40. My improvement in WWF comes by using my talents other than natural skill like persistence, creativity, innovation, and inquisitiveness. These talents led me to interview many athletes and that process led to the #1 drill to learn WWF quickly.

Through this interview process I found that the biggest challenge these athletes faced with foiling under the power of wind seemed to be that single moment when your board is headed directly downwind and you lose all power in your sail/wing like when jibing or wave riding. At that precise moment the board usually takes an abrupt small drop while at the same time you have nothing to lean against because the sail/wing is not engaged against the wind as it is flagged out, and athletes fall. I found that those athletes who had learned wake foiling prior to wind-powered foiling generally had better success with this precise moment probably because they were trained to ride unsupported by a sail/wing, and especially if they had practice learning to ride a wake after releasing the tow rope. This precise moment is very, very important because it is part of the jibing process in both windfoiling and wing foiling, and it is part of the wave riding process.

As a result of my early findings I made it a priority in my first year of WWF to focus on getting comfortable with that precise moment when the board is headed directly downwind with no power in the sail/wing and that abrupt small drop occurs. What was the drill that made all the difference? Very simple. The #1 drill to learn WWF quickly is wave riding with the sail flagged out and one hand on the boom. If you practice staying on a wave for 5 seconds or longer with the sail flagged out and one hand on the boom you will quickly learn all the skills needed for WWF. This one drill will save you years and years and years of time. I began wave riding on my 10th overall session after studying how the pros did it, and by my 13th overall session I began training with proper wave riding technique. This made all the difference. I see the exact same results with all other WWF riders. Those who learn to stay on a wave with the sail flagged out and one hand on the boom for at least 5 seconds improve soooooooooo much faster than those who do not learn this. Why? Let's break it down.

First, your body will be in that position for a long period of time giving your brain more time to develop the muscle memory. When jibing you are only in that downwind position for about one second, but when wave riding for at least 5 seconds you get at least 5 times as much time in that position and so you will learn 5 times more quickly. Once you can do it for 10 seconds you get 10 times more practice and you will learn 10 times more quickly. By learning to ride a wave directly downwind with the sail flagged out and one hand on the boom you physically put your body and brain in the position to learn muscle memory for an extended period of time. Second, you won't fall as much because after you ride the wave for 5 seconds you simply head back upwind and either do it again or set your board on the water and tack out of it. There's no need to fall in the water especially if you have a big board that you can tack on. Eventually you will extend your wave ride into the position where your body starts to go frontside. By going frontside on a wave you are training your body for the jibe, but you won't fall in as much because you are only going as far frontside as you feel comfortable and then you go back to your original tack. This process literally saves years and years of learning because you learn at a rate that is 5 to 10 times faster than trying to jibe alone as you put your body in this proper position for a longer period of time. You don't get nearly as fatigued or frustrated from falling in the water giving you more energy to train longer, and you have an absolute blast riding waves. Third, you will quickly learn to anticipate that small abrupt drop that occurs when you are directly downwind in the middle of a jibe or wave ride. You will expect it to be coming, you will anticipate it, you will learn to overcome it quickly, and you will no longer be afraid of it.

Whether you are just beginning to learn to windfoil or whether you've been doing it for a while commit to learning to ride a wave with the sail flagged out and one hand on the boom for at least 5 seconds and do that drill hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times. After interviewing over 80 foil athletes of different disciplines I have found this to be the #1 drill to learn WWF quickly. It will save you years and years of learning time. You'll be doing downwinders very quickly, and you will be jibing years before other riders who do not practice this #1 simple drill. If you would like to review the wave riding technique you can read this article called Windfoil Wave Technique. Have fun!

Ignite Your Weather Brain

5/25/2024

In Western NY, since the year 2017 when I began recording wind data, we have received an average of 4.2 days per week of good wind quality with at least 15-20mph of magnitude (average 26mph) when air temperature is over 40 degrees fahrenheit (average air temp 60 degrees). This is generally between the months of April to November. That means, for 8 months per year, we can train and have fun on the water more than 4 days per week if we know when and where the wind will blow. Acquiring the skill of wind forecasting makes for a lot of very fun days on the water and fast improvement. But how is this done? How do we develop the mentality to score these seemingly endless epic sessions? How do we ignite our brain? Well, here are the steps to take:

1.) Be Open-Minded To Location Change: The wind does not always blow at the same location in WNY. It does not always blow at the same time of day either. Once you learn to accurately predict wind you will know when and where it will be blowing, but you may need to change your mentality about the locations where you ride. It's easy to get stuck in the mindset of always riding at the same place. We know what to expect at that location, our friends may be there, and the scene is familiar. But if the wind will knowingly not blow there on a given day then we will not have the opportunity to train, to improve our skills, or to have fun on the water. Here is a list of launch locations including many WNY sites. There are many spots not included on the list, but it will get you started in expanding your options. Most are within an hour drive. Now, I know some of you are thinking "I don't want to drive an hour." Well, think of how many hours most of us have wasted by going to a location and getting totally skunked. If you drive a little farther to get perfect wind you will ultimately save time in the end because you won't have to go as frequently to get the same amount of quality water time. It is a more efficient use of time.

2.) Prepare In Advance: Unless you begin preparation the night before you will miss many sessions. If the evening forecast shows an acceptable probability of wind for the next day then prepare the night before. Make your food for breakfast and lunch, or train yourself to fast for long periods of time. Put the gear in the car. Reschedule your appointments. Arrange rides for your kids. Many evenings I actually prep dinner and set the dinner table for the next day so that I don't have to mess with it after windsurfing. Then, when you wake up you can check the forecast, get your work day started, and you're ready to head to the beach when the time is right. Preparation is key!

3.) Build Your Weather Skills: It took me a couple years to build a wind forecasting system that delivered consistent results. It paid off! In 2018 I performed a data-driven experiment to measure accuracy of wind forecasting. The result was 97.3% accuracy. You can read about the methods and results here. I then wrote an article called Weather Forecasting For Wind Driven Water Sports In WNY where I detailed the process so that everyone can easily do it. It's a simple plug-and-play process that explains how to set up your electronic devices in a way that forces you to know when and where the wind will blow. Everybody can it. You don't need mad weather skills. Just follow the simple program.

More accurate forecasting of quality wind means faster improvement in this sport and more fun. The tools and the process are ready to go. Just plug-and-play. See you on the water!

2023 Wind Statistics for WNY

12/6/2023

Since 2017 I have kept a detailed log of all days when a windsport session has been scored in WNY for the purposes of comparing year-to-year action. Sessions are recorded when air temps are 40 degrees or more (and also categories for 50 and 60 degrees or more), and when wind is at least 15-20mph for at least one solid hour. Data is harvested by several means including my own observations at the beach, reports from other trusted riders, and reports from WeatherFlow and NOAA stations. The following chart shows the 40 degree plus results as the wind relates to windsurfing gear:

If the 2023 windsurfing sail size is translated into wind speed the result of a 4.9m sail equals average wind speed of 21.5mph and gusts of 26.3mph. The average sessions per week from 2017 to 2023 is 4.24, so as you can see from the results the 2023 season was about average in this 40 degree plus category. However, my inspection of the data for 50 and 60 degree plus days reveals that the number of wind sessions was less than average for these categories. In fact, the 50 degree plus category had the least number of days recorded, and the 60 degree plus category had the second least number of days recorded. Please note that I do not have data for years prior to 2019 for the 50 and 60 degree plus categories below:

So, overall it was a solid season with wind favoring the colder days, but still delivering sessions on warmer days. A further analysis of the data shows that windsurfers scored 71 sessions on a 3.7m average sail size, which translates into 71 sessions in average wind of 28.6mph and average gusts of 32.1mph. Thankfully it was well over 4 sessions per week of riding in the 40 degree plus category, and over 3 session per week in the 50 and 60 degree plus categories. A solid year, but I'm thankful to have had the foil for the warmer days when the wind was lighter.

My Favorite WWF Gear Combination

11/20/2023

After four completed seasons in the sport of WWF I have arrived at a particular gear combination that I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! This particular combination of board, foil mast, front foil wing, rear foil wing, fuselage, sail, and sail mast brings me extreme performance and perfect stoke. Let me share this combination with you as you continue on your own WWF journey.

Board: I will begin with the board as this is the foundation. After spending a little over 2.5 years on the Top Gun Iceman (7ft long, 31 inches wide, 120L), I now have more than a full season on the Top Gun Maverick (6ft long, 30 inches wide, 112L). The Maverick has been life changing. While it was initially more challenging to get up on foil and uphaul, the shorter length and overall smaller volume turns this board into a Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato instead of a Chevrolet Corvette. The shorter length allows less wind to push up under the board thereby limiting overfoiling, and the board snaps through turns like the flick of your thumb and forefinger.

Front Foil Wing: After four completed seasons I now have considerable time the following front foil wings: GoFoil Maliko280, Maliko200, Iwa, Kai, EZ1800, EZ1600, EZ1275, and RS1300. Out of all of these, the EZ1600 brings me the highest level of performance coupled with the greatest pleasure. While it is equally or more snappy compared to the Iwa and Kai, it maintains significantly more glide on cutbacks, wave rides, and jibes. I cannot help but notice the corners of my mouth turn up on each and every turn. It is certainly a more advanced wing, and it does lack considerable grip in turns compared to the Iwa and Kai, but extended practice helps to manage this one drawback. The EZ1600 is my go-to front foil wing.

Rear Foil Wing: I have tried many rear wings including the GoFail Maliko, Kai, Flip-Tips 14.5 inch, Flip-Tips 17.5 inch, FT 17, and FT 20. For 90% of my riding I have settled on the Flip-Tips 17.5 inch. This rear wing gives me plenty of lift, extreme turning, and allows me to adjust the stab angle for varying degrees of lift. The FT's simply don't have enough stab angle for WWF. The 17.5 inch flip-tips gives me the best of all worlds and can be used at the highest level with all of my front foil wings.

Fuselage: Those of you familiar with the GoFoil line know that the length of the fuselage is adjusted by the length of the pedestal to which the rear wing is attached. There is a short pedestal (6.5 inch) and a long pedestal (9.5 inch). My favorite is the 6.5 inch. It allows me to be very snappy on the turns while still giving me sufficient pitch stability. It's really fun!

Foil Mast: The height of the mast has a sweet spot for me. I have used the 24.5 inch, 29.5 inch, 36.5 inch, and 40 inch. For me, the sweet spot is the 36.5 inch. This height is perfect to clear big chop and avoid over-foiling, while keeping the drag less than with the 40 inch mast. I'm so happy that I spent time on each one to learn what is the most efficient and most fun for conditions here on the Great Lakes.

Sail: This right sail makes for a very special experience. I started with Ezzy Zeta's in sizes 2.7m to 5.3m. Later I changed my 4.7m and 4.2m to Ezzy Taka's which have more depower and fewer battens. But an absolute game changer was switching to HotSails Maui MicroFreaks in sizes 2.8m, 3.2m and 3.8m. I can't wait until they release their upcoming 4.8m version. These are actually kid's sails. They are made of very light and extremely soft fabric that is coupled with a highly depowering design including a 3/4 batten just above the boom giving you a sail that depowers wonderfully. This soft, depowering experience gives you a lot more time to respond to gusts of wind thereby preventing over-foiling and keeping your ride more steady. My favorite size is the 3.2m. It feels just as snappy and small as the 2.8m, and it is used in conditions that are less radical than 2.8m conditions. It is the absolute perfect sail. The average sail size that I use is 3.6m, so I am fortunate to get a decent number of sessions on this 3.2m sail.

Sail Mast: While I have used the Ezzy Hookipa mast with my Ezzy sails I much prefer the HotSails Maui Kauli mast for foiling, especially with the HotSails MicroFreak. This mast is much softer which is more conducive to foiling as it allows the sail more time to respond when a gust of wind hits the sail. It's perfect!

These 7 components make for the perfect kit! I would strongly encourage anyone participating in the sport of WWF to move toward this kit. Top Gun Maverick, GoFoil EZ1600, Flip-Tips 17.5inch, 6.5 inch pedestal, 36.5 inch foil mast, HotSails MicroFreak 3.2m, and HotSails Kauli sail mast. This is the perfect kit for our Great Lakes wave conditions.

EZ1800 For Advanced WWF Riders

10/23/2023

This weekend I got to spend 3 days in a row riding the GoFoil EZ1800 on flat water and contrasting it with other foil wings. This wing is has much more sensitive roll than the Maliko200 which is of similar surface area, therefore I only recommend it to advanced WWF riders. The EZ1800 offers improved glide compared to the M200. But the greatest distinction I want to make in this brief post is that the EZ1800 has a much greater wind range than the M200, especially on the high-wind end. On Saturday, I started with the EZ1800 in about 17mph of wind with a 3.8m sail. As the wind increased and as I became over-powered with the large sail size I noticed that I did not feel over-winged with the EZ1800. I came in and re-rigged to a 2.8m sail as the wind further increased to 25-28mph. It was blowing hard. I went back out, still with the EZ1800, and I still did NOT feel over-winged. The EZ1800 performed wonderfully, even being over-powered. I came in again and switched to the EZ1600. It felt significantly more maneuverable, but the lift and control was about the same as the EZ1800. When I put the M200 in the same situations it does not perform well when it gets over-powered. It is very difficult to hold down the M200 in over-powered high-wind, and it is difficult to control.

Keep this report in mind as you rig for your next session. Have fun out there!

The Impact of Sail Tipping on Foil Roll

10/11/2023

Today I did a flatwater session with my WWF gear. I used the GoFoil RS1300 with a 2.8m sail. As you may know from experience or from my previous posts and articles, the RS1300 has extremely sensitive roll. I mainly use it for its amazing glide on waves, but it also serves as a terrific training tool to improve your roll sensitivity and control.

About halfway through the 90 minute session I had a fantastic discovery. I noticed that tipping the sail in a specific direction had significant impact over how much the foil rolled in that same direction. As I paid close attention I realized that if I tipped the sail to the inside of a turn just an inch or two it would induce roll on the foil to the inside. If I tipped the sail to the outside of a turn just an inch or two it would induce roll on the foil to the outside. An inch or two made a huge difference. Up until today I've always been actively controlling roll mostly with my feet. But today I was controlling about 50% of the roll with tipping of the sail. It made a huge difference in control especially during the second half of the jibe. I was able to more precisely turn the board without as much wobble.

In my article Wind Foil Jibe - Flagging Technique I explained that tipping the sail to the outside of the turn during the second half of the jibe is a great way for beginners and intermediates to maintain balance and control. But now that I'm using very sensitive high aspect foil wings I'm learning that the improved control results more from the forces that the sail imparts on the foil rather than simple balance improvement. I think the greatest significance of this discovery is that it will help people avoid falling off the board during turns when they embrace the importance of tipping the sail, just an inch or two, in whatever direction prevents them from falling in. Pay close attention to how you are tipping your sail. Have fun out there!

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