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How to? Mega long rides on river swell...

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Northwest Kiteboarding -> Gorge / Portland / Oregon Coast
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allenlight

Since 19 Jul 2008
43 Posts

 



PostTue Aug 16, 22 7:54 am    How to? Mega long rides on river swell... Reply with quote

1st year Winging and I'm working towards the nice long magic carpet rides down the river swell. At this point I feel like I'm getting some pretty long rides, but not as long as the cool kids who seem to be going from the red buoy 34 (below the hatch) to the middle of Wells Island.

Things seems to work fine on toe side especially when the wave face is long and I don't have to transition. I can make a couple of transitions on the wave face but at some point (usually when riding heel side) I almost always feel the board starting to sink and then I've got this frantic motion to get the wing back in a powered position before the board makes contact with the water.

FWIW, I seem to be able to ride longer if I hold the wing well over my head in a neutral position (usually one hand right on the center handle on the strut); but this is a bit awkward for transitions and again, all the cool kids seem to holding the handle on the leading edge down at waist level. Laughing When I try this, the wing seems to be fine while I'm just riding down the face of the wave (either toe side or heel side); but the trailing edge will drop when I pick up speed into a transition and I'm not really clear on which hand I should be holding it in while going in either direction.

Not sure how much my gear has an influence on this. I generally ride in 'moderate' conditions (teens to low 20's) with a 5.4 or a 4.2 wing. My foil is a 2000 cm2 'surf foil' from Starboard and mast is 85 cm, 85 liter board, and I weigh 180lbs.

Thoughts, comment, and suggestions are welcome! Thanks

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ldhr

Since 21 Jul 2009
1470 Posts
Hood River
XTreme Poster



PostTue Aug 16, 22 11:18 am     Reply with quote

When holding the wing at waist level - hold it with your back hand. You need to switch hands as you turn back and forth on a wave. Sometimes the angle of the wind/swell will cause your wing to luff and drop down.
Your foil is too big and slow. A smaller foil that's high aspect (better speed, less drag) will help. go to the Hatchery and hang out at the launch. Check the foils of the riders you see getting long rides.
They'll be riding - Lift 120, SAB 940, Cabrinha 800/1000, Takuma 980, Slingshot 926, Axis 899, etc.
Keep your foil high in the water column. Currents below the swell move in the opposite direction and will cause you to stall if your foil is too deep.
You don't mention pumping your board/foil..... it's necessary to connect the waves. Learn to pump your foil.
Lastly - if you're on a 4.2m or bigger wing - the waves won't be that great.... it's easier when the wind is gusting over 25 and you're riding a 3.5 or 3. If you're on a 5.4 there won't be any swell.

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Nak

Since 19 May 2005
4199 Posts
Camas
XTreme Poster

CGKA Member


PostTue Aug 16, 22 2:52 pm     Reply with quote

ldhr wrote:
When holding the wing at waist level - hold it with your back hand. You need to switch hands as you turn back and forth on a wave. Sometimes the angle of the wind/swell will cause your wing to luff and drop down.
Your foil is too big and slow. A smaller foil that's high aspect (better speed, less drag) will help. go to the Hatchery and hang out at the launch. Check the foils of the riders you see getting long rides.
They'll be riding - Lift 120, SAB 940, Cabrinha 800/1000, Takuma 980, Slingshot 926, Axis 899, etc.
Keep your foil high in the water column. Currents below the swell move in the opposite direction and will cause you to stall if your foil is too deep.
You don't mention pumping your board/foil..... it's necessary to connect the waves. Learn to pump your foil.
Lastly - if you're on a 4.2m or bigger wing - the waves won't be that great.... it's easier when the wind is gusting over 25 and you're riding a 3.5 or 3. If you're on a 5.4 there won't be any swell.


I've been chasing large boat wakes with a Slingshot 926--which is 1263 sq CM--and I've found it needs about 12 mph to ride comfortably. Is the river swell faster than that; I'd really like to try that. I've been considering a wing like the Moses 999--that has 1750 sq cm surface area. That should get me slow enough to poach the wake off of the sternwheeler... Or is my thinking all wrong here? I'm new at this and you're listing mostly smaller wings when I thought I'd need to go larger...

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oliver19

Since 25 Jun 2019
77 Posts

 



PostTue Aug 16, 22 3:14 pm     Reply with quote

You will get longer glides with smaller, faster foils. You need to be able to keep up with the wave and also position yourself where the energy is. Hard to do with a slow foil.

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ldhr

Since 21 Jul 2009
1470 Posts
Hood River
XTreme Poster



PostTue Aug 16, 22 4:34 pm     Reply with quote

oliver19 wrote:
You will get longer glides with smaller, faster foils. You need to be able to keep up with the wave and also position yourself where the energy is. Hard to do with a slow foil.



With smaller high aspect foils you can ride across the wave and make cutbacks and stay in the energy pocket as Oliver stated. Or pump into the next swell behind or ahead of you.
Prone Surfers - even big guys - are using foil wings under 1000^2 cm.
Most wingers (and DW sup foilers) are using 800-1200^cm withAR 7-10.
My Lift 120 (775^2cm) gets me up and going and has the same stall speed as my 1 year old 1100^2 cm foil.... but it's faster with more glide.
Foil tech is like microchips - every six months they get smaller and 50% more efficient.

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allenlight

Since 19 Jul 2008
43 Posts

 



PostTue Aug 16, 22 6:14 pm     Reply with quote

Excellent feedback! Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. Makes a lot of sense and I'll keep my out for that next (faster) foil!

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