Shallow water & weeds were reputed to make the Outer Banks a difficult place to foil.
This Fall we decided to try foiling in the OBX. Our next-door neighbor, owner of Ocean Air Sports, bought a foil board to test it out. We rented the board on our first day in Nags Head to give it a try ourselves. Brian gave me some pretty simple instructions, walk out to chest-deep water, avoid kicking or falling on the sharp foil, get in the straps right away, and make small corrections. Amazingly, I got up and foiling on the first try. I used a 6.0m sail that seemed small for the wind speed, but turned out to be a bit overpowered. At first I over-controllled, but soon got the hang of it. Some observations: The foil points effortlessly into the wind. The mast needs to be tall to clear the chop. Sailing in the straps improved control.
Then it was Alain's turn. I snapped the photo below of him foiling on his first try. We both agreed the hardest part was walking the board out to deep water. We also agreed that steady wind made foiling much easier than in gusty Lake conditions.
Barrett
Well, did you like it? How quiet was it? Looks like a carbon foil? Is that a Bic 148?
Yeah, we weren't kidding about that using 2m less sail thing. The one thing Lanier does well is get deep quickly and stay that way.
The board is a Bic 133L, a heavy, but bullet-proof design. Carrying the foil board to the beach and wading out to deep water was a bit of a hassle. Once up on the foil, it's very smooth & quiet. I was already tired after a day of sailing, so I only stayed out on the foil for 20 minutes. I hope to try again under good conditions.
Barrett
So happy for you.
Hit us up if you want any tips or have any questions. Otherwise, have fun!
For anyone else - I may be selling a Bic 148 soon. Stay tuned. Low mileage, good condition. Deep tuttle foil ready.
So great you did it! Is it cool??
This weekend at Lanier! (bring wind)
http://uswindsurfing.org/2017/10/riding-high-after-my-first-try-at-foiling/
This sounds like a great opportunity to try foiling at Lanier. Sorry to be missing out. The house we rent in Nags Head has a prime location and is booked in advance, so we don't want to give up our weeks in the Fall. Unfortunately the Regatta dates coincide with our stay in the Outer Banks.
Barrett
It seems as though every guy who learns to foil does so far more quickly and easily than the ones before him. If so, I'm going to wait until it is really easy - i.e. just step on and fly. Barrett and Alain may be there already. This may be some sort of windsurfing version of the Hundredth Monkey effect.....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundredth_monkey_effect
"The hundredth monkey effect is a hypothetical phenomenon in which a new behavior or idea is claimed to spread rapidly by unexplained means from one group to all related groups once a critical number of members of one group exhibit the new behavior or acknowledge the new idea.[1]"
What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.
So, webguy as monkey number two makes him the one on the left or the right?
--- The Arrogant Jerk: Crabby and irritable since 1998.
It looks like the use of windsurf boards, surfboards, kites, or SUP are a waste of money. You don't need any of that stuff.
In fact, all you need is a long bungee cord.
What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.
Too much work... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MG0OWz_orK8
Bill Herderich
I remember those - $12,000 last time I checked.
What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.