flienlow
08-20-2018, 09:47 AM
Hydrofoil Surf Board. - Anyone ride one of these?
Yesterday was a busy day on our small lake which means that it was D-Bag Central. It was all jet Skis and Jack-asses doing figure 8's with tubes. I decided to call it a day early and put the cover on the boat. My neighbor and I were talking about the craziness and we both noticed an idiot trying to wake surf behind a stand up jet ski. (you read that right.) This is normally a shake the head moment, but then I realized 2 things...
1. The stand up jet ski was worthless as a Milk bucket under a bull trying to pull a surfboard.
2. that was no ordinarily surfboard. It was a foil board in the flesh I have been reading about.
"C'mon Nate.. We're on Mission!" We both jumped in the boat and motored over to the failing foil board dude. I told him his super jet looked to be struggling and asked him if he wanted a pull and to tell me more about his board. His was actually a kite board one which I guess are a little different.
Anyway, I pulled him up and he rode for a bit and fell, and we repeated that a couple of times. He then asked if I wanted a quick go as he was hosting a beach party and needed to get back to them. ( it was understood I would just go for a minute or 2.) - I jumped at the chance.
I found it was really easy to get up on very similar to a surf board. However, The foil is a like an airplane wing and will climb and stall. Found it extremely tricky to ride out of the water. As it would rise out and then crash back down on the nose of the board. In fairness, we didn't have time to play with boat speeds or technique, just a quick give-it-a-go.
It was really cool to try, but I would like to hear from others to see if this is just a novelty or a must have.
Yesterday was a busy day on our small lake which means that it was D-Bag Central. It was all jet Skis and Jack-asses doing figure 8's with tubes. I decided to call it a day early and put the cover on the boat. My neighbor and I were talking about the craziness and we both noticed an idiot trying to wake surf behind a stand up jet ski. (you read that right.) This is normally a shake the head moment, but then I realized 2 things...
1. The stand up jet ski was worthless as a Milk bucket under a bull trying to pull a surfboard.
2. that was no ordinarily surfboard. It was a foil board in the flesh I have been reading about.
"C'mon Nate.. We're on Mission!" We both jumped in the boat and motored over to the failing foil board dude. I told him his super jet looked to be struggling and asked him if he wanted a pull and to tell me more about his board. His was actually a kite board one which I guess are a little different.
Anyway, I pulled him up and he rode for a bit and fell, and we repeated that a couple of times. He then asked if I wanted a quick go as he was hosting a beach party and needed to get back to them. ( it was understood I would just go for a minute or 2.) - I jumped at the chance.
I found it was really easy to get up on very similar to a surf board. However, The foil is a like an airplane wing and will climb and stall. Found it extremely tricky to ride out of the water. As it would rise out and then crash back down on the nose of the board. In fairness, we didn't have time to play with boat speeds or technique, just a quick give-it-a-go.
It was really cool to try, but I would like to hear from others to see if this is just a novelty or a must have.