Lately we've been getting lots of 20mph+ conditions with 1-2' chop at my local spot. I've been having lots of fun with working my way upwind then doing downwind runs chasing bumps. I currently ride with just front footstraps I'm now getting pretty comfortable with it and think it would be really nice to try strapless. I know though with my current setup that the front straps save me all the time from getting pulled over the front when downwinding. My board is an 8" slalom board converted for foiling and it has a pretty long distance between the foil to the sail's mast track. I've noticed that strapless works best on boards like the JP Foil Slate where the two are closer together. Does anyone here have any experience on a dedicated strapless board for downwind swell riding in stronger wind? If so, do you ever miss having the straps? I'm curious as this may be the route I want to go with my next board.
Thanks!
G/f rode a Starboard F-162 strapless with a Naish foil for about 40 sessions. Did great mostly reaching, and she plans to ride her RRD foil the same way.
I started strapless but board was too narrow so got distracted for a good while.
now I've set my wife's board up with two sets of tracks and have gone to the Spitfire XXLW. The straps are becoming a nuisance as I started migrating them inward.
I was really only using them as a positioning aid .
One session without them but very orrible conditions so only two runs on foil
afterwards it was more a case of not noticing they weren't there, rather than noticing any great difference.
ps: yes I did notice that my nose in over the front crash trick. Was way less painful on the foot that would get jammed in as the rail bit.
pps: next time I'm moving foil to Sup position.
Thanks for the info guys, that Zeeko with two sets of tracks certainly is interesting. I can relate to the comment about straps as positioning aids, at least in some conditions. I was on the Zeeko site earlier today and there were no windfoil boards, I guess they ran out.
Select to expand quoteWindbot said..
Thanks for the info guys, that Zeeko with two sets of tracks certainly is interesting. I can relate to the comment about straps as positioning aids, at least in some conditions. I was on the Zeeko site earlier today and there were no windfoil boards, I guess they ran out.
Working on new ones
