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Settings and Tips for Wakefoil behind My 19 23 LSV


cmargosi

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Hi All,

I acquired a new toy over the winter, a LF Wake Foil.  I've never even tried foiling and I've watched some You Tube videos, but I always find this forum is a great place to turn for advice.  So, as a beginner, a few questions:

1.  Where should I set Ballast / Power Wedge / Speed to learn?

2.  Several You Tube videos suggest learning / getting up using a wakeboard rope (which I don't have as I only surf).  Should I get a wakesurf rope for these purposes?

3.  Any other helpful tips, including best way to fall to avoid getting the foil in the noggin.

4.  Any good video tutorials I might not have found on a regular You Tube search?

Thanks to all, not only for help with this, but for all the help over the years.

 

CM

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slingshot has some "wakefoil academy" videos which are worth watching for sure.

yes, start on a long (not surf length) line.

The pull is suuuuuppppper slow.  no ballast, 9mph, have driver pretend that they are trying to get up your grandma with two dislocated shoulders.  Very easy light throttle.

Learn to ride it flat (i.e. just. stand. there.) first.  Don't steer, don't raise the foil on purpose, just stand there and get your balance.

Once you learn to stand then learn to fly it.  There's some balance to be learned in getting the foil up without breaching.  Takes some practice.  My family picked it up in a day, but I've taken a few friends out who cannot get up on it to save their lives.  They aren't regulars on the boat by any means either tho.

Once you can get up and fly on the long line, then you can go with a shorter surf-length rope (though still the longest one you can find).  We run our boat with no wedge, no ballast, surfgate on and speed at 12.8 (basically as fast as you can go without the overspeed alarm kicking on).  The wave is super long and our foil (slingshot infinity 76 front wing) has tons and tons more push than a regular surfboard.  That said I'm not familiar with the LF offerings so don't know how much push the LF setup has.

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Everything doggy said. Learn to stand tall, with very little crouch. The body needs to be very quiet. Not sure about your board set-up, but if you can attach a front foot strap, it makes it a lot easier to flip the board on edge at the start. We go no ballast about 11.8 mph. Don’t ride directly behind the boat because the prop wash can make the ride rough and bouncy. Move slightly outside the middle to your surf side. I tell my 13 year old “tall and quiet” and she can ride for 20 - 30 minutes.

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For learning start on a long line out to the side of the wakes. Once you get the hang out it I run bow tank full, no belly weight, and depending on how many people in the boat 50% or so of rear ballast. I will set the speed at 12.6 and run wedge on lift or 1. Makes for a super long mellow foil wave that also creates some good rollers to transfer back to.

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This is awesome.  I just order some Liquid Force foot straps and a longer wakeboard rope.  Keep the comments coming.  I will report back in about a month when I get on the water...

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Good timing I also purchased a LF Foil and have exactly 2 days experience. As has been mentioned start with a long rope and stay outside the wake. Make sure the driver starts out SLOW below lift speed if they get going too fast before you get on the board and balanced you just end up lifting up and crashing out. Once your settled standing on the board they can start speeding up. While learning to ride I have zero ballast in the boat to keep the wakes as small as possible. The most challenging thing to me so far has been learning to ride over the wake as the foil has no reference of the surface of the water so if you are to high you shoot out of the water as you come over the wake and then crash. As far as falling I just like to fall with the board instead of trying to save it this way you and the board are falling in the same direction and you aren't on top of it. I have fell many times so far and only hit my knee on the board once. I looked into the foot straps and what I found is they are suggested for advanced riders for getting air and not for beginners as they make it harder to get away from the board when falling. When I am starting I usually hold the board vertical with my left hand until the driver starts easing the boat forward and then grab the rope with both hands and stand up. With a good driver it may be easier but my wife is still learning which is better than if she didn't try at all. The thing that surprised me the most that I wasn't expecting was how quiet the ride is once you are up on the foil you can hear the wake crashing and the sound of the boat but almost no noise from the board. This also gives you an audio cue if the foil is too close to the surface as it will start creating turbulence that you can hear and know to let it down a little.

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Which LF setup did you get?  I got the pod setup.  Encouraging to hear that you got up.  Looking forward to trying it out when it get's a little warmer here.....

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11 minutes ago, cmargosi said:

Which LF setup did you get?  I got the pod setup.  Encouraging to hear that you got up.  Looking forward to trying it out when it get's a little warmer here.....

I also got the POD

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One thing I didn’t see mentioned is your weight balancing. You have to rock over and get more weight on your front foot that you would on another non-foil board. If you don’t expect the foil to breach quickly.
 

I recommend starting out side of the wake on your dominant surf side. This will get you in a better position to start. 

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Back on the board this weekend and I moved up to the surf rope to try riding the wave. I can feel the push and ride with slack in the line but haven't quite figured out how to stay in it when I begin to fall out. Are you supposed to push into the wave like you would with a surf board or do the up and down pumping motion I see in videos? Either way I am struggling with both techniques. Mainly keeping balance trying to move versus standing straight on the board I am sure that will come with practice. Is there a best spot in the wave to ride? I am actually feeling it more a little further back and out from the wave in the white foam more than I am up in the wave where I would normally surf.

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The higher the foil is in the water, the more push you will get.

Play with speed a bit also. I find anything under 11.5 can be low on power at times depending on wing. Smaller front wings generally need a little more speed.

I find after learning myself, my friends have an easier time on the second roller with the right length rope. 

 

When you do get to the point that you are moving forward fast, remember your back foot IS NOT a brake like when surfing. You need to carve away from the wake to avoid the boat, or breaching the foil.

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4 hours ago, MFknK said:

The higher the foil is in the water, the more push you will get.

Play with speed a bit also. I find anything under 11.5 can be low on power at times depending on wing. Smaller front wings generally need a little more speed.

I find after learning myself, my friends have an easier time on the second roller with the right length rope. 

 

When you do get to the point that you are moving forward fast, remember your back foot IS NOT a brake like when surfing. You need to carve away from the wake to avoid the boat, or breaching the foil.

Thanks! Sounds like I need to try speeding up a bit.

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  • 1 month later...
3 hours ago, shawndoggy said:

2016T22 -- 12mph, no water ballast, no wedge, 200 in lead in the walkway, 5 peeps (800lbs?) in the boat.

IMG_5474.thumb.jpg.02e04975e6237f3ffa686610b30e9d53.jpg

I need to buy a foil!  That looks like so much fun. 

The water looks pretty incredible with the surroundings, too.  We don't get to see that kind of backdrop here in MI.  There are however a few lakes that have that color. 

 

 

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21 minutes ago, BarliBear said:

Holy ... that looks amazing.

 

Is this better than surfing?

Yes.  Surfing is noisy and boring and slow in comparison.  I really don't want to surf on the surface anymore.

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6 minutes ago, Slayer said:

I need to buy a foil!  That looks like so much fun. 

The water looks pretty incredible with the surroundings, too.  We don't get to see that kind of backdrop here in MI.  There are however a few lakes that have that color. 

Yeah after a dozen years of boating, this was a first for us to get on tahoe over the weekend.  A little bit sketch in my baby boat!

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i bet Tahoe was quite chilly too.  Unfortunately my first foil session has been foiled by some boat troubles.  After a PM "Tune up" in the off season my boat has been throwing codes at me saying SERVICE NOW.  The dealer has been amazing and picked it up last week for repairs, said it was fixed and once again lots of vibrations under ballast and codes :-(.  Hopefully they get it addressed this week as they are coming to get the boat again tomorrow and I can give my foil a try next weekend or the weekend after.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

how are you guys progressing on your foils?  I went to the 28" mast (from 24") and I really like the added boost.  I can ride baby first wake for days.

206188525_10222836788380320_843188657404
 

 

Edited by shawndoggy
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So I tried my foil for the first time last weekend and failed miserably.  It looks like I need to coach the wife a bit more on me getting up, I think she might have been too eager to push the throttle down and get to the "cruise control" portion of the game.

Of course, she was frustrated with me...so that didn't help.  Maybe this weekend it will be quieter on the lake and easier for me to try getting up.  

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
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Stop falling!

hahaha we’ve all gotten that look from the spouse. 
 

one trick for getting up is to go suuuuuuuuuuper slow on the pull. Like where it takes 15-20 seconds to hit 10mph. That will help you get up and on top for the board before it starts to want to fly. 

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On 7/8/2021 at 5:50 PM, cmargosi said:

So I tried my foil for the first time last weekend and failed miserably.  It looks like I need to coach the wife a bit more on me getting up, I think she might have been too eager to push the throttle down and get to the "cruise control" portion of the game.

Of course, she was frustrated with me...so that didn't help.  Maybe this weekend it will be quieter on the lake and easier for me to try getting up.  

I’m with you.  On my first attempts I was like WTF…too slow or too fast?  The time I did get up easy I ditched immediately when the foil flew out of the water.  Just went again last weekend and I did better, gaining a bit more confidence.  I’m really hoping over time I will get the hang of it!

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