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Foil-windsurfing with Jeff
Maui is famous for many things; one of them is the diversity in regards to how to have fun in and on the ocean. There is no other place you can find so many variations of surfing as on this island. Beside all various surfboards, there are also other tools that kind have are innovated or at least developed here: windsurfing in waves, kite surfing, tow-in surfing, stand-up surfing, etc. A few days ago I tried a version of windsurfing that has been around for some time, but never really have cached on. I was curious and wanted to have a go when Jeff Henderson, the founder and one of the sail designers at Hotsailsmaui, gave me the opportunity.He gave me some simple advice, and I carried the quite large windsurf board with a 6.5 freeride sail and a big carbon thing, looking like an airplane, attached under the bottom. That ”thing” was scary: a sharp, large construction – something you really did not want to hit.
On deep water I water-started and got going. The wind was super light and I wondered if I really would get up on a plane on the foil? In the beginning it felt like windsurfing a large board in sub-planing condition. Nothing spectacular, but then suddenly the board started to leave the surface! By raising the nose-angle of the board, it just continued to lift further and further from the water. The a little gust came and I leaned against the wind pulling the rig with me (a normal reaction for a windsurfer). The board reacted super fast by capsizing towards leeward. I fell and tried to avoid that major carbon construction, I just made it. OK, you need to be very sensitive in all you movements. Front-back and leeward-windward pressure of your feet immediately translates to the foil underneath you. Leaning against the wind is not to recommend just like that. It was quite hard to keep the board on a steady course and on a steady level above the water. But I slowly got it and it started to feel less scary and more and more enjoyable. The feeling is very different from all other forms of windsurfing. It is soft, smooth and kind of like flying weightless. Instead of leaning against the wind you should stand very neutral on the board and just adjust the sail almost like on a dingy. Release power and increase power without letting it affect your stance. Jeff who can do this very well says it is as close to flying he ever have been, and I’m ken to agree. I only did it for maybe 45 minutes. I did not in any ways learn how to do it, and.. I just don’t know, I can understand why it hasn’t cached on. It is not that super difficult, but I’m not sure I like the feeling that much. At least it was not like how you felt first time planning on a small windsurf board, or fist time you turned on a decent wave. The foil is also another big thing that both cost money and is bulky to carry around. Still a fun experience and for Jeff that has all his toys lying just by the beach, I can understand the challenge of using this tool in the quite heavy waves braking on the reef just outside!
After I was done, Jeff showed off his skills in foil-windsurfing. OK, now it looked quite interesting. He went much faster than me, and was in total control. He turned, jibed and played around almost a yard above the water surface. It looked strange but rather cool. Jeff is a true innovator, and he has no prestige about who is the original inventor. He likes to try things out regardless. He likes to learn for it’s own sake. Sometimes it can have great results and consequences for the broader public, like the development of very different and highly functional windsurf equipment, but very often not. Regardless, Jeff is still out there trying new stuff!
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