"strapless foiling from the beginning on a Spitfire"

Bonsoir à tous, je vous livre ici le récit de mon ami Reiner qui a souhaité débuter le foil en Spitfire ( alors que je lui avais bien dit de prendre un white&green pour les débuts, comme je fais d'habitude ;-)).
De plus je découvre qu'il a choisit de vraiment se compliquer la tache en étant strapless!
il a un surf convertible zeeko Air5.2.

"strapless hydrofoiling from the beginning on a zeeko spitfire
roundup how i learned it basics
rider weight 85kg hight 183
riding level
experianced kiter 18 years kiting therefore 8 years strapless up to 180 days in the water every year
equipment
9m drifter 2017 zekko spitfire with the surfboard
conditions
12 to 15 knots sideshore from the left flat warm water save exit (lefkadie greece check www.kitegreece.com)
pre knowledge from friends and internet
ride every course flat on the water first before u try to lift /use a helmet / use your elbow to hold and tilt the board for starting / get your board into the starting position by digging the tail into the water / put your back foot onto the middle pad/ bodydrag by laying flat on the board / timing to get on the board and be fast on it when going strapless /pre training on a balance indo board on land for some time

1 day
all together i had 4 runns downwind abouth 2 houers of trying
first i choose to go strapless in order to keep the injurie posibilitie low
(twisted ankles and geting far from the foil when faling )
walking 300m upwind with kite in the air and foil (very exausting )
i been getting on the board with the 2th try (flat the foil didnt lift) the difficulty is to put the kite and the foil into the right position which is the kite to 1 to 2 o clock (very light wind ) and i found out the board have to point abouth downwind and have to be tilted (it helped me if i put the backfood on the back wing) , put your frontfood first ,use your knee of the backfood on the board , put your backfood onto the board while moving the kite to get on the board , if your food is to far behind u will imideatly shoot upwind , once on the board without lots of wind it feels very sketchy still this foil reacts to every weightdistribusion fast the foil seams to slow the speed a lot .
in the 4th try i did lift for some distance the speed it took on, got me of guard, its like a turbo hits
conclution i was aware that it is difficult and i will feel like a beginner again , and this is exactly the truth no mather how long you kite and experianced you are ! the most exosting was to carry the board with the kite upwind on land so i did it one by one but its still the most exosting and boring part , on the water i needed some wind of min 15 knots in order to hold my self kind of comfortable on the board (flat on the water ), when the wind picked up the hydrofoil picked up speed and lifted itself out of the water in a slow movement !!! so no need to push anything like kiking the back food ect., the distribusion of the weight for the front and backfood on the board is vital and very sensitive, going a bit into your knees helps to stabilise (it brings the body weight balencepint down ) if you are a quite tall guy neccessary at least untill u manage to be good , cuts and bruses i got 2 cuts on my knee and on my ancle by swiming and moving the board into the right possition (long leeg wetsuite and shoes to protect is recomented ) .
The progress was from try to try immense and very rewarding, but 2 hours are enought carrying the board upwind , lets see what brings the 2th day ."

:-D je suis content pour lui!
Je devrais recevoir une suite demain.

j 'ai aussi découvert tardivement les vertus du canard pour débuter car le petit stab"" peu porteur"" évite les rodéos et ruades du début donc rassure.
C 'est effectivement assez rassurant
PAR contre va falloir etre sacrément balaise pour progresser dans les transitions
LA je continue d'avoir de gros doute a ce stade de la progression (les changements de pied en l'air ;les airtacks etccc) demandent de sacrées aptitudes d'équilibriste.
Le gars qui passe tous les stades de la progression sur un canard va être balaise

la suite de ses aventures

"2th day slightly stronger wind with the same direction 9 m drifter cabrinha 4 runs 1 1/2 hour
first run the wind didn't pick up strong enough got on the board but to keep on going it was not enough wind
2 th run stronger wind 15 knots kiters using usually the 12m i have managed to get on the board quite well and did a distance from about 500m on the water sometimes get the foil slightly lifting still having troubles to get on the board to the other side to get back managed by bodydraging
3 th run again long distance to the left feeling more comfortable on the board flat on the water managed to go upwind the way back its still difficult to get on the board but managed with different technics like revers water start moving hand on the bar ect.
4 th run to the left its dialed in got on the board quiet easy and running quite a distance without falling checking different foot positions on the run get lifted sometimes and stool the hydrofoil on the way back i finally found a technical way to get on the board (using both knees on the board while holding the upper rail with the front hand than punting the front foot on it and using the reverse water start ) once on the board i managed to get back on the board flat in the water but this needs more practice
conclusion
getting up on he board is dialed in due different technics and long time strapless kiteflying experience but get the hydrofoil of the water is still quite a challenge . first goal for tomorrow is to keep staying upwind in order not to have to carry the hydrofoil and the kite back upwind on the beach which is still very exhausting . i Found out learn this you need a good strong wind around 18 knots (consider my weight and kitesize)
lets see what i can manage the 3th day ."

3éme session, il est parti; avec des vols de 10sec.
3th day
18 knots same direction
to get on the board gets much easier and up wind is no problem any more in the 2th run i got lifted for about 10 sec . (a foiling friend gave me the tip to make only micro movements and kind of freeze if you get lifted not moving the kite a lot) what a feeling !!!!!! its like flying ore jumping without getting down 3th rum i manage to get back at the same point sometimes bodydraging when the wind drops under 13 kn (by laying completely on the board
conclusion
mikro movements and keeping the kite as steady as possible
4th day
carrying the foil upwind is history, i always got back to the spot i left and now i get lifted many times on the way out the way back is still more difficult but i manage as well
conclusion
getting on the board is better if u use both knees on the board holding the upper rail , than putting the feet on the board while holding the upper rail the board points downwind the kite is at 2.30 (same kite position in both direction) just the nose of the board point in the opposite direction , than move your kite with one hand to 11 and release the rail at the same time , u lift up on the board fast (this is for me the best way to get on the board) after this its up to your stands and speed you develop is important small cop waves help me to get the foil lifted i keep very calm on the board and just move my back food a bit if necessary to lift faster next goal i have to get a more comfortable and relaxed riding style and of course trying to jibe"

5th day
light wind around 13 knots 1 hour
well getting on the board goes quiet easy getting upwind without lifting as well ,getting lifted consistently is still a challenge and will take more kiting time
conclusion for the day
i learned how to pump the hydrofoil and i got hurt the most today on my elbow hitting the wing . this was happened because the wind was low and the kite couldn't hold me on the board so by pulling the bar to my body i fall back while the wing came at me no possibility to react, still i got quite some time lifted jibing i am still not ready for it mainly because i don't know the toeside riding on the foil , getting to the new direction i manage with the board on the water
6 th day
had a brake from the water and talked to a foiling friend , i found out that in opposite to the most guys learning foiling i had no problems going downwind and going upwind quite ok not excessive . by analyzing this i think this is happening due my strapless surf stand on the board which is more centered on the board than with foot straps . foot straps make your foot placed more to the edge of the board . Well i am going too check this the next day

7 th day
good wind 15 to 18 kn most of the twintip other kiters are on the 12m
as usual no problem getting on the board, my straplesses surf experiance kick in, i can control the board a 100 % by pushing the tail under the water , i have to mention that the cabrinha drifter a pure wave kite which works exceptionally out of arms not the legs this helps me as well a lot .
i got liftet low quite some time on my runs and running up to 10 sec lifted high, all together i been more than 2 hours in the water , addiction i didn't want to get out !!!
conclusion for the day
figured out that by having an exact surfstand (like a surfer in the wave )on the foil when its getting lifted its the best way to control it , today i was running far from the shore getting there in seconds (it feels like ) and the hydrofoil when lifted accelerates so fast, that when i was falling at that speed it really hurt so tomorrow i gonna use a impactwest for sure . Further by punting my foots closer to the edge i am shooting upwind . being strapless on the foil confirms my thinking from the beginning, it is saver and in time u are able to adjust your stand on the board much better than with footstraps (same experience i had with the surfboard ,strapless and with footstraps ) the progress in the beginning is harder but at the end much faster (long time strapless experience make me able to be comfortable, getting the board into the right starting position and getting onto the board ,which is actually quite easy )