New Member

Hello, and thank you Chris for letting me know about this forum! My name is Jake, I live in California and work at Sky Ski where we make hydrofoils for sit down and stand up use. I am 40 years old, and have been foiling for about 15 years. I don't have much kite experience, in fact I have never kited on a regular board, I just learned on the foil to begin with. Even still, I don't have alot of time with a kite, as I live far inland where there is no consistent wind. I love to foil though!! Anyway, thanks again Chris!

No Problem and thanks for joining us. Obviously you are a seasoned pro on a foil - by comparison we're lean green newbies but full of enthusiasm. (I speak about the people I am foiling with of course) However, I am certain there are a number of things that you could enlighten us about regarding - foil profiles, size of front foil wings depending upon rider weight, lots and lots of technical stuff. Like foot positioning on the board - we have Carafino boards with a choice of foot positioning but its all trial and error as to where is the best position for light wind (slow riding I guess behind a boat) compared to riding in stronger winds.

I hope that you will have time to post a few replies - once I have cracked the look of the site graphically I will forward some specific questions - thanks for now Chris

You mentioned that you don't have consistent wind - is that consistent or just light wind? Wanted to be specific as the foil works in less than 10knts of wind providing you have the right kite and line length. This is one of its major appeals. Let me know Jake

i'm in oregon, jake pointed me to this site.

I ride one of the skyski foils with kites here in the columbia.

i can talk a little about foot position and such. I'm pretty new on the stand up foilboard, but have quite a few years behind the sitdown version.

btw, name is brett.

Thanks Chris,
The wind around here (I am in Redding, California, which is far northern Cali, close to Oregon) is pretty inconstsitent altogether. It will kick up sometimes but is always gusty. There is a lake nearby that I've seen a few sailboats on, but not much as far as windsurfers, and no kites. I haven't kited at all in about 4 years, since I moved here.

I'm happy to shed whatever insight I can on foot placement. For me, I like my rear foot to be centered over the trailing edge of the strut and my front foot at shoulder width from my rear foot. Being that all of my foilboarding has been behind a boat, my stance is directional, 0 degrees for the rear foot and about 15 degrees on the front. This stance means I am slightly behiind the foil, which creates a little bit of lift, for me that is a good positive resistance. As far as different wings for different riders, we use the same size wings regardless of rider size or weight, though if need be we may shim the wing to add, or decrease lift.

Thanks to Chris for pointing the way here

Bit of background.
I started in the wacky world of kitesurfing back in 1999 just as inflatable became available. 6’6’’ directional boards where the name of the game then the “minature“ 169Litewave twintip!!
Things move on then nothing. Short boards SLE kites. Beaches all looked the same .Then I saw an add for the Carafino hydrofoil. New exciting I must have a go.
Now it is my weapon of choice in winds under 25 Knots so much so I became the UK importer.
Things I have learnt
1 Start riding with the foot pads well forward to keep the board on the water.
2 As you start feeling comfortable start moving the pads backwards and you will find a position where the board rises onto the fin without any effort.
3 If things are not comfortable adjust the pads
4 Riding the Carafino is effortless when set up correctly
5 Grounding is not recommended . Face hitting water hurts.
5 Racing is fun Starts are nervous affairs upwind you crucify the fleet but its frustrating down wind.

Richard

carafinouk a écrit:

5 Racing is fun Starts are nervous affairs upwind you crucify the fleet but its frustrating down wind.

Richard

I agree...difficult to keep up speed going down wind. Have you figured out anything to make it easier?

Saludos From Puerto Rico

got some great pictures to show http://aquapaparazzi.photoshelter.com/gallery/Kiteboarding/G0000B5IPClmZVkg/P0000X0o74qf7jRw

Enjoy Manuel

great shots, I love this one: http://aquapaparazzi.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Puerto-Rico/G00009NBXXQxsg7A/I0000NVc7bYparjI

with the lines linked to the other kite, rare pix !