Embracing Your Addiction | Real Talk | Downwind Deflate

[@alisonventures2780]

You could tell them the “real” reason we went exploring 🤭

[@downwind_drifter]

@@alisonventures2780 youre the one that let me use the drone!

[@OCEANBOUND1]

awesome video! seriously, I love the whole edit and msg. and props to your drone pilot when yr out on the water. this is the video I would show someone who I want to explain dw'ing to. here's to healthy addictions. and thanks for the reminder for balance. great job, namaste 🙏

[@downwind_drifter]

@@OCEANBOUND1🤙😎🤙

[@michellesong1582]

Foiling is a good drug mate! We’re spreading a healthy bug 😆 And yeah, exploring is the word. 🥳

[@downwind_drifter]

And it’s on tap! 😎

[@downwind_drifter]

Hope you enjoy me getting a smack down! I know my youngest siblings will love it… be good 🤙🤕🤙

[@wingfoilrentals]

I missed this one. Been on my mind about how many mishaps out at sea are going unpublished. We only see the downwind dreams. When is some company going to make a life-saving propellor that fits in your back pack. 😢

[@downwind_drifter]

@@wingfoilrentals what do you mean you missed one! There are so many mishaps… I publish all my runs, but many others runs, as you say don’t make it to video. a plb (personal location beacon) close to hand and life jacket is likely the best option in case of emergency… if you become incapacitated, then using a device like a motor might not be accessible. In a self rescue environment, like in Fiji where rescue resources are extremely limited you probably want to cover as many bases as possible! 🤙🤙

[@wingfoilrentals]

@ lol busy trying to stand up paddle. Yep. Feel it’s all glow n show for the moment. I get it though. Cheers mate. Appreciate your work.

[@avinashbikha]

Nice video! Whereabouts in Fiji is this? I should be visiting early next year and interested to wingfoil there.

[@downwind_drifter]

@@avinashbikha this is in the Yasawas, the north western islands. A great place to wing!

[@christomo]

Great video , out the front crashes really hurt. Exploring NE England in a 6mm hooded wetsuit in 6°C water has its challenges But is caricature building haha😂 Thanks for sharing 9.08 mins of escape to fiji, good waves my friend.

[@downwind_drifter]

@@christomo 🤙🙂🤙 🤙🙃🤙 🤙🙂🤙 6mm! Well at least it’s some padding!

[@foilosophy]

May I be so bold as to suggest bringing that back foot on or just in front of the mast. Can bring the front foot back to help center that weight. Or don't, love the videos.

[@downwind_drifter]

@@foilosophy you may. My back foot is already doing too much work on some of these runs… if I brought it forward it would be even more loaded 😅 I’m in the middle of some big stance changes, I definitely fell back into bad habits on this run though! My biggest efforts have been, to bring my front foot back towards the centre to take a lot more weight and duties besides just being the pitch controller! I always try stand according to the front Foil pressure, I wouldn’t know where to begin to locate my mast position from above on the board. I move by feel. I filmed a few recent runs where my feet are very close together in the recent more popular stance, mostly to show that I can do it if I want! I’ve written it a few times now but if you went back to years and watched me ride you would be shocked by how close my feet were together! I was called out by a couple of pros to widen my stance to make it more Surf like… And now the fashion is narrow Stants I’m also getting called out by pros again to narrow my stance! I can’t win! But I’m having fun trying. What brings stance to mind for you? are you working on something? Since I started working on mine maybe four months ago, I take a lot of notice of stance of others riding 🤯

[@foilosophy]

@@downwind_drifter Sounds like a great topic for a video! I'm on the journey back inwards toward the mast so I'm making more frequent smaller adjustments in pressure between left and right. Was watching my brother ride almost facing directly forwards. That's mind blowing to watch. Love it all. Work less. Foil more.

[@downwind_drifter]

@ good idea for a video, I did cover it with Dylan Bez at one stage during a podcast… but a dedicated vid would be better. I also understand a lot more now too! Be good, stay in touch 🤙🤙

[@andycorbe]

Nice one, really enjoying your vids thanks! Interested in your thoughts on stance? I'm riding the exact same setup a lot (SF1180) and always feel like the best feeling for control and pump is quite a wide stance but I know it's not as efficient as having feet closer together over the foil. Looking at your footage we seem to have the exact same foot positioning so do you ever try for a narrower stance or just go with the best feeling?

[@downwind_drifter]

@@andycorbe great question! And thank you. My girlfriend pointed out how wide my stance was looking on this run… Stance comes up a lot for me with my practice, I am in the middle of a big stance change over! In the past I would have my front foot far enough forward, that it could overcome any excess leverage my system might produce… but that would leave my back foot doing all the work, all the heavy lifting. That includes holding my weight like standing on one leg pumping through that same leg controlling the turns through that same leg, basically just all the jobs. Meanwhile my front foot would be on holiday just waiting for something to do, often just pitch control. I have since learned that I need to bring my front foot towards the centre of the system, so that it takes at least an equal amount of pressure that my back leg was trying to maintain by itself. This now means that the pressures come up quite evenly through my legs it makes everything feel way better and I mean way way better. It takes a bit to overcome/learn because all of a sudden my back leg is often the pitch controller or simply my weight leaning forward or back. This doesn’t necessarily mean that my feet are closer together and truly it might only be an inch of difference for my front foot. Therefore there will be some videos coming where I am actively standing in a narrow stance, it’s mostly to show that I can do it! I’m not a big fan of it people think it’s more efficient or they say it’s more efficient but you have less leverage over your system which can take more energy to move. So I’m not convinced about the energy savings. The main thing I was just trying new things for fun and to explore. Even if you’re doing everything right it’s worth doing something is wrong just to learn. Funnily enough I used to have quite a narrow stance! I was always getting called out for it and told to widen it into more of a Surf stance. come forward a couple of years and now I’m getting told to go back to a narrower stance by some guys… The moral of that story is as you say, just to do what’s comfortable and best for you. Hopefully you’re around to catch the video where I make a point of standing narrow, it will be coming up soonish!

[@andycorbe]

@@downwind_drifter Yeah it's a never ending journey of discovery, every time I think I have it sussed something changes and NOW I have it sussed (until next time). I find winging the same set up I naturally go to a very narrow stance but as soon as a paddle is in my hands I go wide. I for sure need to bring the front foot back a bit but then my reaction to sudden pitch changes in messy conditions suffers and as you say it takes more energy. I've also found my back foot creeping further back than it used to (shorter fuses?) but theres a lovely position where pumping feels like it has a certain spring that I can't find further forward. It used to be for me that the back foot position was slightly in front of the mast but these days it seems to be slightly behind.

[@downwind_drifter]

@@andycorbe sounds like we are in the same boat. I’m using any winging sessions I do to work on stance and then the required adaption to my pump from the new stance. You summed up my experience perfectly with the “now I have it sussed” comment 😅

[@markreadett7412]

Nice riding 🤙looks fun 😀good stack 😂

[@downwind_drifter]

@@markreadett7412 yea… I tried to save it! Which can go one of two very polar ways. 🤙🤙

[@stkl23]

I was out winging in 20-30kts a couple of weeks ago. The main goal was to wing upwind a bit and then turn onto a bump and see how it feels to surf it. Needless to say it wasn't a pleasant experience. I was on the 1180 with a 4m wing - way too overpowered. It felt like the spitfire 900 or the ARTPro 1201 would have been fine as well (for the surfing part) but I have absolutely no feeling for how fast bumps are moving in 25kts of wind. I'm planning to go to that spot again when it's a bit less windy. The fetch distance is somewhat close to 2km.

[@downwind_drifter]

@@stkl23 good job getting out there! The 1180 might still be fine in those conditions, I was using it a few days ago in 25+kts with 37kt gusts with 6km fetch and I was having a ball! I used both the 40 skinny and 50skinny that day with the 1180 and the crazyshort+A I actually like a bigger foil often in that scenario because it won’t go so fast, I can just hit turn after turn! What was the rest of your setup?

[@stkl23]

@ I had the 55 skinny stab on the A+ Short Fuse and the 75cm 19mm red mast. 8.0x20 Axis DW board. The biggest problem was the 4m Wing - WAY too big in those kind of winds. I don‘t have a smaller wing as there aren’t many days where it’s THAT windy.

[@stkl23]

It’s the old A+ fuse. I recently bought a new ultrashort A+ fuse. Will be using this one for every discipline: dock starting, winging and flat water paddle ups.

[@downwind_drifter]

@@stkl23 yea the wing can really be a pain… you could get a travel pump and dry bag and start working on deflates. Just undo the leading edge and if you come off foil it’s just a quick pump back up (much quicker with the 2.8!) it’s a good step into dw without a wing. It’s quite the adventure 🙂

[@downwind_drifter]

@@stkl23 going to a shorter fuse should help, it will allow you to put the foil where you want it and not just where it can go. I really like the crazyshort+a at the moment with the 1180 The 45 or 50 skinny would feel much better to, much easier to force the system around.

[@smotruns]

Beautiful amazing place, my school dream, but very far

[@downwind_drifter]

@@smotruns so beautiful! How far?

[@smotruns]

@@downwind_drifter Saint-Petersburg

[@downwind_drifter]

@@smotruns amazing! It would be fun to trade places for a few weeks 😁

[@smotruns]

@@downwind_drifter today +7 Celsius

[@smotruns]

@@downwind_drifter 🤣