Thursday Thoughts | How light is too light to DW foil? Do bigger foils allow more quality racing?

[@AndyCaska]

Great video. My light wind endeavours are essential with work and family. I either go when it light or not at all. So, bring on the big foil!

[@jon_mann]

If you're riding bumps it's a DW run I reckon! Racing and free ride will de-couple (sort of instagram vs reality moment). But I agree. Permits and event windows mean we need to also open up to the low wind side of the sport as well as the high wind / high speed side everyone froths on. It's actually more amazing to see how little wind we can still go in

[@jamescasey7393]

Well put, bumps of any size make it downwind. Sometimes you just need to go slower to realise the bumps are there to be used

[@scratzch]

I'd love to see DW racing like ski racing. Multiple styles within the racing scope. Shorter faster turning "slalom" races, and longer bigger traversing "super G" or "downhill" races. A back and forth race where some gates are harder to make as they're more upwind/uphill.. it would make it exciting to watch with all the competitors having to round the gates which funnels people together and creates inside/outside lanes. And is easier to follow as a spectator then a hundred guys downwinding down the open ocean.

[@scratzch]

Added to which... competitors may like it because there would be a "slalom" individual champion and "super g" champion as well as overall champion. It would allow athletes to specialize in a particular discipline. Anyhow, there's my 2 cents. And yes, it's still downwinding if you can utilize bumps.. the limit is when you can't ever rest on a wave without pumping for.. say 30 seconds?

[@voyagerfoiler5976]

The voyager Flow Show will be formatted exactly like this

[@scratzch]

@@voyagerfoiler5976 love that. Pave the way!

[@jamescasey7393]

Great thoughts. Interesting definition of downwind foiling; whether we like it or not that 30 seconds of rest on the wave without pumping is not/was not really a thing in racing whilst over in WA, even with great conditions for all racing. If you were cruising on a bump for 30 seconds you were falling behind, kinda exactly the reason I want races to mix it up a little with flatter starts and finishes, some hard traversing etc. as it will make you think about foil choice a bit more than just going the smallest and fastest you have.

[@skatehills]

That looks good, 20kn down to 10kn is not bad at all especially in ocean. I'd be genuinely interested in how you get on doing a 10+ km bay run 1-2kn wind flat water pump on the SUP (or even doing laps), is that easy for a pro level rider? The SUP pro race crew at Crozon made it look easy, but most were very light, ultra fit. If the idea is to cater to the median rider skill to make the events economically viable then that maybe changes the question, if it is purely pro riders (how many are there? 10?) then yes run it in whatever.

[@jon_mann]

That's where different events targeting different riders will start to pop up. The dutch downwind event I'm organising caters for all levels. For that reason we are running with a minimum wind requirement. With the risk we don't run (like this year, we postponed to spring). Crozon wasn't 1-2kn might I add. The first race was light, my 960R was too small and I regretted not taking my 1300S. Second race where I placed 11th with the 1300S was like 12knots I think, could have probably used my 1130S. I'm not super light (78kg), or super (pro level) fit (I am decently fit though). The gear choice is critical. I think James makes a good point that with the right gear, a much wider range of conditions become rideable for a bigger range of skill levels

[@Aquazure2000]

He’s standing in front of a green screen it looks like, at times it looks like he’s not even on a foil. He is so good and chill to the point of it looking fake! Haha!

[@jamescasey7393]

haha dont tell anyone!

[@tylerkent4496]

What axis foil would work in very slow conditions like this?

[@jamescasey7393]

Hard to say but I'd assume 1401ART Pro or 1180 Spitfire