SURF FOILING

What is surf foiling?

Just like surfing, surf foiling’s (also referred to as prone foiling) main goal is to ride waves. Catching a wave is the same as surfing, just once up your board is lifted up by the foil and you surf the wave with your foil as opposed to the board. Because of this, surf foil boards are much smaller, typically in the range of 4’0″ – 5’0″ with similar volumes to small wave / grovellers (high 20’s to 40L).

What gear do I need to start surf foiling?

Board: When getting started it’s nice to start with a bigger board. Typically boards slightly bigger than your surfboard volume if you shortboard. Otherwise board between 35-45L (depending on your weight) and anything between 4’6″ – 5’2″ should work. Bear in mind, the bigger you start, the easier the waves are you can target meaning that you lower the likelihood of having more consequential falls / crashes.

Foils: Try not to start with a too big a foil (if coming from a wing foil background). Reason being that the initial impulse or push from the wave will cause big foils to lift you quite quickly. A foil between 1000-1500cm2 depending on your weight is a good starting point. I would also avoid older / thicker low aspect foils due to how much low speed lift they generate. Anything with an AR of 5 or higher should be ok though. Starting out with a shorter mast will help you with pitch control, though too short could lead to higher likelihood of breaching. I’ve found that 65 – 70cm to be a nice length to start on with many foilers opting to stay on shorter masts anyways. Typically foilers who prone will use a mast between 70 – 85cm.

Conditions: Choose days where the surf is small and find a gentle wave that crumbles and reforms. Most importantly, keep your distance from others. The last thing you want is to hurt someone else by kicking the foil out.