Quiver Reflections – 1 month in & Barcelona

Author: Jon Mann

So one month in on my Code gear and I’ve managed to get a decent few runs in on the foils, along with a chance to race them in Barcelona at the BCN SUP World fest. I originally planned to do a video overview to go with the blog, but work and time got the better of me. I wanted to keep this blog to a ‘first impressions after a month’ so will just publish the blog. I will do my best to try create a video overview of my thoughts on my quiver in the near future. 

If I was to sum up how I feel on these foils with one word – it would be the Dutch word ‘vertrouwd’ (bilingual people will understand what I mean when you say that certain words in one language have a feeling that can’t be translated). Literally ‘vertrouwd’ translates to ‘trusted’ in english. But it evokes a sense of comfort, which is something I have when riding these foils (even if it is for the first time in a race…but more on that later). With the exception of the 720S (1 wing session), I’ve had a couple good sessions or more on the rest of my foils in the quiver so will give a quick run through of my thoughts on each one, what stabs I’ve ridden them with, what I liked, what I still want to test and where I think it sits in my quiver.

For reference – I’m 77kg normally riding in some form of neoprene and riding a 7’7” x 19.4” 105L Appletree Skipper Downwind.

980S: This was my ‘gateway’ drug to the Code foils. Originally I was really keen to try the 860R first, but as there wasn’t one in stock in the Netherlands I was advised to try the 980S. So I got that and the 770R to test first. I rode it with the 142AR stab and medium fuse for my first downwinder and was blown away. It was super fun to ride, surfy, plenty of speed and glide and really forgiving. So much so that my next run with it was a PR distance run of 55km from Wijk aan Zee to Julianadorp. 

For me the 980S is a great allround foil that covers everything. Its role in my quiver will be for Lake runs, SUP foiling and proning in small waves and downwinding where I just want to cruise around instead of pushing speed. On the lakes I’ve really loved it with the 142 and short fuse, it turns so nice and makes lake downwinding like surfing. I’m very keen to try it with the 135R to downwind on the North Sea. 

960R: Originally I got this foil for flatwater training and super light days but in Barcelona I saw it can definitely go pretty quick with steady 2:28-2:30 splits and a super solid paddle up (almost guaranteed, I’ve taken it out in some pretty light conditions). I’ve tested this foil with every stab I have (150AR, 142AR, 135R, 120R) back to back flatwater paddling and landed on the medium fuse as my preferred fuse with the R series foils to downwind (validated with similar tests on the 860R) with the 135R for flatwater and lighterwind sessions and the 120R for faster DW runs (say with a sketchy forecast) – though I think I’d go 860 / 135 over the 960 / 120 combo for a more balanced feel. It has a really good low end, and pumps very easily. My highlight with this foil so far is being able to turn a 2km run into 4.5km just by cutting right and left and pumping side / up wind each ‘cut’. 

860R: This is probably my one foil quiver foil (or the 980S). My plan is to commit to the 860 and 770R for most of my downwind runs in the lead up to Maui unless its really light or I’m trying to double the distance of my run (then 960R, though no real reason not to try the 860R unless the wind is really onshore). Range wise I’d say there is a good overlap with the 980S, but the 860R is a bit more efficient for me, so nicer for DW and holding a higher average speed. 

770R: Also in contention with the 860R for a one foil quiver foil and in contention with the 980S for my favourite foil (my 2 foil quiver would for sure be a 980S and a 770R). I’m yet to find its top end, I’ve managed 2:08 in pretty small/slow bumps with the 142AR, so I’m really excited to get this foil going with an R tail and fast bumps in Maui (goal is to go sub 2:00/km). I really like how this foil surfs and is the reason I didn’t get an 850S in my quiver as I didn’t want to have the choice (and stress of choosing). I’m also not the most ‘radical’ surfer so the subtle differences between the 850S and the 770R aren’t so huge to me. Of all the R series foils I like the feel of the 770R the most. I can’t paddle it up as easily as the 860R, but it’s still not that hard and lies more with my paddling in the bumps more than anything. The amazing thing once it is up is how slow it can go and how easy it is to recover from mistakes. An unexpected win with this foil was that I managed to paddle it up on flatwater (with the 135R and medium fuse) and that I had an insanely fun surfy lake run with it paired with the short fuse and 142AR stab. 

720S: Having seen Reedie’s instagram clips I couldn’t not get a 720S. I’ve only winged it with the 142AR tail, but that already felt plenty playful. I’m really looking forward to nuking days on our short period north sea bumps, and even the lakes to take this foil out for surfy runs. I also plan to use it for SUP foiling and prone foiling. 

BCN SUP World Fest

So for those who haven’t listened to the recap on the Casey Catchup, I’ll briefly summarise the Barcelona race here as well. First off, it was a very well organised event. Despite  unusual weather meaning we didn’t get the usual thermally accelerate southerly winds, Xavi the race director adapted to the onshore winds and we managed to race on both planned days by taking boats upwind to the start. Second thing worth noting was that my 860 and 960 arrived a week before the event (not well planned on my front).

Day 1: The day started with decent wind in the morning and decent bumps. Some of the guys went out on boats to have a look at the America’s cup boats that were out and said the bumps were decent. Forgetting that the wind would die on the forecast I chose the 860R/135R combo (which I hadn’t downwinded at this point yet). Along with the east wind and associated bumps there was a nice south swell rolling through that made for slightly messier conditions. As we rode out in the boats, as forecast the wind dropped and the bumps slowly began to die off. For me this was just a bit too much with the 860R and I really regretted not taking the 960R which I think would have enabled me to put together a good run. After getting up and pumping a bit, coming down and then repeating. I saw others getting in the boats so decided to do the same and save my legs for day 2.

Day 2: Like day 2, onshore winds. But this time without the ground swell. Better wind and better bumps, but nonetheless after the day before everyone decided to rig bigger. I went with the 960R/135R this time. Unlike the day before I got a great start and managed to keep up with the guys at the front. Feeling on pace and fast I decided to push hard attempting to go up and over a bit too ambitiously (860 would have been nice…) leading to me falling after making a mistake. I got up fairly quickly having not lost too much ground and made up a fair bit of ground, before then making the same mistake. This time coming into the worst part of the run to fall. The backwash was horrendous and I had a terrible time trying to paddle up and eventually decided to paddle the last bit in on my knees whilst watching half the fleet casually foil past me. In hindsight the urge to push is what let me down and if I’d foiled a bit more relaxed with more composure I would most likely not have made those errors. Sure my placing wouldn’t have been as high, but it also wouldn’t have been as low as what it ended up as. 

All in all though it was a great weekend and I learnt a lot about the foils and about race tactics for Maui (which was the main goal for Barcelona, mentally go through racing and the process). My main takeaway asides from needing to dial the foils in (which I have now almost a month later) is the importance of composure and focusing on your own race. 

So thats my first month with Code foils  (about 12 downwind runs, a few flatwater paddle up session and a few onshore slop pump sessions). Really looking forwards to further dialling these foils in to get the best out of them and myself in Maui!

As always, feel free to reach out (instagram DM or email) with any questions, always happy to help.