We’ve been having some awesome sessions here since we arrived back in Holbox both on and off the foil. Foilboarding fever has definitely spread on this little island. Locals Arturo and Steffen are now foiling here along with Cathy who has just received her new Axis Maroro Foil and Axis FREE Race board. She’s learning fast now she has her own gear and what a beauty it is too. More photos soon.
We also got one of Jonny’s pictures featured in Kiteworld Magazine Reader’s Gallery and won.
A foil tack is a type of turn performed on a foilboard. The manoeuvre requires you to turn the foilboard up into and then through the wind without the board touching the water. Feet positions are switched during the manoeuvre. You will ride off in the other direction having gained ground upwind.
The Process
As some of you may have noticed I’m more than a little obsessed with kite hydrofoil. The seeds were planted back in 2003 when I saw a vid of someone in Maui riding one.
These seeds lay dormant for ten years until Gabor Vagi showed me a video of Johnny Heineken performing hard fast foiling tacks.
I was so inspired by this seemingly impossible manouvre that I spent time learning how to duck tack my airush sector and surfboards on which it is also possible all be it without the flying part.
The seeds germinated that same autumn whilst watching Gabor learn to foil. I needed to foil and I really needed to learn the foiling tack.
Gabor Vagi making some of his first flights in Limnos – Inspiration
This summer I have finally achieved some consistency in my tacks and I have to say that for me it is one of the best feelings in kiting to fly around a turn and gain ground upwind especially given the effort it took.
Learn the Foil Tack
Learning the foiling tack was a slow but very rewarding process.
Step One
Learning the move first on a directional helped a lot. The duck tack video from CKPerformance was watched repeatedly. I hate to imagine learning the duck tack first on a foil – not impossible but possibly harmful. It’s also possible to learn the basics of this move on a twintip.
Step Two
I had to learn to foil, possibly the most rewarding thing I’ve learnt for a long time. We offer foilboarding lessons in Isla Holbox, Mexico between November and June each year at www.holboxkiteboarding.com
Step 3
Then came the hard bit learning the timing, body positions and kite control to make the tack whilst on the foil.
Videos by Gunnar Biniasch and Marvin Baumeister helped a lot at this stage as I had noone around to learn from.
Foiling Tack Sequence – Photo Cathy Padgett Edit Jonny Smith
Things I found useful during my progression
I found that being powered makes life easier and that each windspeed or kite will require a significant adjustment of timing.
Entering fast into the tack and giving a little kick really helps me to glide through the tack.
Switching my feet laterin the tack improved success. I am always in a hurry to switch my feet and as Gunnars video shows you will tend to fall off the back of the board.
I reached a point where I would regularly make the tack but with a touch down. I then tried to learn to foil around upwind to toeside without the foot switch. This helped me a lot in achieving a fully foiling tack. My progress speeded up et voila. Now work on improving consistency and my weak side must continue.
I’ve been practicing non stop, here are some of my latest attempts. Weak side now dialled in when conditions are good.
A two hour car journey from Negombo saw us passing lagoons, rivers and lakes. I was getting excited about the fishing and already.
The journey showed us quickly the true pecking order of the road. Cyclists are very clearly the lowest, followed by cars, then trucks, then tuktuk and at the top of the pile buses. Sri Lankan buses will stop for nothing except passengers. We’d considered taking a tuk tuk but the eggshell fragility of them combined with the crazy driving put us off. Great in town, long journeys no way.
We finally drew close to our destination – Kitekuda –http://srilankakiteschool.com/ near the Kapalady lagoon. Google Maps was our guide and it kindly sent us the back route down sandy paths much to the horror of our driver. A 4×4 would’ve been more useful than his brand new hybrid. A few signs to the Kitekuda camp would’ve been handy too.
Angry Louis – Get out of my way
As we arrived we were greeted by our old friend John Clark. John had been staying at Kitekuda for a while and had recommended it to us. Zak, Nils, Ola, Maufeer and Nilanka were our hosts and promptly made us welcome with an impressive lunch. The wind was up so lunch was wolfed down in a hurry, boards assembled and then a short walk showed us what we’d been waiting for. A beautiful flat lagoon, 5 kiters and about 20 knots. Happy days. Incredible first day. Good winds, good vibes and great food.
Jonh Clarke popping a nice back to toeside at Vella island.
Back at Kitekuda camp, Nilanka, and his team had rustled up a fantastic selection of curries, sides and rice all washed down with a can of special brew… which was unfortunately the only thing the local booze shop had to offer. Tramp juice and curry – yum.
Talk at the dinner table was all about a Kite safari programmed for the next day.
We hadn’t planned on going anywhere, having only just arrived but a few pictures and videos later we were signed up for a two day trip to Vella island via Dream Spot.
Leeward side of vella island Sri Lanka.
Kitekuda have a beautiful Kite boat, sporting twin Yamaha 90 engines. This rib was sure to fly.
We started the journey to Vella from Kalpitya lagoon. Kalpitya is the larger Kite lagoon in the area with more space but with gustier winds. Still looked pretty awesome but Kapalady is quieter and has a much shorter walk to the beach.
The rib absolutely flew with Nils at the helm who expertly navigated the surprisingly shallow lagoon. Twenty minutes later we arrived at dream spot.
John prepares for another pants session…
A sand bar separated our play area from the sea, giving nice flat water with enough depth for my hydrofoil. Winds were unfortunately lower than expected but perfect for foilboarding. I had done quite a bit of research about foilboarding in Sri Lanka but couldn’t find much out. Dream spot works. Foiling was easy here with winds so smooth and water so flat. I even pulled off some nice foiling tacks. The water here is deep enough to foil even with a few touchdowns. I ripped about for an hour or so until the others gave up. Their hearts were only for Vella And the wind was a bit light so off we went. Dream spot is good but we were about to find out why the others were so eager to get to vella.
Vella island is a narrow but long sand bar, occupied only by fishermen and the odd kiter. The leeward side of the island has butter flat water tight against the shoreline, mix that with 20 knot winds and you understand why we made the trip. 10m edge and darkslide paradise.
Darksliding the butter at Vella Island on the Axis Limited.
It was incredible to blast those flats with the rest of the group. Everyone was pushing hard and using the exceptional conditions for some good progression. John was really getting to grips with riding blind. Cathy was after a front to blind. Angry Louis was showing pure determination to nail his raley to blind. Omrii was getting to grips with jumping and Harry the backrolls.
Smile for the camera, john riding blind at Vella island, Sri LankaCathy performing the classic foot out at vella island, on her axis division and slingshot rally 7mLearnt to jump – Not too shabby
Mawfeer threw himself into the mix with some crazy aggressive front roll kiteloops and interesting front loops popped from the beach. Maufeer is a great local rider to watch and is non stop comedy on and off the water.
Crazy boy on and off the water.
Our digs for the night was an open sided fisherman’s hut which had space for at least 10. All of us were pretty broken and silence soon enveloped the camp. Apart from the 20 knots of wind howling all around us and the hourly visit from the local hounds.
Time to rest
The morning saw us rise with the sun and with the water all to ourselves it would’ve been rude not to have a blast before breakfast. Each of us had moments where we were the only one kiting in this paradise. It took about 90 seconds to rip from the tip of the island to the point where it bears off slightly downwind.
Jonny cruises the Vella flats at sunset all alone.
As you scream along the slicks inches from the beach the local fisherman are busy at work fixing their nets right alongside.
Cathy with nose grab at vella island, axis kiteboarding.
Tired from the kiting it was time to take the camera out.
The sun and too much kiting had obviously taken its toll on John. He was walking about in his underwear, muttering about tan lines. Next thing he was off kiting in the same attire. His riding was even better than the previous day though a couple of crashes saw some near lens shattering wardrobe malfunctions. Cathy was managing a few nice darkslides, omrii was boosting and Mawfeer was up to mischief as usual.
John styles out a nice foot out – only in his underwear
I went for a wander to watch the fisherman at work. I asked permission before every photo and always received the head waggle. My head waggle understanding was still at the same basic level as in Negombo. Waggle means yes, I hope…
Can I take your photo please, head wobble, OKLocal fishing vessels at vella island srilanka
The windward beach of the island was deserted apart from an army of nervous crabs scurrying along the shoreline.
I’ve got my eye on youOnly us, the fisherman and some menacing crabs on vella island sri lanka
An armada of kiters from another camp descended downwind onto our little paradise so it was time to leave and let them enjoy the butter too.
What a trip. Thanks to Nils and Mawfeer at Kitekuda for organising it.
If anyone wants to do a trip to vella island I would recommend getting in touch with Nils at Kitekuda – http://srilankakiteschool.com/
What an incredible and busy season it was. We had reliable winds from November until June once more. The students as ever were really enthusiastic and successful and it was great to watch the progress of all. Especially those who stayed that little bit longer. The foilboard seems to be really taking off this year. As a location to practice foilboarding, Holbox, MX really is awesome with rideable conditions most days throughout the season.
Foilboarding together 🙂 Cath learns to ride the kite hydrofoil.
We also managed an amazing trip out to snorkel with the Manta rays. Willy’s tours based at Minisuper Besa helped us out and were very professional. Francisco is the best captain.
We’ve had a short break back home to see some friends and family (those we missed we’ll catch up with in the Autumn) and bagged a quick foil and freestyle session at Cleethorpes before booking our summer trip. While it’s not been windy photography and Unicycling have also kept me busy.
The unicycle was purchased as a way to crosstrain for the foilboard, how useful it was I don’t know, however riding the foilboard certainly improved my unicycle skills massively. I guess it must be the constant fine adjustments to balance that cross over so well.
Jonny rolling down the hill at black rocks – Nimbus 26″ Mountain UnicycleOff road unicycling – wetherby
Next stop Sri Lanka for some kiteboarding in and around Kalpitya and travelling around. A place we’ve had on the list for a while. Wahoo – Holiday!!
We’ve had a really windy season here on Holbox so far. The kite school has been busy too. So time has been short for an update. We’ve seen lots of beginners taking their first steps in kiteboarding. Intermediates learning to jump or ride surfboards and advanced riders embracing #foilfever. Gabo, Jirka and Javier have all been seen sporting the ear to ear grin that foilboarding gives.
Lagoon at holbox
Mitch has been pushing his riding on the unhooked side of things and making some nice progress. Cathy’s duck tacks are looking great on the surfboard. Pete has been seen flying high with the pelicans and Anna can usually be seen spinning like a top. I’m completely hooked on foilboarding.
New kites have been arriving and we now have some new 2016 Slingshot Wave and Rally kites in the School. Very impressed with both.
New boards too for Cathy and I from Axis kiteboarding. The limited has been updated with a fat rail and my first impressions have been very good.
Axis Limited 2016 “Fat Rail”
Also landed recently thanks to Todd from Canada is the WOO which is going to open up a new level to our kiting here. Maybe even show a competitive side to some of us.
wooohoooo
First try in some mediocre winds saw me flying to 8.3m can’t wait to get out again and push it to new heights.
Well the UK won out this summer and we’ve landed down at Calshot on the south coast. The conditions down here are fantastic for learning, with knee deep to waist deep water at low and mid tides with the added bonus that at high tide it is perfect for a spot of kite hydrofoiling.
We’re working with Paul @ Nomadic Kitesurf
August has seen us teaching nearly daily and the students have been progressing really nicely so far.
The shop 24-7 Boardsports is on site at the beach for any toys that you might need to buy after your lessons.
If you’re going to head down get in touch with Cathy or myself or through Paul’s Nomadic website.
So the summer is here and we’ve been spending it in the UK so far. We’ve just got back from a couple of weeks travelling around the West coast of Wales, check out our write up here.
“Our last morning on the Gower tucked away in a little spot where we possibly shouldn’t have been, I was awoken to a rocking van.. “Cathy is that you?” I asked… “No!” came the reply. With fear that I might find an angry landowner clamping the van we opened the curtains to find a very big black cow using the Oranguvan as a personal scratching post. Cathy’s farm experience quickly sent them packing and us too.”
Jonny has also been loving his Kite Hydrofoiland has written a little piece to explain more about this growing style of kiting. If you’re intrigued and want to know more about the magic carpet ride of hydrofoiling / foilboarding in those summer breezes find out more here.
Jonny foilboarding with #axiskiteboarding – Abrerech sands
Not quite sure about Kite Hydrofoiling but still want to rip up those flat waters in light summer breezes why not check out a freerace board. Find out more here.
KIte Hydrofoil – Foilboarding backroll in Holbox
