Air Chair / Hydrofoil

TX Foilhead wrote: I'm thinking about it, we're doing a Mini Flyin @ Lake Murray OK the middle of May.

Send me an email shortly before you come up here(Murray). I've got a buddy with an 99SNOB that is dying to learn something on his foils.

We'll be there.

Yeah, But, think of all the money you'll be saving!

Kid Rock foils

All I can say is I tried the Air Chair twice; can you say FACE-PLANT? There is very little reaction time from being OK to FACE-PLANT. However with that said I would be more than happy to try it again if I had the chance. Our motto is, "If your not bleeding, your not having any fun."

Ryan, this is your advanced warning about the Lake Murray event, we're about a month away it going on May 14 - 16th @ Buzzards Roost.

Any one is welcome to come out, it's like the reunions, but we are there to ride hydrofoils instead of looking at boats. There will be some looking to learn to ride and maybe even a pro or 2, people came from as far away as Ohio and California last year, with the majority being from OK and North TX. If you need more details look for it over on foilforum.com or email me through either site my name is the same both places.

Maybe I will go too. About 2 hours from my home. I have a few hours on the foil and would like to see some pros.

Told a few friends, they're coming too. I think Anthony lives in North Dallas.

Ryan, I will be giving a call. A couple of my friends wants to go to Lake Murray on May 8. I wonder if I can get some information. We are thinking about staying the weekend. Is there a place on the lake you can stay at. Maybe a hotel or camping?

Airchair $500

Is really that cold?

Ryan, I got your number. I will call later in the week.

Water temp is 69 degrees right now.

Had a chance to try the skyski this weekend thanks to a pull and some tips by JoeinNY at White Lake. It's definitely unlike anything I've ever been on. Ever. To paraphrase Joe, "Very subtle changes in rope/body position have dramatic effects on your success and/or failures."   Having said that, it was a lot of fun and I'd like to have one. Took me a couple of tries to get up and then a few more to figure out how to keep it down. Most other water toys seem to be challenging to figure out how to get up. This one, for me at least, was more challenging to figure out how to keep it from riding up high on that foil, which for a beginner is the very first part of an incredibly massive face plant.

There are 2 things that I didn't like.
1. It's huge. If you have to carry it around in your boat all day with all your other gear (as i do), that alone would be enough to keep me from getting one.
2. Expense. This would definitely be a water toy that I'd be going in with my regular ski buds to split the cost on. No way I could swing a grand or more for one by myself.

Still, really cool toy and easier on the body vs. wakeboarding etc... As long as your not falling.

If you learned to get up on it quickly, that's great. We have found that people who slalom a lot seem to have the most difficulty. They want to tug and push and pull on things and it really just requires that you sit still and follow the boat.

The next major lesson is to not push on your feet, it's a natural reaction to avoid danger but on the foil it causes it. That lesson is learned fairly quickly and the worst of the crashes are done until you start to jump.

If you have learned the safety position (arms out, bend forward at the waist to set the board on the water) well then jumping shouldn't cause you much if any pain. Try to take everything bacerds and you will avoid the faceplants.

Speaking of the faceplants, they will get your attention, but really it is just the same old slap on the water and getting water in your nose and eyelids that seem to happen from learning anything new behind a boat.     I have taken similar falls on skis, wakeboards, kneeboards and tubes. With the foils you can slow the boat down below 20 and minimize the impacts while your learning. I think the record for the slowest roll is 7 or 8 mph.

They do take up a bit of room in the boat, but we found that the are be hind the driver in a direct drive is usually unused, the other side of the motor works for the next one, and there is room for 2 more in the back with the seat removed. In my Excel I have had 6 with 6 riders.

As for the cost, anyone can ride any foil, and most tricks have been done on all variations of the the Sky Skis. The more expensive foils are lighter, smoother, and more responsive, but require no special skills to ride. If get into it you will end up with the high end equipment so purchase all you can afford and upgrade the rest as you can.

That's about all the rambling I have tonight, but for anyone interested in foiling go over to Foilforums.com and have a look around, we have just about all the info you could ever want on hydrofoiling.

So you saying if I can find any year model skyski it will be a good one ?