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Old     (airbeast)      Join Date: Oct 2009       04-03-2015, 11:26 PM Reply   
Looks like the foil forum here is pretty inactive but wanted to hear any serious wakeboarders that tried it and how fun is it?

Popped my acl summer of 13 landing an overshot double up in the flats. Rode last summer without one. Screwed it up twice more, said enough is enough and got an allograft in December. Looks like probably no wakeboarding this summer though.

How bad are the wrecks being strapped to it? Wonder how the risk of injury compares to wakeboarding. And how hard are the landings on the back? I would get one with a shock.

Thanks
Old     (amsterdamn)      Join Date: Aug 2014       04-04-2015, 7:39 AM Reply   
to me wrecks dont seem that bad. My brother has gotten into doing some crazy flips and stuff with it. He bought a used sky ski. As for just riding around, its extremely smooth and low impact. I dont remember any major risk of injury from being strapped in. however its when your foot straps come off is when people start to get hurt. My brother had to start wearing a helmet and mouthguard because he attempted a flip and when his feet came out of the straps, the foil came around and hit him in the back of the head. IMO, just make sure you buy a good one with secure straps and youll be fine
Old     (brettw)      Join Date: Jul 2007       04-04-2015, 7:53 AM Reply   
Switched to mostly foiling years ago and love it. Get on foilforum.com if you want to talk about it more. It'd be great if there was anyone in your area that rides so you can try it. You just want to stay off the older AirChairs, so don't go buy something too ancient. You don't really need to worry about hurting yourself until you get much better. The worst I've gotten hurt is a couple of ruptured eardrums, and so I wear either a helmet or most times just ear plugs. On the sit down foils, if you properly strap in, you're never coming loose, and no part of your body will ever touch that foil. A couple reasons I got in was that you don't need perfect water to ride one. Boat chop is no good, but some wind chop is no problem at all. I actually prefer a little chop over glass to better spot the water on inverts. Also, per your title, I didn't want to mess up my legs, especially as I got older. Once I started riding, though, I liked it much better than anything else I've ever done on the water. About the only time I waterski or wakeboard anymore is when I'm on the river where there are sandbars and it's a bit shallow. Definitely give it a try!
Old     (rallyart)      Join Date: Nov 2006       04-04-2015, 11:05 AM Reply   
My wife loves her AirChair and she has knees that hurt but she just floats along at 15 mph. Never hurts anything. The kids and I ride it often and no one has stressed a knee. We've been bend backward a few times. Flushed our sinuses (especially while learning) and knocked the wind our of ourselves on occasion.
A SkySki or AirChair can be really easy on you but if the boat is going 25 and you are 15' in the air you have to expect that you can have a hard impact. We have just not had any stress on knees because they are not loaded the force of the board.
Old     (kramer)      Join Date: Feb 2010       04-04-2015, 8:49 PM Reply   
I tried to get into it a couple years ago but then my back started bothering me. I stopped using the sky ski and haven't had the back pain since. It is a lot of fun though, it's weird how silent it is when riding through the water.
Old     (airbeast)      Join Date: Oct 2009       04-05-2015, 12:43 PM Reply   
Thanks. I'm going to try to find one. Looks fun and hopefully will keep my wakeboarding temptation down. Was reading some on foilforum but didn't see why the shock versions are not sold. I have the machining capability to make about anything so I may try to find one and make a seat with a shock for it. Something like the limited edition sky ski. Spine compression is my major worry.
Old     (greg2)      Join Date: May 2002       04-05-2015, 6:32 PM Reply   
I had multiple knee injuries boarding and after my last one in 2009 I switched over to the Sky Ski and haven't looked back. I get way more air on the Sky Ski, haven't had any wrecks on it that are nearly as bad as my years on a wake board and water conditions don't matter like they used to. You will find a lot of good information on the Foil Forum. My advice is buy the best equipment you can reasonable afford. You probably won't be able to tell the difference your first couple of months, but after that the better equipment will be very noticeable and you'll be looking to upgrade.
Old     (bstroop)      Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Athens, Alabama       04-05-2015, 7:53 PM Reply   
Don't bother getting any foil with less than 37-38 inches of wet length. You'll outgrow it as soon as you move up to trying tricks. You can find good deal on intermediate/advanced foils of foil forum.com. I rode a 38 inch two piece foil for years and got big air on tricks. Friends with higher end foils didn't get much more air on theirs than I did on mine......at half the cost. You will find a little more drag, but not much.

Find someone who is good and get out with them. Most people who wing it alone take much longer to progress because there is a lot of technique to be learned for BIG jumps. Stuff you wouldn't learn alone.

Air chair has good high end stuff but I'd steer clear of their entry level stuff. IMO you should look for a Sky Ski B39 launch, or an INXS from Next Foils. Both will land every trick in the book and can be upgraded down the road.
Old     (airbeast)      Join Date: Oct 2009       04-07-2015, 3:34 PM Reply   
Ok, thanks for the good info!

As far as finding someone to learn from, I don't think it will happen. I only saw it one time here on the lake and we're out all the time. That was back around 98. Probably going to be on my own.
Old     (Bakes)      Join Date: Mar 2010       04-07-2015, 4:21 PM Reply   
B39 is the way to go. Upgrade wings as you progress. For learning...start at a slow speed. Drag slow a second, pop up to about 8 MPH then slowly accelerate to about 12 MPH. ONce you can fly the wing at 12, gradually increase speed until you are stable at about 18 MPH. Learn how to jump at 18. Falls are a non issue...just make sure you give yourself a nice hug or else you will eventually hurt your shoulder as you enter the water at some oblique angle while rotating. Biggest mistake I see with people who are out learning on their own is hitting it way too hard on startup and going way to fast for someone just learning.

Anyways, absolutely love the Sky Sky.
Old     (bstroop)      Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Athens, Alabama       04-07-2015, 7:26 PM Reply   
Hit up the regional/find a pull section on foil forum. I remember there being some riders in Tennessee. Not sure how close....

One thing I've found over the years is that the foil community is very generous when helping people out. Hell.....if you're ever in Oregon or NorCal I'll hook you up.
Old     (AndrewP)      Join Date: Jul 2010       04-08-2015, 8:38 AM Reply   
There are a few riders here in the Nashville area. If you are ever out this way and want a pull let me know. I sometimes hit Center Hill as well.
Old     (tripsw)      Join Date: May 2006       04-11-2015, 11:31 AM Reply   
Just rode a foil a few times, first times for me. Absolutely love it! Definitely gonna buy a used one.
Was very lucky to get to learn with an experienced foiler that was visiting from the US and brought his own high-end foil. Indeed like said before he pulled me at very low speeds. He also recommended to look for a Sky Ski, not Air Chair, when buying a used one.
For landings that were hard on his back, he had a wing made in Germany with a little curve in it, not flat, which made a huge difference he said.

The feeling of riding/flying it compares to nothing else. I'm hooked!

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