Wingfoiler's Take on the Foil Drive Assist Plus....this is not an efoil, but is it better?
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- čas přidán 9. 07. 2024
- A long-winded review of my first few weeks on the Foil Drive Assist Plus. I venture into prone foiling in the waves, winging with the Foil Drive, and mild efoiling in the flats on small boards.
Want an Foil Drive for yourself? Fin & Foil in Fort Pierce, FL is stocking them in the US. Check them out here:
www.finandfoilusa.com/ - Sport
Thanks for the review. I am a kiteboarder getting into wingfoiling since kiting is limited in terms of where city allows them. Did a number of lessons with a huge foil and instructor told me that I need to feel it and there is not much he can teach me until I get the feeling. So I am paying 100 bucks per hour and he is only taking the foil back upwind so I can keep trying. You mention this is not recommended for beginners but do you see a use case that this can be used only to tow back upwind and then turned off? I can be on my knees or sitting during towing and wing can be neutral/disabled. I could save money from lessons since I am not getting much anyway at this stage.
I have been riding these Foil Drive units for 7 months now. I am not on the Foil Drive team and so I have had time to thoroughly ride and test the gear. Rather than mess with the wing, maybe try the FD prone to get the understanding of foiling and then try wing foiling. You can also use it to help with winging to keep yourself upwind and never do a walk of shame. That is a great idea at that stage. I was a very experienced wing foiler. The Foil Drive has still taught me how to ride the foil much, much better. If you have the cash, grab one. They are an amazing learning tool. Look at my wave riding and pumping prior to May of 2023 when I bought my first Foil Drive. You will see a real difference. Also, you won't see as many wing videos after May. This thing absolutely took over.
@@foilfanaticthanks for further comments. Although this is a big investment, as you mentioned eliminating walk of shame is a solid use case for purchase. However; you also raised some concerns for newcomers in terms of too much going on with wing/foil/remote/blades so I am trying to assess if I can simplify some of that complexity and still eliminate walk of shame.
@@cureviI I still think it would be difficult for someone new to winging to integrate the foil drive into the learning process. Using it to paddle out or to eliminate the worry of getting pushed too far downwind are both great reasons to use it to help with the first stages of winging.
I was a wing foiling addict, going every day in 8-10kn winds on my 1310 and 8m CWC, 90l boards, I have watched a lot of tutorials including your channel. Then I got my foil drive. As a surfer I've always wanted to pump and use smaller boards. I started with foil drive on a 41L board and have since gone down to as low as 21L. I've just gone everyday for pump foiling and now I'm riding in the waves with it, my motto has been.. it doesn't matter if I can go 50km in one day on a wing foil, when I can't even go 50 meters pumping. The foil drive was exactly what I needed to figure out pumping which is not possible with a wing foil setup. I haven't touched my wing foil gear since I've gotten foil drive. This is coming from a guy who was riding everyday on the wingfoil even in ultra light winds.
Right on! And thanks for watching the channel! I am not ready to ditch my wings totally, but the Foil Drive may take a front seat for so many days. The days of winging below 8K without this drive are pretty much in the rear view mirror. I prone foiled with this before work today and right after. No need to check the wind. So freeing!
Great video! I am in this category you are describing. Foil Drive assist plus is allowing me to sup/wing/prone foil in places and conditions that I was never able to before. Allowing me to progress at foiling with leaps and bounds. I love this product.
Thanks! It is awesome to hear that I am not alone in the excitement over this thing. 🤙
Thanks for your review. I have so little wind by me that I can only wing foil 0-2 days a month. You give me hope. Maybe foil drive plus and an 8m will give me more days.
Florida got almost no wind this summer. The Foil Drive kept me on the water every day. Love that thing!🤙
Great Review Bill- I want one like what Apricot Scrub said below- it will change everything!-Joe
Thanks Joe! It does change everything. I am not being hyperbolic. This device could spell the slow death of my channel. Most wingers do not want to consume much content on a device they have no intention of purchasing. We both know that the next 6 months are pretty light wind conditions here, but the waves and swell are still pretty good. Local riders don't want to hear much about how you are riding in no wind and through the seaweed while they are stuck on the beach. I am not done with winging, but I am done chasing storms for a 15 minute ride on an oversized wing. In the end, it is all about the ride. My ride on CZcams may be coming to an end, but the long rides in waves are just beginning.
Thank you! Living my foildrive
I am now just starting to uncover the real potential of this side of the sport. Thanks for watching, I can see you are several steps ahead of me in the game. subscribed.
Crazy! Awesome video. Honest and informative. What are your thoughts on using it for SUP foiling (not downwind foiling)? PS: Do notice the weight or the mass of the battery -- e.g., does it alter the dynamics pumping?
I am totally sold on the Foil Drive now. Take a look at the most recent shorts I published and you can see the progress in pumping. That all comes from the Foil Drive. I think the Foil Drive does more to help people's riding than hinder it. There really isn't that much extra weight to overcome.
Nice review of the Foil Drive! I appreciate the shared experience and advice for potential buyers to be mindful of how it can help the seasoned rider vs. the brand new rider. It does look like a game changer for riders to hone new wing/board maneuvers in light wind before killing themselves in strong or gusty conditions. I know that eFoil makers have “jet” options for their motors to help reduce the “meat grinder” risk, have you heard if FD considered the option? Seems like it could be a performance killer, though.
I am far from an inside track with @foildrive, but they seem to keep a close eye on comments about their gear. You might get an answer directly from them on that. The meat grinder risk is a bit higher for wingers. Fall with the remote in your hand and your hand on the wing and there is a reasonable chance that the trigger gets pushed and shoots the board off flying. I would guess that the open folding prop is most ideal for free foiling as it allows for minimal drag as compared to motors with jets or prop guards. With the motor mounted high on the mast, risk is less. Down low, seems like you could end up kicking the thing more easily.
@@foilfanatic that’s a great point, keeping the motor closer to the board seems like it can improve safety and keep the drag out of the water after getting up on foil.
They have a plastic prop option too. I’m guessing a wound would be smaller.
@@martinomovies 🧐seems legit😆
I don’t know man, if model airplanes have taught me anything it’s that a plastic prop spinning at high rpm can meat grid pretty well…for a short time at least 😂
Thanks for the great video. How far from the board do you have the motor mounted on the mast? I am thinking abput getting the assist plus to help getting on foil when winging in light wind or to use smaller gear / safety when it is nuking.
I think in this video, I had it about 8 inches from the top of an 80cm mast. I have since moved it up a few inches so I could get the motor completely out of the water when I pump or ride waves.
Is it annoying to hold the remote in your hand and the wing? I’m a larger rider so looking for a bit of boost to help get some speed for popping up in foil while under wing power, not so much e-foil so will have a wing in my hands too
It can be minimal challenge to hold the wing handle with three fingers and the remote between your index and thumb. I would say getting skunked is much more annoying. Downsizing to a 46L board and a 4 or 5M wing in 6mph winds balances the scales a bit. I just sold my 74L board. No need for it at 83kg.
Thanks for the review - for wingfoiling is there a way to fix the remote on the front handle?
I think the paddle mount can be adapted, though in super light wind, I like the ability to keep the motor running through the turn. If you mount it to a handle, that might be a more difficult task, but maybe not. it is awkward holding the remote all the time while winging. I let the remote dangle when the wind picked up. When I went to pump the wing during a lull, that remote swung and popped me in the lip. So there are also advantages of keeping it mounted. Maybe middle ground would be a heavy duty velcro attachment and a thin leash line to secure it in case it came loose or you wanted to keep it in one hand through a transition.
Do you wish you held out another 6 months or so and purchase the Gen 2? I am interested in Foil Drive but the $5k price of the Gen 2 seems a bit steep. Thoughts on that.
Crazy story: I made this video right after buying the Plus. It changed how I looked at every discipline of foiling. I have been riding nearly every day since then. Many days, it is two or 3 sessions a day. I ended up getting heavily involved with the Foil Drive Crew. I am now a Team Rider for Foil Drive. I am in deep because I really believe in their products and wanted to share them with as wide of an audience that would listen. I still ride my Plus when letting people demo my Slim and Max. I can do 90 percent of the things on the Plus that I can do with the Slim or the Max. But if I was saving pennies to get a Foil Drive, the Assist is a great value. The Plus is the budget friendly entry model. The Slim is for riders that just need short and powerful boost here and there. The Max is for riders wanting to maximize time on the water with tons of power and capacity. No regrets. I am all in, but my story is not typical. I happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right people. Super lucky and super grateful. 🤙
To answer your question, I am keeping my Plus, but if my situation was different, I would sell things to get the Foil Drive Gen2. It is phenomenal. In the long run, I will save money by using the Foil Drive more then wings. Even with massive discounts on wings through sponsorships, they still end up costing more than a Foil Drive over a two year period. If I rode the wings as often as I Foil Drive, I would need a new wing every 3 months. 8 wings over two years would cost between $7,000 and $18,000, depending on materials. Few places on earth would allow you to wing that often. The Foil Drive does.
Hi great video. I am looking at purchasing the Foil Drive Assist Plus and was wrapped to see you demonstrating with an AK Compact board as I have the 5"2' 105 L version. I also have an efoil and can foil in that dormain. Initially I got the Compact board for wing foiling, but I want to try to expand my skillset to include foil pumping and prone foiling in the waves utilizing the Compact board and Foil Drive Assist Plus. Just a couple of questions about your placement of the battery unit at the front of the Compact board did you try the unit at the rear of the board between your rear foot strap and the heel raise or was there not enough room or did this create balance issues? Does the battery in the front affect the swing weight or pitch much on the board. Thanks in advance for your reply, much appreciated.
I weigh 83kg. I mounted the kit to both a 46L and 74L Compact boards. So the 74L sinks a bit and the 46L sinks a ton. The battery box has to be out of the water to use. Mounting it on the front allows me to lean the sunken board back to get the battery box out of the water to begin. Once you throttle up just a bit, the board will stay on the surface. You can mount the battery box rearward, but you need a board with increased volume to do so. Moreso than the weight of the battery, bigger boards and weight and length that make pumping more difficult. The 105L Compact will likely be easier to get on foil, but may present a challenge pumping such a large board. Not impossible, but not as easy as smaller boards.