Windfoil Pumping

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Randy
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Windfoil Pumping

Interesting thread on nw-windtalk about pumping. Several different techniques shown. Which is best?

https://groups.io/g/nw-windtalk/topic/windfoiling_pumping_technique/75738263?p=,,,20,0,0,0::recentpostdate%2Fsticky,,,20,2,0,75738263

"We can find so many different pumping techniques people use:
- Straight and aggressive legs and arms pump: https://youtu.be/ICe4bGdBNP4
- Circular hands and legs motion (this looks nice!): https://youtu.be/vrupMZ1qyrk
- Pretty much legs only, low stance, little arm work: https://youtu.be/4dL8yhMvPiA?t=10
- No legs, hooked in, rotate rig back and forth: https://youtu.be/f0Fx9J5WROk?t=20 (don't laugh, it's me)
- Do nothing: https://youtu.be/pFDmsA7jT3M
- Sam Ross breaks it down into 2 phases: rig-only first to generate forward momentum, legs second to make the foil generate lift: https://youtu.be/P3_IFU9c15c?t=73
- I can't find the link but there was also one guy who was full-brute-force shaking the rig like a madman, it was amazing...

I've tried many but anything involving legs makes me lose balance.
What's your technique and what was your "aha moment" in regards to pumping?"

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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Re: Windfoil Pumping

I saw a bunch of those videos. A few are not very "informative". The boom end shots aren't very helpful either it's hard to get a sense of what's going on at times. I think I pump decently and I had a hard time sorting out what they were doing. Kind of sort of pulling on the sail is only going to get you off the water if you are just barely underpowered. The beauty of a good pump is getting going in conditions that would normally have us driving home.

Edit: I think these below are excellent examples of pumping in low wind conditions. I don't think you have to do this every time you pump - the wind may be enough so that just a couple of tugs are enough. But, they serve as a good guide to the form and effectiveness of someone who pumps well - except that local guy who is just so so.

Bart Kramer: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1yGKGhAL-B/?igshid=1wblcjav0wvhp
Damien Le Guen: https://www.facebook.com/damien.leguen1/videos/10158795030718646/
Dan Wilson: https://www.instagram.com/p/B6VLVijHxVX/
Some local guy: https://youtu.be/uplyB1pnhcE?t=24

Dan Wilson's pumps remind me of Britt Viehman's (NB Windsurfing) advice: Pump with the torso not the arms.

Seabreeze comments: https://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Foiling/Foil-Racing-Light-wind-technique?page=1

These examples are all with bigger sails. Smaller sails use a bit more of a circular motion. This being Atlanta, I'm biasing my thoughts towards the light wind end of the spectrum.

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Re: Windfoil Pumping

Webguy and Barrett are very efficient at pumping (@ 2:30). Sail pumping first for speed, then the see-saw rocking pumping of the board/foil is very effective. I think of sail pumping as a F=ma thing – the more air you can push aft and the faster you can push it, the more juice you get. Legs are key because they are so much stronger. I'm really lazy and usually just work hard enough to get the leech moving... like a hand fan on a July Sunday in a south Georgia church with no AC. That works pretty well if you're just below planing or takeoff speed. Back in the IMCO racing daze, Gebi did a clinic on pumping and my one takeaway was his description of the mast tip describing a circle– easy on the forward part, forceful on the back stroke.

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Re: Windfoil Pumping

From what I can see it just looks like aggressively pumping a formula board onto a plane in the various drone and fixed camera location videos.

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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Re: Windfoil Pumping
Randy wrote:

From what I can see it just looks like aggressively pumping a formula board onto a plane in the various drone and fixed camera location videos.

Yep, mostly combined with what Chris said. It's about driving the board to enough speed where the foil begins to become effective in reducing drag and allowing the apparent wind to accelerate.

The other aspect is similar to a formula board - being in the footstraps to help pump the board. On a formula, you are trying to load the fin and hop the board to release it from the water. With a foil, you are pumping the foil wing and trying to get it working as well as getting the board to release from the water. The Sam Ross video in your post shows this aspect. Wingers really depend on this, too.

In Chris's video, Barrett is a good pumper so I may have had some motivation to pull harder than I might have otherwise. Blush

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Re: Windfoil Pumping

Robby's vid with his daughter (How to Foil, part 2) says with a wing it is much different - you aren't trying to build up speed to take off like an airplane, rather you are trying to pressurize the front wing to pull you up. So the pumping looks more like a back and forths. (Of course, she probably weighs no more than 70 lb and could possibly have better windsport gene's than the rest of us.) It's really easy - just like riding a unicycle........ Lol

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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webguy
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Re: Windfoil Pumping
Randy wrote:

Robby's vid with his daughter (How to Foil, part 2) says with a wing it is much different - you aren't trying to build up speed to take off like an airplane, rather you are trying to pressurize the front wing to pull you up. So the pumping looks more like a back and forths. (Of course, she probably weighs no more than 70 lb and could possibly have better windsport gene's than the rest of us.) It's really easy - just like riding a unicycle........ Lol

I think we're saying the same thing unless I've misunderstood you. Pumping the foil and board is to clear the board from the drag and surface tension of the water. That's similar to being in the straps of a windfoil and popping the board up and down. She's so light and it's fairly breezy she does it in pretty much one hop. Neither she nor Sam Ross are trying to plane first but go directly from displacement to foiling.

Edit: We have to build up a little speed in windfoiling because we are using about half to third less foil wing and weigh more than 80 lbs. Biggrin

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Langdon
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Re: Windfoil Pumping

Good video from Severne and Sebastian K.

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