How to screw up your windfoil in one easy step

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Langdon
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moredownhaul
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How to screw up your windfoil in one easy step

@ around 1:40
No real damage just surface scratches. If any of you foil West Point Lake, Water levels are way down so stay a good 4 to 6 boat lengths from those markers.

Alan

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Langdon
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Re: How to screw up your windfoil in one easy step

Glad that you did not damage the foil badly.

Water looked West Point Flat. Any boat traffic?

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moredownhaul
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Re: How to screw up your windfoil in one easy step

It’s really flat. I saw the one bass boat in the video. I think most of those guys stay on the northern tip of the lake.
Wind coming over the trees at Shiefer heard were kinda gusty, next time on South forecast I’m going to launch at West Bank overlook park...... and stay away from the markers Good

Alan

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Re: How to screw up your windfoil in one easy step

That was painful to watch. You're a better man than me. My video would have been filled with expletives and invective.

I've got a ton of all sorts of repair materials. Hit me up if you need anything outside of a vacuum bag.

Edit: Alan already knows this but for new visitors to West Point: the topography is very different than Lanier's. All the drops are a lot more shallow and require much greater distances than we are accustomed to. At Vann's, you can drop off your foil maybe 30 ft from shore while at West Point, you might have to go out 50-70 ft at times.

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Randy
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Re: How to screw up your windfoil in one easy step

I posted this thread over at Seabreeze. The answer I got:

"Ay matey. See, now this is a perfect example of why the WIndsurfer LT is the best thing to ever happen to windsurfing and why foiling has ruined it."

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

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moredownhaul
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Re: How to screw up your windfoil in one easy step
webguy wrote:

West Point's topography is very different than Lanier's. All the drops are a lot more shallow and require much greater distances than we are accustomed to. At Vann's, you can drop off your foil maybe 30 ft from shore while at West Point, you might have to go out 50-70 ft at times.

True that! I’m going to start taking a anchor and marker buoy with me and leave it near shore. We used to do that at Juliette, it was nice to be able to tie your board off during breaks too.

Those guys at seabreeze are kooks.

Alan

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Langdon
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Re: How to screw up your windfoil in one easy step

Based on Alan's suggestion, I'm posting this for the benefit of a wider audience.

My suggestions based on touching more than a few rocks near the beach over time (like the other day) and getting a Horue foil off ebay that someone tried to clear coat and it looked like bad orange peel. I'm also a bit freaky (aka OCD) about the finish on foils and fins so tend to keep them pretty well repaired if I do ding something.

If it's just "a scratch"
Use clear coat spray enamel. I'd mask off very close to the scratches to reduce the amount of sanding you'll have to do. It dries pretty quickly so you can get this done in an afternoon. Spray a few light coats and wet sand with 400-800 to as high as you want to go. Around 1000 it starts to get glossy again like the original finish. Speed wise 600-800 is fine but if you want to match cosmetics, you might need to go around 1500 or 2000. If you do a good job masking, you won't be sanding a big area so you can get by without having to sand the whole thing glossy again.

Pro tip: you can also use clear nail polish which will have a brush to apply.

You can also use clear polyurethane but I've found it takes a few days for it to dry hard enough to wet sand without it peeling off.

If it's a deeper scratch, I'd fill it in first with black sanding primer and then clear coat. The primer fills faster and dries quicker so you aren't spending a crazy amount of time on it.

If it's deeper still (not quite structural) consider using Bondo glazing putty + black primer. The glazing putty dries in about 10 minutes and can be wet sanded but dries like a dark clay red. In Europe, they have a black "carbon fiber" glazing putty but I can't find anything like it in the States.

If it starts to get almost structural, consider an epoxy/glass microcell mixture tinted with black epoxy colorant. Make it nice and thick and it will sand easier. If you need a touch more structure, use milled glass instead of microcells.

In all of this, masking tape is your friend so you don't spend a lot of time sanding unnecessary sh*t. Also, use a piece of stiff foam or even wood block to back the sand paper. Don't just use your fingers or you won't get a fair/even finish.

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FoilDodo
Langdon
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