Watch: Ocean Glide
OK, if the comments about today's Wave of the Day are anything to go by, this video will polarise people; split them into two camps as cleanly as a foil slicing a grommet's scalp.
Tim Bonython trains his lens towards Matt Grainger and Tom Carroll foiling the reefs off Sydney's Northern Beaches. Fair bit of talking at the beginning but it's worth it for the enthusiastic jibberish and also to understand how hard foiling is. Each took their share of injuries falling from that height at that speed, and with that weapon trailing behind, yet perserverance sees them make something that's difficult and dangerous look elegant.
Comments
Other worldly - if tc and matt smash themselves up learning u can imagine how hard it is - iv seen footage of kilohe and ion try fooling and it made him look like a kook - well done guys - wish timB had zoomed out a bit more though
Ps - matt runs a sick surfers gym on northern beaches for those wanting surf specific training in a friendly welcome all comers environment - v grateful for what I learn and practice their to keep me surfing through my middle age
"Other worldly" - I think that is the slow motion, close ups and editing (clever but overdone) giving it a more momentous feel. If you watched at normal speed with pulled back shots it would look like a few old guys zipping around having fun on a choppy chunky bombie. Good on them for focusing on unloved spots and funky days.
Foiling should be something to open up new spots and avoid crowds not adding to the stress levels at crowded spots.
"kilohe and ion try fooling"
My guess is 'Kolohe Andino try foiling' speed-typed into a smartphone.
I'm more offended by the slowmo and zoom than the equipment.
Yeah, I agree, would like to see it at normal speed.
2x speed is a much better watch
No Sharkshield Tom ?
Looks fun.
But why is nobody out there on a 10-12ft glider-type normal surfboard?!? Looks epic for that.
I wonder if Hawaiian Royalty got pissed at all the commoners on paipos and alaias, then made the 16ft olo just for this kind of purpose, to get away to near-empty open ocean swells and reefs...
Definitely epic for that but it’s the sharkiest zone of the city
Cant wait to see a few of these and a couple of those electric thrust fins added to the line up
I've jumped on the foil bandwagon. For an addition to my kitesurfing quiver mostly.
Keen to give it a try on a weird/fat/barely breaking point break sometime.
Definitely a piece of kit where you want to me 100m+ away from any other water user.
THE FUTURE
the FIN was the last part of a surfboard to be updated.
it was good how they told us how hard it is to master.
It's too easy to dismiss this sort of thing as a gimmick but that's not wise after we've seen SUPs and all sorts of motorised boards and fins in the surf over the last decade.
I think this is a bit like sex. Great fun to do but after a minute, not that interesting to watch.
Tried twice (foiling not sex) ridiculously hard so respect to Werris and TC.
Have not tried sex
In the words of Captain Goodvibes “F@#+ing leads to kissing which can then lead to talking. “
Long live the cap’n
I recently saw a kite surfing foiler get a bit to clever in the shallows. Shit I wish I videoed it. Clusterf%ckinthreesum.
For 2 years practice by 2 surfers, the head injury rate seems awfully high - high acuity injuries too. Been surfing for over 45 yrs, and only had 1 significant head knock in that time.
Can someone explain to me why the mast is below the backfoot and not in the middle of the board?
It obviously works when placed there but just interested in why
In my limited experience (one ride so far), they generate stacks of lift, and you really need to put weight on the front of the board.
So if it was in the middle it would be hard to counteract it.
Cheers
foils are also good for fending off lunging white sharks as per recent events at cabarita..also some chat that the sound the foil makes and appears in the water might be like trolling for big fish ?..seems like some foilers are asking for trouble surfing in semi-populated waves on the tweed coast and other places this year, but they seem to have disappeared a bit since recent attacks/encounters along with most of the numbers in the water on this coast...it makes people think twice about dropping in and getting decapitated though
if you know, then you know.
Looks like a truly uplifting experience ! I would love to give it a go if someone pulled up on a Jetski and offered me a go . . . however I have a few thoughts .
Are foilboards actually legal to ride in any location ? In perfect foilboarding conditions they are probably 'fairly' safe , but having surfed a couple of times with them in the lineup , things can get pretty sketchy , pretty quick .
I fully respect seasoned campaigners like TC and his mate , but the people I have been around on them appear to not give a flying fig about the regular surfers when on them .
Sorry team to come across a little negative , but I have been KO'ed by a kook on a SUP , and still have the odd dental issue from that impact years later.
I think it's a fair question ol PeterPan asks... Around my local in the Sunny Coast there are a few guys on foils in crowded line up's at Moffats and Kings Beach. Had one zip past me a few weeks ago literally only meters away and weaving through others too. The guys I have seen on em seem pretty competent at it for the most part but I've also seen em go over the handlebars too (usually on take off). I'm guessing it is probably legal and all but personally I think that due to the more than average risk of serious injury and the fact they can milk speed out of a barely breaking wave they need to find less crowded breaks as shown in the video above. That's my 2c anyway....
PeterPan - Are foilboards actually legal to ride? Ha! Christ do we have to lower the comments down that old path. I’ll have to start countering with my leashless hipster response...
TC grabbing the rail on the foil ?? I was waiting for the the spray ,, but ,, yeah nah ...
I’ve seen TC and friends out at this spot a lot and they have never been in the way of anyone. Pretty much on waves that can’t be surfed or at can’t least can’t be surfer for very long. However just around the headland at a favourite spot of mine there are a number of foilers now paddling in. They are good but seriously trucking greedy specimens. Just because you can take off 200 metres further out than others does not mean you should and just because you are good enough to pump the foil back out and catch the next one and repeat does not mean you should. For the first 10mins I admired the skill but then I decided they are just a new breed of dicks.
+1 for this comment, experienced exactly the same behaviour at BBox with only me and one mate out trading 4 foot glassy waves when the circus turned up on foils and basically only left a handful of waves to be paddled, usually when they fell on the sets and being in position to catch them is scary as the foil whizzes past you before even worrying about the noise and fumes from the ski. I'm all for the guys hitting up places like whiterock but really not a fan of foils going through the lineup
Blacksheep , the reason I asked was Jeremy Wilmont was telling me , Randwick Council look to be banning them this summer at his local beach .
Great for open ocean waves,
A few guys foiling on semi crowded beaches on the peninsula.
Watched one catching waves at portsea once, my 14 year old was on the same left, the foiler would take off on what ever wave they wanted, surf it pull off the back of the wave then pump back out and take the next one, dropping in who ever was already surfing the wave, dropped in on the 14 year old that way 3 times, cutting back and going very close to the person on the wave. Some foilers are doing it for the feeling like T.C. others are doing for the attention.
Yep they’re pulling the same shit on the GC points, catch a wave well before anyone else, surf through the pack of surfers, pump their board out the back again, then catch another wave “repeat”... surfers can be selfish (wanting the best wave) this is the next level of “selfishness”. Some people would label them a more colourful description tho...
although kudos to TC & crew as what appears to be quintessential way of doing it... despite the frequent self-harm...
Foils on barely or not breaking waves, cool.
Seeing a foil launch a couple meters into the air in front of you when the rider comes off, not cool.
Now seeing electric foils...
Foils weaving through the line up on the points...
Foil riders bailing on steep sections on beachies, in front of people paddling back out...
Getting used to them now.
Any deaths reported?
There are so many funky spots they can ride and bother no-one if they choose.
If they choose - they will not.
I was trying to be positive but fully expect them to become very annoying and dangerous.
This is all kinda new to me but looks heaps fun.
Coupla things, would have been nice to see a couple of waves in the vid ridden in real time.
Second, how do people that don't tow take off? Is it a normal paddle get to your feet type scenario? Or do they start by balancing and pumping away with the board submerged initially? Scuse my ignorance but I obviously haven't been paying attention.
Either way, would love to give it a go.
I think bigger and thicker boards than they were riding can paddle into waves pretty well and then jump up and rise up on the foil as speed picks up. It looks quite difficult to learn and wipe outs in breaking waves can be scary for rider and anyone near. The boards in this vid are tiny and you would need to be skinny and agile like Kai Lenny to paddle into anything. They would use the Jet Ski to get up and then pump till they fall or their legs give out.
Cheers frog.
I'm more Peter Griffin than Kai Lenny so that counts me out.
I had a couple of goes at foiling last year. Learning in waves is challenging and it resulted in a few hundred three second rides, and a few longer ones that were awesome. It’s a steep learning curve and you either tend to fall down onto it rather than away from it or fall back as it pops up. You fall a long way and often land on something rather than just getting wet.I think a steamer and helmet are good to learn in. I found it more like skateboarding on a long skaty carving down a big open downhill car park or surfing on a big old style SUP because your not really surfing in the section. As I said I’m crap at it, but did get a taste for it. Sadly adult life only gives me a few hours to play so surfing rules. Over time i suspect foiling will become more popular than SUP.
Tim - you always have good footage but it constantly ruined by excessive amounts of slow motion
I cant watch a lot of your vision all the way through because of the overuse of the slow motion
You do a great job except for this. Less is more.
brownie play with the settings turn the speed up / click on the tractor wheel ?
I did just that udo (and Brownie) - the footage is jerky and wobbly probably because it's shot from the back of a Jet Ski. Slow Mo tends to smooth it out.
I like the slow mo. Gives a good chance to really inspect what’s going down.
Tom Carroll - fuck , mate . You’ve done it all and you’ve done it all well . I doff my cap to you sir . The hardest core going. When’s your bio movie coming out you little bastard ?
Which version of his life?
It’s his story let him dictate what we see . As long as it’s got plenty of TC ripping and his usual articulate insights.
Plenty people like whining bout what other people do. Me, I don't like young fuckers free camping and shiting in dunes, get a shovel.
Jet skis. Foils. The protagonists probably drove to the surf in a couple of huge man utes as well. Too much stuff. Too many people. Surfing as a vibrant and original sub culture and dead.
Like it was said several times, on empty waves that barely break, or for kitesurfers in the open ocean I'm all for it. The problem is that they're also at the longboard spot around the corner which is usually packed with beginners and sub intermediate surfers. I'm surprised there hasn't been a nasty accident yet.