Kitesoul Magazine #4 English Edition

ut HF board?Steff and Olly BridgeThe great thing if you are looking to get into HF this season is thatmany of the big manufactures and lots of smaller niche playershave spent many hours testing & developing foils and boards foryou to learn & have fun with. In previous years demand has exceededsupply so now there is more choice to suit everyones budget& where they want to go with the sport.For 2015 it will be possible to buy a foil & a board from Sroka for£1100. Suddenly many kiters will look at the price of a new kiteagainst a foil/ board set up & decide on the latter. Sroka is one ofthe Racing & Long distance Legends in our sport. Bruno Sroka decidedto ensure the sport of foiling was accessible so that more peoplecould enjoy the feeling. Watch out for his Sroka foils in shopsall around the world this year.The deal is that its tricky to just give people a go! It takes around10hours to get the feel of it and you need to want to learn it! Its likelearning to kitesurf all over again in lots of respects.To ride along back & forth on a foil is what most people will aimto do. Cruising along the coast, exploring & journeys are what themajority of people want to do. However - at the top end the deal isto get the fastest foil upwind & downwind ensuring good angle inall winds & ease of use for transitions when it gets rough.FOILING IS THE FUTURE- once you have a taste you never lookback! MAYBE BREAK SUBJECT DOWN INTO:RIDER: The people winning have either been foiling for a long timeor been top 10 in the formula 70 class & practicing now kite foil.Being good on a race board is NOT a pre-requirement although isespecially useful for grass routes training. To give an example- ourmiddle son age 14- Guy has never been on forma 70 board or in arace but attended this event & got 16th overall in a strong big fleet.Like any wind sport, the most important thing is TOTW (time on thewater) & especially getting used to your foil & board. having thetransitions (tacks & Gybes) nailed is crucial although takes somelearning.