We have been foiling a bit both behind the kite and on a standup paddleboard behind the boat, but this was a whole new experience. Riding the shorter boards with a foil behind the boat was a really fun time. The shorter board was a lot like the feeling when kiting a foil. It was fast, snappy and lively. The boards we rode were a little wider than I have used in the past which helped prevent making drastic weight adjustments.
We first rode right behind the boat where we would normally ride a wake surfboard. This was similar to how we rode in the past just with different gear. You had to be careful to not ride too high onto the wave or catch too much speed to catch up to the boat. Given the size of the wake, it was easy to retain speed and feel comfortable dropping the rope. Then we pushed back to the following wave behind the boat. This took a bit of commitment as at first we didn’t have a rope long enough so you had to drop the rope then drift back to catch the wave. It was a pretty crazy feeling. From 2′ up it doesn’t look like much of a wave, let alone have enough power to propel you. But it does and it was amazing. We all had much more fun on the 2nd wave back which felt more like surfing a longboard. It was a little slower more cruisy feeling. I would have to do a pump then a couple turns followed by another pump to get back to the sweet spot on the wave and repeat.
We rode the Slingshot Alien Air Foil board with the Slingshot H2 foil on the second wave behind the boat and the Slingshot WF1 board with the Slingshot H5 foil right behind the boat. Both foils were really fun and very different. The H2 was a bit less maneuverable from side-to-side than the higher performance H5 foil. Carving was much easier and more fun on the H5 (higher performance foil). You are able to generate a lot more speed from pumping on the H2 than the H5 foil. This allows you to more easily catch back up to the wave if you drop too far back or allows you to create your own momentum with little to no wave.