The Official Test Centre Pro-Rider Scotty Stallman is fresh from the latest PWA slalom fin event and who better to ask about 'Foil over Fin'. As we are days away from the Olympics with the change in dicipline from the previous RS:X fin set up to now foiling with the iQFoil, what an interesting time to discuss Having a blast; Foil over Fin? In this weeks blog find out how easy is it to learn how to foil? How do you progress from windsurfing to foiling? Once you start foiling do you ever go back to fin?
By Emma Nicholson.
Why do you think the Olympics chose foil over fin?
Scotty said: "I think for the main reason for the choice of foil is it being so diverse in such a big range of conditions, allowing them to start foiling in 8knots and all the way up to 30knots if not more where as your conventional fin to have decent spectating racing needs a solid amount of wind to become exciting."
As you have just returned from the PWA. Why do you think the PWA chose fin over foil?
Scotty said: "PWA has been a high performance form of racing for a long time now which means we have access to and are able to use high performance gear to suit the different strengths of wind and conditions. As a benefit of this we have a much bigger range than the IQ class. For this year PWA has a choice between fin and foil events, they chose the prioritise fin racing in places such as Fuerte and Pozo as they are windy places which allow for high octane racing and they chose lighter wind places such as Sylt and Japan where the wind can be light and fickle to host foil events. This way round the PWA can optimise the amount of racing they get at certain venues."
As a beginner how do you progress onto the foil?
Scotty said: "Once you’ve mastered footstraps and harness you are ready to start your first flights!"
Once you master the foil do you never go back to fin?
Scotty said: "Always go back to the fin, it was and still is my first love with windsurfing ;)."
What do you personally prefer? Fin or Foil?
Scotty said: "Both are very enjoyable, but for me, the fin still gives me that special feeling we all seek for after experiencing it for the first time, planning on the fin is like none other."
When do you use fin or foil?
Scotty said: "Generally it’s down to the conditions that are on hand. When it’s super windy, being on the fin is a must - as I said earlier it’s a feeling like non other! However when the winds are fickle and light I love getting on the foil, pushing the limits of what’s possible, pushing the speed, how tight I can gybe and generally just having fun. Foil and fin both have their places and choosing between the two is hard - I guess we are very lucky that we can race both at the PWA and enjoy the two disciplines in their glory, its just finding the time to do it all!!"
How hard is it to learn to foil?
Scotty said: "Easy, provided you have the right tuition ;) - The OTC is a pretty good place for it… But in all seriousness when you come from windsurfing on the fin the transfer over to foiling is pretty simple. The kit is really user friendly and very intuitive now a days, I remember when we first started foiling the kit was a mismatch of big fin slalom boards and the first iterations of foils and to be honest that was pretty tricky!! But now the kit has developed, for example foils now give super early and stable lift in all wind strengths, boards have developed to provide more leverage over the foils and are a very easy platform to stand on whilst stationary and whilst foiling. Also the sails have come on massively, with a high aspect design to help with early lift and power also provide much more stability to the rider especially in those early stages of foiling. So if anyone is thinking about giving foiling a go it’s a must, especially opening up that lower wind limit when otherwise you’d probably stay at home because there is not enough wind to fin sail."
Any other thoughts about foil over fin you’d like to add?
Scotty said: "I feel like there is a lot of animosity between many fin and foil windsurfers. A lot of people that come from a long era of windsurfing on the fin look at foiling as a killer of the sport, however this really isn’t the case, if anything there has been a lot of positives that has come from foiling. For example kit development, generally windsurfing kit is developed from the top. Slalom sails are high performance machines however when you start to take away the cams and move to a rotational freeride sail, there will certainly be familiarity of a slalom sail in there. Foil sails came along with a different approach to your conventional sail and went much more higher aspect to aid with foiling. If you start to look at the trend amongst many windsurfing brands the cross over is pretty similar. Slalom and freeride sails now have a higher aspect design which actually benefits sails we all love to blast up and down all day on the fin. The benefits resulting in a much more user friendly sail that planes earlier and is easier to gybe. Yes when foiling first started this was the thought of many of us, fin was going to die. This really isn’t what’s happened, foiling has opened up a whole new chapter of development and sail/board making skills resulting in you as the sailor with easier and more fun kit. Foil and fin both have their place, you just have to get out there and use them for their advantages. Fin will always be my favourite but on a light wind day there is nothing better than going for a foil."
If you would like to learn how to windsurf or wind foil come to the The Official Test Centre and take your skills to the next level. We have an awesome team of instructors at The OTC and we will be there every step of the way. Book online or call the centre 07817 717904 and find out which one you prefer fin or foil?
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