Zup Foil to enter foiling

[clawsar]

Hey everyone,
I’ve been sifting through this site and learning lots. I have one question still that I think hasn’t been asked yet.

My family is looking at getting a 2024 AR220 to start getting out on the water, possibly with friends. I have two young kids (6 and 8) who have really enjoyed tubing with friends and my oldest tried a ZUP and loved standing up the first time. The one thing I wish we could do is try surfing, but the cost jump is prohibitive. My thought is jumping straight to wake foiling.

ZUP has a foil for their do more board, and I’m wondering if that would be the right way to help kids (and me) transition from the you got this Zup to foiling, or if jumping into a slingshot or liquid force is better. We don’t currently have any interest in going to faster wakeboarding, but it seems like that’s where most people who jump into foils are coming from.

Has anyone tried the Zup foil? Is there a better path to go from starting out with a Zup to foiling behind a jet boat?

 

[clawsar]

I pulled the trigger on the boat this weekend and they had a slingshot wf1 and foil on sale for less than the zup. Snatched it up and we’ll see how it goes when the lakes thaw out.

 

[Minh Nguyen]

Congrats on your new boat, and board! We have a slingshot wf also and still trying to learn to go ropeless. It is such a challenge to get up on it. My 12 yo son is very good at it, but he has yet to let go of the rope. Ours have the gamma 84 wing, and 42 rear. This season we've surfed and wakeskate only, but looking to get back out during the week when theres less traffic out to foil. Check put youtube for tutorials, lots of good info there. Good luck and have fun out on the water!

 

[anmut]

I've been foiling on the slingshot for three years now and it's the hardest thing I've learned on the water - but also, the coolest. It was a full year or more before I could go ropeless.

My observations:

1. If you're first starting, throw a wakeboard rope out and get 60' behind the boat. This will really help with the feel of kicking the board into flying position. It also prevents any surprise underwater wave catching (which will lead to a surprise when the wing surfaces and you hit the water! lolol)
2. When you are deep water starting a foil, it's no different than a surfboard UNTIL you get up, do NOT lean back - find your balance in the middle.
3. The position of the mast is soooo important. Start with the mast all the way to the rear until you start to get a feeling of how to get up and fly the foil. Then when you're comfortable, you can move the mast slowly towards the middle of the board, which will help with a more balanced feel and pumping.
4. Learn how to fall off the board to you can push yourself away from all the aluminum and carbon fiber edges underneath you.
5. Practice your "pumping" on a surfboard first, it's much more forgiving at 0" height vs 10" height on the foil.
6. Stay out of white-washed / bubbling water when in surf mode - I've found this stuff to be insanely unpredictable to catch a wave on.
7. For me, if I'm going to run my foil, I do it FIRST when we get out. I've tried to foil after wakeboarding and surfing and found that I'm just too tired to make it happen. Again for me only, I apparently need 100% functionality. This goes for sandbar beers too - I attempted it once after a few and nearly sliced my face open!

 

[Minh Nguyen]

@anmut how do you carry your foil? Do you assemble and place on the board rack? Or keep in the bag in boat then assemble before foiling? It was difficult to move it around the few times we foiled.

 

[anmut]

@anmut how do you carry your foil? Do you assemble and place on the board rack? Or keep in the bag in boat then assemble before foiling? It was difficult to move it around the few times we foiled.

Yeah, it's a real PITA. I bought a third Monster rack for surfboard/wakeboards, and mounted it high on the port side of my tower. Then I put the foil board, completely assembled, up there. Over the years the board has sustained some marks from the rack, but I've never had any issues going WOT with it up there. Looks goofy, but also makes for some great conversation starters at the sandbar!