How to Beach Start on a Hydrofoil

Here’s the breakdown:

Hydrofoil beach starts are something that is really technical, and super fun once you dial them in, but require some repetition and training.

Here at this location, I’m examining for rocks in the sand, and making sure I know where the drop off in the sand is. This is so that I know how far I can run before having to jump up onto the board to clear the foil from hitting the bottom.

If you do have waves coming into the shoreline, try and time your entrance into the water. I like to be able to start my beach start as the water is coming up the beach so that you have a little extra flow against that foil creating lift. If the water is receding back into the ocean when you’re trying to go for your beach start, you won’t have as much lift on the foil.

Then, comes the most technical part of a beach start, and that’s being able to jump up to your board, and clear the height of your mast.

This is why I recommend starting your journey for beach starts with a short mast. The shorter the mast, the less you have to jump up to the board from the sand. Also notice, the faster the sprint that you make into the water, the more lift you will get against the wing.

Now, running into the water hands planted onto the board, I like to have my back hand kind of centred, or a little off to the side along the rail, and my front hand a little more towards the middle of the board with my hand on the rail.

Then, running into the water, those last few steps you make, you want to make sure you aren’t getting too deep; make sure to bounce off the sand with both feet, and jump up onto the board. Plant your feet in position, while getting a nice swing of your hands and a full body dynamic motion to assist with your pump. Once you get a few pumps in, it really starts to clean up…

Best of luck with your journey on beach start for the foil, alright!

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