Casey’s Blog:
Finally Reef Warriors Boards has a home. ReefWarriorsBoards.com Something I should of have made 3 years ago, but there is just never enough time in the day. No worries all fun blog posts and shenanigans will still be posted here on the blog. Its just that ReefWarriorsBoards has gotten so popular that it needed its own site for content. So Please check it out and spread the news! As a bonus for the Website Launch of course we had to have a Promo Video. Hit The Lip!
Casey’s Blog:
“What’s the difference between WWF and normal foiling? Isn’t it the same thing?” This is the question asked to me a million times it seems and probably deservedly so, since I started the WWF craze 2 years ago. My answer is sort of yes but No not really. To explain it the easiest way, normal wind foiling is more like slalom sailing and WWF is more like wave sailing and surfing.
Normal wind foiling is all about getting in the straps, locking in with the back foot and going as fast as you can with as much power as you can handle. A very “locked in” exciting ride is great for flat water blasting. It feels like you’re flying a jet (super cool feeling). It’s the future of going fast in light winds and racing.
WWF is all about using big (slower, but only by a little bit) surf wing foils and tiny sails, which allows you to glide through the lulls, along with the ability to carve and turn like crazy. Plus that combo gets you going in very little wind. The riding style is more of a upright stance with more front foot pressure that allows you to ride on top of the board and foil. Along with being strapless, this gives it a very similar feeling to riding a surf board. Now because you are using a Surf foil they are designed to gain speed on surf, swell and even large chop making for the coolest and most exciting moments where you dont even need any sail power. Just surf the wave, it’s all about surfy surfy.
What type of foiling is for you? If you do most of your sailing in super flat water or just like to go fast then “Wind foiling” is the way to go. If you like to play in swell, waves and carve it up in bump & Jump conditions “WWF” will be your addiction. I am really amazed at the board spectrum of styles, from surfers, sup, sup downwind, kite surfers and even windsurfers who haven’t windsurfed in 15 yrs, all are wanting and getting into WWF. It’s pretty cool to see!
Foiling gear is a hot topic these days and a very complex one. pretty much 99% of the gear being sold is for Wind foiling. The only setup that has some similarities to WWF is the Naish Wind foil setup and maybe the slingshot kit with one of there bigger front wings, but even those kits are kind of of a hybrid version I would call it. Naish, starboard and some others have crossover sup boards that would work and have the foil mount moved forward which is what ya need for WWF. The big problem with them is they have full blown out rocker because they are made to be a wave board and that makes for a horrible foil board. Hopefully in the next few years there will be more true and better WWF kits and options available.
Hopefully that helps to answer that most frequently asked question, or it confused you even more (hahaha)! One thing is for sure, Foiling is a revolution for all wind sports along with surfing and that makes for super exciting times!
WWF (Windsurf wave foiling)
Windfoiling
Casey’s Blog:
Nothing like carving up 1ft Hatteras Surf. 😵. This is what surf foiling is all about! Oh ya and this new ReefWarrior Foil Board, Freaking mind blowing amazing. More info on that later this month. 😉😎
You may be asking yourself, why should I be interested in the Hobie Cat’s 50 year anniversary?
In the mid-twentieth century, the beach cat became a widespread category of sailing catamarans, owing to their ease of launching and mass production. In California, a maker of surfboards, Hobie Alter, produced the 250-pound (110 kg) Hobie 14 in 1967, {1st sold in the fall of 1968} and two years later the larger and even more successful Hobie 16. As of 2016, the Hobie 16 was still being produced with more than 100,000 having been manufactured. (from Wikipedia)
Hobie Cats are not the fastest cats around, Tornado’s and Nacra’s may hold that distinction. Hobies are the most fun cat around though, easy to pull off or onto the beach, sailing single-handed or with a crew on the trapeze, the wind in your face, these boats created a life style, a sense of community rarely shared in the sailing world at the time. Have a Hobie Day! was the greeting, a secret password, and the motto to many sailors. It was a promise of a fun day. You felt you were part of something special, a brethren who spoke a language all their own, yet welcoming to anyone who showed any interest in sailing, crewing, or just had a question to ask. This time honored way of life thrives here at Da’ Reef. While there are not the great number of Hobie sailors there used to be, the waterman culture has grown and spawned its own version of community.
Back in the late ’70’s through the early ’90’s many Hobies came to the shore of Lake Erie to sail. Most weekends we had between 10 – 15 regulars and this number could double on any given weekend, but that story is for another post.
With all the interest in DNA self testing, finding out family history and searching one’s family tree, I wish to share my DNA with you all, and I believe you will soon see how we are all related!
https://reefwarriors.wordpress.com/the-legend-of-the-reef-warriors/about-the-reef-warriors/
But in retrospect our true DNA comes from the shores of southern California. We are the offspring of Hobie Alter.
Hobie Alter passed away in March of 2014, leaving behind a legacy that few truly knew or appreciated. From surfboards to skateboards, catamarans to kayaks, Hobie impacted all who consider themselves watermen or waterwomen in some way.
In 1968 the Hobie cat 14 was set free upon the waters of North America and soon “The cat that flies” would be seen worldwide.
Hobie Alter was more than a builder of sailboats, he was an innovator in the world of surfing, as a board builder, shaper, and visionary. Yes, the late 1950’s had many surf legends but Hobie may have had the biggest impact on the watermen of then as well as the watermen of today.
Robert August, Corkey Carroll, Greg Noll, Gerry Lopez, Mickey Munoz, Phil Edwards, Joyce Hoffman are a few of the better known surfers of the time and all rode for team Hobie during their careers.
Hobie Alter had a simple motto, “If it’s fun, it’s never work. And if it isn’t fun, it’ll never work.”
If you have surfed on a fiberglass board, you have Hobie DNA!
Hobie was among the 1st to switch from heavy balsa wood boards to the use of fiberglass wrap with foam blanks.
If you ever had a board with a through the hull fin screw, you have Hobie in your DNA!
Hobie was the 1st surf board maker to implement the through the board fin screw.
Hobie helped arrange an east coast tour for the Endless Summer. Pictured left to right: Mike Hynson, Bruce Brown, Joey Cabell, Pat Brown, Corky Carroll, Hobie Alter, Susan Alter, Heidi Edwards, and Phil Edwards. (from http://www.surfingheritage.org/2014/02/the-endless-summer-photos.html )Later Bruce Brown help Hobie with promo videos for the Hobie cat line of products
Alpha sailboard? Hobie DNA!The Hobie cat company owned Alpha sailboards in the mid 1980’s. Scroll down to page 64 in this link to The Hobie Hotline for some Alpha board knowledge. Hotline 1987.
Love Robbie Naish & all his contributions to watersports? Hobie DNA.
While his path into the National Sailing Hall of Fame may have been far from traditional, Robby has always considered himself a sailor with his childhood roots in racing Hobie Cats before transitioning his skills to windsurfing.
“I was a sailor at heart. I loved tactics, I loved feeling the shifts and reading the wind and catching the bumps, that feeling that you get from sailing that you don’t find anywhere else in life. As sailors, we’re very lucky to be out there in the wind and the waves,” said Robby during his acceptance speech during the ceremony.
Robbie grew up sailing Hobie cats with his family, (Dad Rick Naish was the 1st Hobie dealer in Hawaii). As legend has it Robbie used an old hobie trapeze harness
to secure him to the boom of his sailboard, which led the way to today’s modern windsurf/kite surf harnesses.
Have you ever ridden a Skateboard? You may have Hobie DNA!Hobie was a leader in the growth of the skateboard industry during the mid 1960’s.
How many beer drinking folks were inspired to learn to sail because of these 2 beer ads & how many sailors were inspired to drink more beer due these 2 sailing ads!?!?
I have been part of the Hobie way of Life for over 40 years and have owned or sailed just about every boat in the Hobie family. The lessons I learned while sailing and the people I shared them with helped make me who I am today. I am happy to know I share my DNA with such a wonderful group of friends, both past, present, and future. The Reef Warriors would not be who we are today with out each and every one of you.
Thank you readers, for helping me wish Happy Anniversary to the Hobie 14. My hope is to create a series of posts to honor the heritage and legacy which brings us to where we are today.
Please check some other Hobie links I have listed below.
other hobie links Hobie, Master of Water , Wind and Waves the hobie way of life tribute to hobie alter Hobie hotline magazine archive Hobie History Sharing the wind https://www.hobie.com/about-us/ Hobie Alters obit Cat sailor hall of fame Hobie Kayaks
Casey’s Blog: New Vid is up! Check it out.
The Reef Warriors and Casey's Hit the Lip Blog 