Before You Begin

You're about to embark on an amazing journey! You'll be spending countless hours trying to get the hang of this new sport, so let's take a bit of time before getting in the water to make sure you're set up for success.

Mindset

The culture of this sport is built around challenge. This sport is humbling, and it's helpful when you start to drop your expectations about where you think you should be after 10, 100 or 1000 attempts. If you put in the work and follow this manual you will progress, and it will be worth it.

Finding the Right Dock

Taking the time to find the right dock is an investment that will pay off many times over! The most important thing is that it's at least 1.5 meters deep off the end of the dock. On your first few launches you're very likely to come down tail first and this will break your foil. Beyond depth, the ideal dock is 0.5 meters above the water, has an overhang that allows the tail to fit underneath, and is rigid enough that it doesn't move when you push off of it. It doesn't have to be perfect, but an ideal dock definitely makes learning easier.

If there's no dock in sight you can bring your own platform to a beach. I use a multi-position ladder with a custom-built wood plank . You can't push off as hard with this setup, but you can get it nice and high, so you can glide down to get speed instead of needing to push off so hard.

Finding Your Community

The challenge of this sport has also led to an incredible community, both online and in person, with pumpfoiling groups and official clubs popping up all over the the world! Get connected to accelerate your progress. It helps with coaching, motivation and injecting more laughter into the entire process. Start by connecting online through the Dock Start Facebook group, Pump Foiling Community website or the Foil Mates app. Then, to find local foilers you can:

• Use the search features in these forums to find local members or posts about your area.
• Post a question on these forums and ask if there are pumpfoilers close by.
• Find any local foiling community (wing foil, surf foil, kite foil, foiling sailboats), and ask where the pumpfoilers are. They'll know.

Video Replay

Grab a cheap tripod to mount your phone or a camera, and film your attempts. When you start out, it's not obvious what's going wrong, but things will start to make more sense when you watch your videos and compare them to the training videos.

Safety

This can be a dangerous sport. You're jumping into the water on a foil with hard surfaces and sharp edges. We recommend a life jacket, a helmet, and a buddy when getting started. A wetsuit is also helpful at first, to take the sting out of the crashes and to help your knees absorb countless knee starts.

Assembling the Foil

If you're riding Beta, follow below to assemble your foil.

If You're Stuck

If you're ever stuck in the learning process, try posting your video to the Dock Start Facebook group, or send your videos to us directly. We're passionate about what we do, and we're here to help anyone inspired enough to take on this challenge.

Once you're set up with a dock and all you're gear, let's hit the water!