Contact   Imprint   Advertising   Guidelines

Hydrofoil conversion advise pls

Here you can exchange your experience and datas about your home build boards
User avatar
Rufusz
Frequent Poster
Posts: 240
Joined: Sun May 06, 2012 10:06 pm
Local Beach: Lake Balaton, Hungary
Favorite Beaches: Hurghada, Egypt
Viganj, Croatia
El Médano, Tenerife
Style: Foil, Freeride
Gear: Kitech 6m2, 9m2, 15m2 foil kites
Moses Fluente
Flysurfer radical4
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 6 times
Been thanked: 0

Hydrofoil conversion advise pls

Postby Rufusz » Thu Jul 28, 2016 6:26 pm

I have a big XPS skimboard (150x52cm) and would like to upgrade it to a hydrofoil board.

It has 2 layers of 220g glass on top and bottom as well and was thinking to add 2x220g to the bottom to reinforce it. The board has a 15cm wide channel and I will be glassing only that.

I was thinking to drill 4 25mm holes all the way through the board, fill them with epoxy and glass and after curing drill the holes for the M6 screws. Mounting will be with big washers on top and screws all way through.

Will it be strong enough or I will need to reinforce the top deck as well? (that would ruin my deckpad, but no big issue...)

The board has only 5cm rocker, will it dive like a submarine when I touch down? How about leaving it strapless?

I have a few hours of HF experience, but on big SB with straps.

User avatar
Starsky
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 4373
Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2004 12:12 pm
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Ontario
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 3 times

Re: Hydrofoil conversion advise pls

Postby Starsky » Thu Jul 28, 2016 11:36 pm

I think that will work fine, but you would be golden with both a deck and base patch. Obviously do the patch(es) after you have done the inserts.

Strapless is the way to go on a skim. Not sure a skim is the easy way to learn, but its great once you have the basics.

User avatar
Rufusz
Frequent Poster
Posts: 240
Joined: Sun May 06, 2012 10:06 pm
Local Beach: Lake Balaton, Hungary
Favorite Beaches: Hurghada, Egypt
Viganj, Croatia
El Médano, Tenerife
Style: Foil, Freeride
Gear: Kitech 6m2, 9m2, 15m2 foil kites
Moses Fluente
Flysurfer radical4
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 6 times
Been thanked: 0

Re: Hydrofoil conversion advise pls

Postby Rufusz » Thu Aug 11, 2016 8:42 pm

Update: I had my first session in crappy gusty winds and its a real challange to get on the board strapless. The skimboard has about 2-3cm rocker only and thats not helping either.

Would converting an old small SB 160x42 be better for HF as it has plenty on rocker and straps, or is that too narrow?

My other option is to stick footsrap(s) on the skim if the rocker does not matter on the long run.

Blackrat
Frequent Poster
Posts: 252
Joined: Thu Mar 12, 2015 4:55 pm
Local Beach: Jeffreys Bay , South Africa
Gear: old
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Jeffreys Bay South Africa
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Hydrofoil conversion advise pls

Postby Blackrat » Thu Aug 11, 2016 8:51 pm

no straps is pretty hard to learn with

id advise a single front strap thats a loose fit ... makes a huge difference

User avatar
juandesooka
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 1193
Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2012 8:05 pm
Kiting since: 2011
Local Beach: Sooke, BC, Canada
Style: Canada's Kai Lenny (in my mind)
Gear: Ocean Rodeo wings&kites / GoFoil
Brand Affiliation: Open to offers
Has thanked: 88 times
Been thanked: 97 times

Re: Hydrofoil conversion advise pls

Postby juandesooka » Thu Aug 11, 2016 9:20 pm

Some discussion lately on this topic on foilboard facebook group. If putting into a surfboard, the recommendation there was to use carbon tubes in the holes (or G10 tubes), so that the bolts are putting force on the tube, not the fibreglass skin. I am in process of trying this out....best tube I found was a graphite/carbon golf club shaft.

re: strapless....I have only ridden strapped, but am going to install foot hooks on this surfboard converson....hopefully the halfway middle ground solution


Return to “Gear Builders”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 55 guests