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Tried for the first time a race board ... not happy!

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Pedro Marcos
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Re: Tried for the first time a race board ... not happy!

Postby Pedro Marcos » Fri Oct 20, 2017 7:56 pm

borist wrote:
Fri Oct 20, 2017 7:28 pm
Pedro Marcos wrote:
Wed Oct 18, 2017 7:37 pm
- The fact that the bottom of the board its only flat on a very small area makes the board behave in a very weird way when on the water, it seems that the board just want to go in the current/wave/chop direction making it much harder to handle when compared to a flat board.
I have one of older vintage I don't like for that very feature.
- Stance: This race boards come with a really wide stance, so wide, that with the front foot on the strap and the back foot out of the strap the balance its not good, this boards are made to be on the straps and the time, it takes time to get used to such a wide stand.
Indeed, when racing, pushing for the highest speed using tons of power in the kite, wide stance is a big plus. Freeriding with small kite that kind of stance can be uncomfortable unless you ride very aggressively.
- Dimensions: I thought that being smaller it would be easier to do foil jibes and tacks, but its not, it seems the board its much more sensitive to foot inputs and goes out of balance much easier.
Are you talking about foiling jibes/tacks or touch-down ones? Small size is not a problem as long as the shape is right for you. I think you'd like a board like Levitaz Exo. Although only 43cm wide, flat bottom is full width so it feels very stable. It is also quite light. Due to its 125cm length it may be challenging at first doing touch-down jibes in choppy water.
Foiling jibes and tacks are harder just because the board is narrower, jibes on the water are almost impossible because the board its just stupid when its on the water.

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Pedro Marcos
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Re: Tried for the first time a race board ... not happy!

Postby Pedro Marcos » Fri Oct 20, 2017 8:02 pm

cwood wrote:
Fri Oct 20, 2017 12:19 pm
Pedro Marcos wrote:
Fri Oct 20, 2017 7:33 am
cwood wrote:
Fri Oct 20, 2017 2:46 am


What were you seeking in picking it up? I think the T60 is a move race oriented shape with good sized bevels and a tapered ass, but surface rides quite nicely.
The t60 its too close to the t40, i Just didnt expect the comet to be such a challenge
I have owned both. I find them quite different.....very surprisingly so. I ask because I have a free ride friend who wanted the lightest possible board (for boosting) and went to an all out race board.....very narrow, virtually nil flat on the bottom.....almost un-ridable on the surface of the water. I would say the lightest and most sporty and versatile I have tried was the T40 carbon....but no longer offered.
So in which aspects you think the T60 is an improvement over the t40 ? Do you have the carbon or fiber glass? One thing that annoy me on the T40 and T60 is that you dont have tracks, so if you change your foil wing and want to keep the same balance you have to change straps position. But i never tried the T60, no one here as it unfortunaly.

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Re: Tried for the first time a race board ... not happy!

Postby davesails7 » Sat Oct 21, 2017 7:47 pm

When I changed to my new Delta foil I felt more comfortable with a wider stance. Gunnar said in one of his newer videos that a wider stance is needed for the newer race foils. I think because they are so locked in and stable, you need bigger inputs to get them to move where you want it to go. Coming from the Spotz 2, I kept putting too little input in when I wanted to go up over some chop for example.

I just checked my stance is about 75 cm and I've been thinking of going one hole wider. I'm 5'7" (170 cm) tall. I think it is a personal preference thing. I remember seeing one young racer had such a wide stance it looked like he was almost doing a split on the board!
Pedro Marcos wrote:
Fri Oct 20, 2017 7:56 pm
Foiling jibes and tacks are harder just because the board is narrower, jibes on the water are almost impossible because the board its just stupid when its on the water.
I heard similar complaints from someone that tried doing touchdown jibes on a Mikes Lab board with big cutouts. Sounds like they just can't be used on the water. Not really a problem I guess if you have a 20m/21m race kite and are good enough to make every transition fully foiling. I still need to be on the water sometimes though...

What makes the narrow board harder for foiling transitions? are your feet landing off the board? I went from an 18.5 inch (47cm) wide board to a 15.75 inch (40 cm) wide board and didn't notice any change in doing foiling tacks. I also didn't find the touchdown jibes any harder on the narrower board. My delta board has much less severe cutouts though. The cutouts are only about 3 inches wide. I think the cutouts cause most of the problem when riding on the water.

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Pedro Marcos
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Re: Tried for the first time a race board ... not happy!

Postby Pedro Marcos » Sat Oct 21, 2017 7:58 pm

davesails7 wrote:
Sat Oct 21, 2017 7:47 pm
When I changed to my new Delta foil I felt more comfortable with a wider stance. Gunnar said in one of his newer videos that a wider stance is needed for the newer race foils. I think because they are so locked in and stable, you need bigger inputs to get them to move where you want it to go. Coming from the Spotz 2, I kept putting too little input in when I wanted to go up over some chop for example.

I just checked my stance is about 75 cm and I've been thinking of going one hole wider. I'm 5'7" (170 cm) tall. I think it is a personal preference thing. I remember seeing one young racer had such a wide stance it looked like he was almost doing a split on the board!
Pedro Marcos wrote:
Fri Oct 20, 2017 7:56 pm
Foiling jibes and tacks are harder just because the board is narrower, jibes on the water are almost impossible because the board its just stupid when its on the water.
I heard similar complaints from someone that tried doing touchdown jibes on a Mikes Lab board with big cutouts. Sounds like they just can't be used on the water. Not really a problem I guess if you have a 20m/21m race kite and are good enough to make every transition fully foiling. I still need to be on the water sometimes though...

What makes the narrow board harder for foiling transitions? are your feet landing off the board? I went from an 18.5 inch (47cm) wide board to a 15.75 inch (40 cm) wide board and didn't notice any change in doing foiling tacks. I also didn't find the touchdown jibes any harder on the narrower board. My delta board has much less severe cutouts though. The cutouts are only about 3 inches wide. I think the cutouts cause most of the problem when riding on the water.
The tacks are almost the same, with some tries i got them going, but the jibes seem to be much harder, my back foot is always going on the edge of the board and that unbalances me, well like everything, muscular memory will eventualy get used to it.

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Re: Tried for the first time a race board ... not happy!

Postby davesails7 » Sat Oct 21, 2017 11:57 pm

Ah, that makes sense. I only learned foiling jibes after I changed to this narrow board, so I'm used to where my foot needs to go.

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Re: Tried for the first time a race board ... not happy!

Postby cwood » Mon Oct 23, 2017 2:29 am

Pedro Marcos wrote:
Fri Oct 20, 2017 8:02 pm
cwood wrote:
Fri Oct 20, 2017 12:19 pm
Pedro Marcos wrote:
Fri Oct 20, 2017 7:33 am


The t60 its too close to the t40, i Just didnt expect the comet to be such a challenge
I have owned both. I find them quite different.....very surprisingly so. I ask because I have a free ride friend who wanted the lightest possible board (for boosting) and went to an all out race board.....very narrow, virtually nil flat on the bottom.....almost un-ridable on the surface of the water. I would say the lightest and most sporty and versatile I have tried was the T40 carbon....but no longer offered.
So in which aspects you think the T60 is an improvement over the t40 ? Do you have the carbon or fiber glass? One thing that annoy me on the T40 and T60 is that you dont have tracks, so if you change your foil wing and want to keep the same balance you have to change straps position. But i never tried the T60, no one here as it unfortunaly.
I had T40 glass and t40 Carbon. Very little difference....carbon felt a bit more connected to the wing. I have glass T60 and it felt way more "damped" than the 40 but surface work is much more forgiving due the 10 extra liters of displacement and the thicker profile. Really like it.


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