Canard attempt #4, tried back to back with my regular foil. Probably my last canard attempt for a while, just because of how much fun it was on my faux stringy*. I figure partially due to just being more used to, partially due to the characteristics of the canard.
(* DIY stringy knock off..... Thicker and slower than the original.)
Random thoughts:
-- canard was noticably faster and quicker turning. The surfboard equivalent might be a 6 foot high performance shortboard vs a 7 foot funshape. Just like a funshape, the regular foil was easy to get up on foil and very stable, though the top end came quicker. The turning is very different, with turn on canard coming off the back leg (like a surf or snowboard carve) and regular foil being more like steering through the turn balanced.
-- Canard required more attention to balance to stay up, regular foil like standing in a boat ( though may just be experience and may be poor balance on my canard set up).
-- after an hour on canard with pretty much no wipeouts, on regular foil I ventilated the front fin and crashed in first minute.
-- my muscles on rear leg got sore after an hour. After switching to regular foil, I then felt strain on front leg. Riding them side by' side, you can sure feel the difference in the front leg vs back leg pressure.
All in all, the funshape ride is probably more what I'm after right now, so will focus on that. The canard style is fun too for certain conditions. Might be particularly good if overpowered, as it may be more forgiving for riding out speed.
I am not sure the canard is the answer for wave riding though, if the goal is to drift the kite to turn off power and ride the wave's power alone. If the foil needs more speed to get up and stay up, then it doesn't allow the stalling type riding needed for this. Sounds like big slow wings are the call. However, canard would still be very fun for the follow-the-kite higher speed slashing in waves.
All in all, I need a 2nd fuselage so I can bring both to the beach, to more easily trade off and experiment more. Yayy, more toys.