So 14 months on from finishing of my foil how is it going?
What would i do differently?
Lessons learned?
Initial learning was hard as i didnt have the foil or the board set up correctly. But after a few months of adjusting stab angles and binding placements i came to a set up that was usefull for learning.
6 months in a built a pocket board to go with the foil. I also backed the stab aoa off for reduced stability, increased speed and maneuverability. I preferred this setting for riding but it made the jybing harder!... again more regression. My jybing sucked for a while because of the small board and shallow rear stable angle.The board just bogs down and sinks super fast on the surface. None the less that was all I had so i stuck with it and eventually learned the surfaces. Now i'm onto foiling jybes. But once on the foil the little stiff pocket board feel super responsive and playful. The shallow aoa makes speed much more fun.
Retrospectively i would have been way easier to learn touchdowns and jybes on a lot larger board. It would of sped my progression up considerably. The foil its self works really well. It is robust and hasnt yet broken when i have hit the seafloor, fish and submerged logs.
If i did it again i would make a 100cm mast. The 90cm mast i have is often times to small for my wave/swell/chop combo. I need to ride the foil quite deep on those days.
All in all im pleased with the build. Its done its job. Kept me enterrained and i do not feel i'm limited by the foils perfomance. I'm up and foiling from 6 knots with the 12 chrono and still going at 40 knots on the 4m uno in a 4m swell and riding everthing in between.
Pictures of the foil with pocket board.