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Hi all, i am just about to get started in foiling world and super excited.

I have some old boards that i have used for either strapped or surfing and trying to see what would be good to put track inserts and use as my first foiling board.

I have a 5' 1" (155 cm) small directional strapped board that I dont use but is a heavy glassed board and weighs like 4 kilo before adding the foil......it is a small bomb proof board.

Is a heavy board like this a disadvantage to learning or riding in general on the foilboard? The other option would be to use a small surfboard that may weigh about 1 kilo less.

Thanks for any advice....

Foil is a Liquid Force Foil Fish,..... I weigh about 68 kg's

YES!

1. You must manipulate board - taking in out to water - any foil setup is more difficult to carry manipulate than normal board - so everything count here
2. It hits you harder
3. Swing weight while riding


But if your foil is very heavy you feel all this proportionaly less.

BTW my dedicated 130cm foil pocket board weight 2.3 kg

Board weight makes a big difference, but I would not say anything specific is better or worse, it is more complex than this.
In the end everyone needs to figure it out individually or have good advice. Only saying lighter is better does not do it really, there is quite a bit more to it.

Cheers,
Frank
www.famousfrank.com

Agreed, it always makes a difference, but for some forms of foiling weight its a lot less detrimental to the fun than others forms of kiteboarding. Strapless, jumpless is still pretty fun without a carbon set up.

I learned on a fairly heavy converted surfboard I had kicking around and it had both good and bad. The length and nose rocker helped a lot for those early frequent touch downs. The bad was that the inertia of the foil/board with that pointy rocker meant the board Would often follow you in a scary way on crashes. It also bounced up into my lines a couple times. My current set up is not very light, but the pocket style board tends to ditch nicely when crashing. Does not follow you at all or bounce up the same way. Some of that is learned technique, but a lot is the board shape. I recommend you dull the nose and wear a helmet if you use the surfboard. All in all not a bad way to get into foiling without shelling out for a board your likely to upgrade.

If the board is heavier, it will hit you with more power in a bad crash situation. So it's not good.

The less weight in the nose of the board, the easier it will be to feel what the foil is doing in the water while you are trying to master carves and jibes. The more weight and momentum swinging out there in front of you, the harder it will be.
your brain “feels” the combination of the board/foil center of gravity and foil center of lift, and several related forces, as if it were occurring at a single point, “X” below the board, somewhere between the board cg and the foil wing. This is the point around which it feels like the board wants to rotate. The farther apart these points are, the more the point “X” will move around.
I’m sure it could be described more accurately in physics or engineering terms.
Anyway, if you think about this it becomes intuitive why shorter and lighter foilboards are often preferred, and why a light foil is nice, but a heavy one can do ok too, especially if its weight is mainly in the mast and front wing. You want the foil/board to feel centered and not ready to suddenly develop momentum in an unchosen direction!

IN general a heavy board would be disatvantage. A large board with a good nose rocker might be easier to learn on.
4kg is not as bad, you're fine. Except carrying aluminum foil and a heavy board is not fun.

For just starting and getting through the first stages of porpoises, a bit longer with nose rocker will help and if it’s a converted surf board then weight will be ok.
But when you get to wanting to turn then Swing weight will become your focus.