Hybrid wave and foil board

[THOR_NADO]

Are there any beginner wave boards that can be used with and without a foil?

[slowboat]

The board is such an important part of the foiling experience that I would not recommend compromising with a hybrid solution. For foiling, I would get a proper foil board.

[jkrug]

The board is such an important part of the foiling experience that I would not recommend compromising with a hybrid solution. For foiling, I would get a proper foil board.

i'd say the board is such an important part of the surfing experience that i would not recommend compromising with a hybrid solution. For wave riding, I would get a proper surfboard.

[nothing2seehere]

Depends on how much wave riding you really want to do. Arguably the shinn shinnster foil / zeeko pocket air / cabrinha double agent style of board could be classed as a beginner board. They don't respond in quite the same way as a proper surfboard but would allow you to learn the appropriate skills. Equally there are a bunch of surfboards with tracks in them (F-one mitu / airush mini monster / duotone hybrid) with a little more float.

The main problem to overcome is that a foil board works best when very stiff and a surfboard works best with a degree of flex engineered into the board. If you don't mind the compromise then you can find plenty of examples of variations of hybrid boards (better at one side than the other). For this reason most would suggest getting a dedicated board for a dedicated task but if you don't have the space to store lots of kit then there will be plenty of options.

If space isn't a problem, then a gromit soft top surfboard has been shown to work well for riding and is cheap and then a dedicated and properly stiff foil board will help for foiling.

[masterred]

Instead the question is correct and the answer is that a hybrid studied by capable people is the best solution to go on a trip or for those who can not keep or have many tables.
In my case with hf Onda 633 I took a
Hydro Board 2019 model Hybrid 5.3
made in Italy and perfect to deal with medium waves and outputs in hf.
However, I recommend the measure 5.2 which is the perfect compromise.
Ciao

[BWD]

My take is that a foilboard mainly has to be stiff between the baseplate and the front foot.
Classic surfboards have flex between the foot positions, but boards with flex mainly in the tips also work. Kitesurf boards usually have little flex in the middle, especially strong ones with footstraps....
The main issue in foiling is weight and inertia.
Foilboards are much better with less inertia to pitch and yaw movement, so lighter is better and shorter is better.
Most riders seem to end up liklng foilboards 120-130cm. To ride as a kite surfboard, most people seem to like at least 145, and most boards are 150-175...
There are compromises to be made.

[TomW]

Bwd, I agree. It's the length. A 150cm Foil board is Long for freeride foiling , it's going to impact flying characteristics significantly. And you don't / can't have a decent surfboard at sub 150.
It's not necessarily about travel weight /bulk, but more about investment in equipment. At the end of the day, you'll end up buying both anyway

[masterred]

I assure you that with two boards two sails a complete hf plus bars mute helmet and various it is difficult to stay under 23 kg (bag for aereo restriction)
Of course I'm talking about a compromise, it will never be a perfect wave board or super hf board. but a good compromise to have fun a few days on holiday without much slamming ))

[jumptheshark]

Ive change my thinking on this one.... sort of.

Yes:

Once your a decent foiler, Lots of people will want to drop weight and especially length (swing weight) and for many of us, volume.

Once your a decent wave kiter your going to want decent flex, a really light board, and things like tail shape, rocker line, width, and fin set up get really particular to where and in what conditions your riding the board.

But:

I tend to think a surfboard is a nice cheap beginner foil board. Good nose rocker, general size, and you can throw a mount in or on pretty much any old surfboard and get into foiling without investing your bucks into a transitory board. I used an old shortboard as my first foilboard. In retrospect while seeing how the learning process has evolved, I think a short, flat, wide small wave shape as a first foilboard with short mast is probably the easiest way to start into foiling.

[jumptheshark]

Travel is a different aspect. I get that.

I foil so much more than I use my surfboard that I really don't want to compromise either one.

5'2" (157+ cm) is a huge foilboard for my taste.

Throwing a mount into any old short wide surfboard would make an ideal foilboard for the early learning phase. Especially with a nice short mast and big wing.