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Hydrofoiling: Why you need a short mast - Foil Fridays

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Kamikuza
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Re: Hydrofoiling: Why you need a short mast - Foil Fridays

Postby Kamikuza » Sat Jun 15, 2019 7:01 am

My reasons:
"Ground" clearance
Crisper handling

Oh that's it :D

IMHO as soon as you can get on the board and ride it on the water without being lobbed, you need to get on a long mast to give yourself time to react while you're developing pitch control...

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Re: Hydrofoiling: Why you need a short mast - Foil Fridays

Postby TomW » Sat Jun 15, 2019 10:53 pm

grigorib wrote:
Fri Jun 14, 2019 5:40 pm
I started with 90cm mast, then moved to 105cm, then added 71cm to the mix, tried 24"/28"/30"/36"/15" and 16" masts so far

My opinion - long mast is the way to go. For large bodies of shallow water like OBX/SPI you want to have an additional, short mast.
The 71cm (and anything shorter) felt a bit too short for my riding style but it was easy to ride shallows with it.

I'd say 10cm difference between masts doesn't justify owning both, but 20cm is a good gap.

Here’s my current set - 105/91/80
I started on a 2016 Moses 93cm mast, still on it 3 yrs later. Have grounded on it hard a bunch of times and started pulling out one insert. It's still holding. the moses mast inserts are welded to a big plate in the mast and are really durable. But I think I'll have to get a new mast eventually.
So do you think I should get the Vorace 101? Or stay with 91 fluente. I'm Freeriding on the 633 wing.

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Re: Hydrofoiling: Why you need a short mast - Foil Fridays

Postby 3InletsWindsports » Sun Jun 16, 2019 2:17 am

I think these foil Friday videos are more a marketing tool for the shop making them.
And tend to the sales side of the information highway.
Maybe short masts are on sale this week?

For learning a short mast helps at a very small section of the learning curve. More likely moves the problem to another part of the learning curve.

We hear stories of how someone struggles for a couple hours on a std mast then switches to short and off they go. I’m convinced that same extra time on the Std. Mast would have same effect.

But it’s amazing to me how the mainline companies can get a gimmick to be accepted as best practice.
Rather than a semi useful tool in shallow water.

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Re: Hydrofoiling: Why you need a short mast - Foil Fridays

Postby juandesooka » Sun Jun 16, 2019 5:46 am

3InletsWindsports wrote:
Sun Jun 16, 2019 2:17 am
I think these foil Friday videos are more a marketing tool for the shop making them.
And tend to the sales side of the information highway.
Maybe short masts are on sale this week?

For learning a short mast helps at a very small section of the learning curve. More likely moves the problem to another part of the learning curve.

We hear stories of how someone struggles for a couple hours on a std mast then switches to short and off they go. I’m convinced that same extra time on the Std. Mast would have same effect.

But it’s amazing to me how the mainline companies can get a gimmick to be accepted as best practice.
Rather than a semi useful tool in shallow water.
I have the opposite opinion. I have consistently found these videos to be one of the best information sources on the Internet, as well as mackite's other website posts (such as the foil wing comparison charts). I have no affiliation with Mackite, other than being consistently impressed with their information sharing focus.

I also don't agree with your opinion on the benefits of learning with short mast. Personally I struggled with the long mast, and while I persevered and eventually got it, I've since seen a half dozen friends easily progress into foiling, up and foiling on their FIRST day without fear, injury, or issue. And then advancing to full size masts in a quick progression. What's not to like about that.

I am not convinced about the benefits of these masts beyond learning or shallow water. Though mine is very useful for surf/sup foiling.

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Re: Hydrofoiling: Why you need a short mast - Foil Fridays

Postby grigorib » Mon Jun 17, 2019 2:20 am

dave1986 wrote:
Fri Jun 14, 2019 9:00 pm
grigorib wrote: Here’s my current set - 105/91/80
I didn't know that Slingshot/ Moses did a 105cm carbon mast? I thought it was only 91cm / 101cm / 111cm ?

Or was 105cm an old size which isn't available anymore?
Original Slingshot Ghost Whisper with 545 (558) wing and 328 (330) stabilizer was marked as 42” and it’s actually 105cm.

grigorib
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Boards: Spleene RIP 37, Flysurfer Radical6 138, Flysurfer Flydoor5 XL, Slingshot/Moses/RDB 70/90/101cm masts with 1200/860/800/730/600 kitefoil or 2200/1700/1400 wingfoil wings and 310/230/425 stabilizers, Naish MicroChip 80cm, 36" Woody, Slingshot Dwarfcraft Micro 100, MBS Comp 95x

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Re: Hydrofoiling: Why you need a short mast - Foil Fridays

Postby grigorib » Mon Jun 17, 2019 2:22 am

TomW wrote:
Sat Jun 15, 2019 10:53 pm
grigorib wrote:
Fri Jun 14, 2019 5:40 pm
I started with 90cm mast, then moved to 105cm, then added 71cm to the mix, tried 24"/28"/30"/36"/15" and 16" masts so far

My opinion - long mast is the way to go. For large bodies of shallow water like OBX/SPI you want to have an additional, short mast.
The 71cm (and anything shorter) felt a bit too short for my riding style but it was easy to ride shallows with it.

I'd say 10cm difference between masts doesn't justify owning both, but 20cm is a good gap.

Here’s my current set - 105/91/80
I started on a 2016 Moses 93cm mast, still on it 3 yrs later. Have grounded on it hard a bunch of times and started pulling out one insert. It's still holding. the moses mast inserts are welded to a big plate in the mast and are really durable. But I think I'll have to get a new mast eventually.
So do you think I should get the Vorace 101? Or stay with 91 fluente. I'm Freeriding on the 633 wing.
Long mast is awesome. I enjoy my 105cm very much


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