Shorter board is less playful...!

[kit3surfer]

Any advises on shimming? If I want to put my backfoot more to the tail, I can slide the foil also in this direction or can I also tweak with shimming this scenario without having to move the foil?

[kit3surfer]

I just saw some footage of me going comfortably upwind and recognized that my backfoot is a couple of inches in front of the mast. Is the mast position correct or should I remove it a bit backwards?

[kit3surfer]

.... or should I rather remove my mast to the front, so that my backfoot is over the mast? Riding upwind I felt pretty comfortably with my backfoot a bit in front of the mast! If I had to put my foot more to the tail I wouldn't have felt comfortable....
I will test this next time.

[Peter_Frank]

.... or should I rather remove my mast to the front, so that my backfoot is over the mast? Riding upwind I felt pretty comfortably with my backfoot a bit in front of the mast! If I had to put my foot more to the tail I wouldn't have felt comfortable....
I will test this next time.

Changing mast position wont change where your foot is.

Once up foiling, your feet will be at the exact same place, relative to the mast and wing, no matter if you have moved your mast forward or rearward.

Only difference is, you will stand further forward or rear on the board of course

Assuming you are strapless of course, as you dont write about straps...

Peter

[kit3surfer]

Thanks Peter,
Never the less I will try this later too.
Do you have experiences with shimming?
I just want this loose and playful feeling back
If I want to come close to the behaviour of my old board, I have to lean way more and put more weight into the turns. Especially with the whole body and not like with my old board, just with hips and lower body part .

[Janus]

I just saw some footage of me going comfortably upwind and recognized that my backfoot is a couple of inches in front of the mast. Is the mast position correct or should I remove it a bit backwards?

I notice a big difference in where I put my back foot, in front of the mast or on the mast . on or behind the mast is way better for carving and swinging and playfulness.
Perhaps you only have to put your back foot on the mast and you’re done..

[kit3surfer]

Yeah, thanks Janus, I was thinking the same, but unfortunately it felt unnatural and a bit weird/forced. I had to focus and concentrate even more when carving on waves/swell. It wasn't as natural as on my old flex Duotone board!
I always had the desire to move my weight/foot forward...
My last hope is that it was because I was riding a bit underpowered with 6m when guys on tt where on 12 - 14m.

[bragnouff]

(...)
Once up foiling, your feet will be at the exact same place, relative to the mast and wing, no matter if you have moved your mast forward or rearward.

Only difference is, you will stand further forward or rear on the board of course

Assuming you are strapless of course, as you dont write about straps...

Peter

Sure, feet position relative to mast and wings is the number one factor.

Still, foil position on board makes a big difference in feeling, as this dictates where you stand on the board itself. Obvious example is if you have a tail pad of some sort, with a ridge, it'll feel better if you can adjust your foil position till your foot is comfortably on the tail pad, as opposed to being further forward, and leaving that plush foot pad unused.
Your position on the board also has some effect in playfulness. Position of the board widest point compared to feet position, affects how much you can lean, how much forgiveness it has when touching down, ... It also has some effect in the pre-waterstart balance.

The foil position on the board also defines the behaviour of the unloaded board. Adjusting the foil position will define, to some extent, if your board shoots up when it's let loose, or go nose down sooner rather than later. That has some effect when a wave grabs your board and takes it for a ride all the way to the shore. That also has some effect in transitions, where rider's weight is absorbed by the kite. Here of course, speed in the transition will mostly dictate the amount of lift from the foil, but when the speed drops, the balance of the foil board will come to play. And if the board itself is well dialed, it will more likely glide through, and be more forgiving.

There's no golden rule, but it's worth experimenting.
I only ride strapless, on a buoyant 36L board, but I'm surprised how much adjusting the base plate by a cm or two changes the overall ride.

[Trent hink]

From what i understand, a smaller stabilizer might help. But if you liked your old set-up just becauae it was floppy, then maybe not...

[Kamikuza]

.... or should I rather remove my mast to the front, so that my backfoot is over the mast? Riding upwind I felt pretty comfortably with my backfoot a bit in front of the mast! If I had to put my foot more to the tail I wouldn't have felt comfortable....
I will test this next time.

Back foot behind the mast.

Honestly, I don't get how anyone can ride with both feet in front. Imagine standing on balance board with both feet on one side of the pivot point...

Well ok it depends on the situation. When my feet are tired, I stand with them both in front of the mast and lean back, but for maximum control you need the leverage and positive input from the rear foot.

It's something you get used to. When I got my first foil, people said the straps are in the perfect place so I tried to ride it like that, but of course was pushing my feet as forward as possible to deal with the new sensation. When I got used to it, my feet were in the middle of the straps happily.

As for mast position on board ... too far forward and you'll feel like the board just wants to dig into the water when it touches down, rather than ride the surface and come up again. Too far back, you can't get your foot back enough and the nose feels heavy and slow...

As the above poster said, a centimeter here or there can make a noticeable difference. Especially if you got straps on or stand in the heel dents