Small board + big foil success!

[Jyoder]

I’m two sessions in to using my newly built 40L sinker wingboard pared with Moses W1100/450/82cm mast. I have some moderate experience stinkbug starting 80 and 60L boards so I knew the technique but had to build some muscle memory on the new 60x23x2.75in 40L board.

What I have found is that with thick wetsuit and pfd, and large foil underneath, the board hardly sinks more than a few inches beneath the surface and if I’m quick, I can start in chest deep water (I’m 6’2” tall and 165#/75kg) The small profile lets it pierce through waves and chop as I’m standing up and starting to get forward speed and it is remarkably stable. Aggressive rocker doesn’t seem to be an issue and only helps in chop. Big foil wing starts flying as soon as I get a few pumps going.

Session 1: 20-30knots overpowers on 4m Echo.
Session 2: 12-18knots just right on 5m Echo.

By session 2 I had dialed all foot switches, tacks and gybes on new board, and find it much easier to pump and carve on swell for my longest rides to date, even in mediocre wind swell. I find the big w1100 foil is actually pretty playful and can ride pretty fast when I push it. Great for mushy conditions.

Overall impression is the 40L plus big foil is much easier than I thought it’d be, doesn’t need super deep water, doesn’t need super strong wind, and makes all aspects of riding so much better. It’s much easier to stinkbug start than the 60L and even 80L boards, perhaps due to less corky buoyancy and perhaps due to more practice and skill.

Board is a cut down surfboard blank, covered in 6oz CF, 1mm paulownia veneer, and 4oz fiberglass, 1 reinforcement patch under plate. 9 lbs with deck pad.

[Fatso]

That's a lovely homemade board build

[Peter_Frank]

Nice board

Interesting concept, I have gone the other way.

Have had a shorter and smaller board earlier, and bigger foilwings, as big as 1500 to 1750 cm2 when learning.

But found it too stressfull when wind drops, so went a bit bigger board, prefer something 5-5'5 and around 80 litres for my 78 kg.

And then gone down in foilwing size (area and thickness), as the big/thick ones are way too slow in speed.

Use a 1220 cm2 for most conditions, have a tad bigger and smaller one also, but 1200 is a sweet size.

Bigger than that, and most waves will outrun me, which is a PITA.

So smaller faster foilwings are key IMO.

Some 90 kg riders use 600 cm2 foilwings in fact, but too small for me though, even 800 is small IMO, but 900-1000 cm2 can work fine indeed if some wind - much better speed and glide on even small slow wind waves.

Your W1100 is 2200 cm2, crazy big but it seems to let you start quite easy with a small sinker.

Doesnt it go too slow when you want to glide on a wave?

As said, I went the other way, smaller foilwings and a tad bigger (but light) board

You are a better winger than me, but find it odd you can keep up with waves using the W1100.

Peter

[Jyoder]

Your W1100 is 2200 cm2, crazy big but it seems to let you start quite easy with a small sinker.

Doesnt it go too slow when you want to glide on a wave?

As said, I went the other way, smaller foilwings and a tad bigger (but light) board

The W1100 is quite thin for a wing that size, so top speed is decent, but for sure it is slow compared to smaller wings. I still find I outrun the wind swell when I point straight down wind if I keep the foil close to the surface. I can ride down the bumps, do some small cutbacks, and pump from one bump to another like a downwinder paddle foil, I imagine.

I ride on the Chesapeake bay so the waves are only wind swell and not a rip tide into shore break where maybe you need a faster foil as the water is moving against your direction of travel. Am I right about this? We do get tidal action against wind forming up nice swell waves but not the rip energy of shore breaking waves.

[Jyoder]

I am hesitant to move to smaller foil as every time I try different friends’ setups they require so much wing power to get going and stay up. Sure, they are faster and point higher, but the usable wind range seems much smaller. With giant foil, I seem to have greater wind range for a given handwing size as you need so little power in the wing to start and keep going that even top end is increased as you just barely need to sheet in. For example, when “overpowered” on 4m Echo, I can just slowly cruise around standing upright with wing fluttering but hardly any yank and abuse on my arms/shoulders where a small foil would require more wing pull and so you reach that sheeting point where the wing is bouncing around yanking you violently.

I kitefoil on strapless racefoil so have that experience dialed in already. Nice to have a totally different mindset and ride with wingfoil. Good to have many toys. I’m sure I will get to small wingfoil eventually.

[Peter_Frank]

Your W1100 is 2200 cm2, crazy big but it seems to let you start quite easy with a small sinker.

Doesnt it go too slow when you want to glide on a wave?

As said, I went the other way, smaller foilwings and a tad bigger (but light) board

The W1100 is quite thin for a wing that size, so top speed is decent, but for sure it is slow compared to smaller wings. I still find I outrun the wind swell when I point straight down wind if I keep the foil close to the surface. I can ride down the bumps, do some small cutbacks, and pump from one bump to another like a downwinder paddle foil, I imagine.

I ride on the Chesapeake bay so the waves are only wind swell and not a rip tide into shore break where maybe you need a faster foil as the water is moving against your direction of travel. Am I right about this? We do get tidal action against wind forming up nice swell waves but not the rip energy of shore breaking waves.

You are right, W1100 is very thin a quite an efficient foilwing, also in terms of upwind.

But I think you will eventually find the surface area drag a bit high.
You could get a smaller foilwing and keep the 1100 for light wind?

Regarding "coast" swell, it often has less power if surface water roll to the top while breaking at the top.
But this is somewhat compensated as they are steeper so you get more glide.
Eventhough the shallow bottom meaning wave also gets slower, but this is not always an advantage as you lose winglift now...
They can be tricky to ride, besides the risk of running aground.

So most often wind swell a bit or a long way out, works the best - but if too far out, they dont roll diagonal to the wind but in the same direction, which makes it even more difficult, unless you got a fast foilwing.

Agree about the range, it is big with a bigger foilwing yes.

But on the other hand, you will feel the big ones slow and draggy, once you get used to a smaller size.
Which also affects the apparent wind, so once up the faster foilwings can ride in just as low wind - especially in your case where you hardly miss tacks nor jibes.

So I meet many, even relatively newbees, who pick a smaller foilwing because they find it way more fun.

If too small, it gets more difficult in transitions - unless you are good where apparent wind will make up for the smaller foil.

Getting up on foil is not that much more difficult, a tad yes, but the lower drag wing gives you more glide speed when pumping to get the board fully free from the surface and up foiling instead of gliding.

But I find the same, when going smaller than around 1000 cm2, it becomes too difficult for me in transitions, in particular on a small windwaveface - but RIDING and GLIDING a small foil is a lot more fun.

So because it is more difficult if too small, I stay on bigger foils between 1000 and 1550 cm2 (but thin) now.

There are so many individual likings and also combinations boards and foils, so one can only find what works for her/him

One can get inspiration sharing different options though, and trying to see if better or worse for you.

Peter