Inflatable vs Solid Boards: Low End

[Daniel_B]

Hi,

I’m heavy 95+ kg rider looking to gear up for light wind lake wing foiling. So, will get a large 7m wing and 2000+ cm foil. Now, which type of board to get the best possible low end?

A traditional solid board can do a lot of fancy stuff with the shape. Stepped tail, sharp rails, comcaves etc. I guess it’s all to reduce drag in the water and release easy from the water. To sum it up, early takeoff.

So, I guess a solid board will take off a bit earlier? If so, how much earlier in knots of wind?

Thanks,

Daniel

PS. I’ve already read the earlier long post on inflatable boards

[gmb13]

Hi,

I’m heavy 95+ kg rider looking to gear up for light wind lake wing foiling. So, will get a large 7m wing and 2000+ cm foil. Now, which type of board to get the best possible low end?

A traditional solid board can do a lot of fancy stuff with the shape. Stepped tail, sharp rails, comcaves etc. I guess it’s all to reduce drag in the water and release easy from the water. To sum it up, early takeoff.

So, I guess a solid board will take off a bit earlier? If so, how much earlier in knots of wind?

Well. Stepped Tails and concaves all increase the drag at pre-foiling speeds. So that does not matter much when comparing Inflatables to Hard Boards, actually boards with all those gimmicks tend to do worse in light winds than a well designed inflatable. That said, there are huge differences in Inflatable board design so it is hard to define which concept is better on a whole. There are badly designed Hard Boards and Inflatables. Give it a few years and it will have sorted itself out. Then probably inflatables will be less good in light winds compared to hardboards mainly due to higher weight, but at the moment you need to compare each model of board to another.

--
Gunnar

[fluidity]

They typically have more thickness raising you above the mast. Stiffness not an issue on the good ones. Lighter than all but full carbon I think.
No planing penalties if you fit with wedges like my 3d printing example: https://pinshape.com/items/103319-3d-pr ... laning-kit
Don't worry unduly about board shape. In a month or few you will have it high out of the water most of the time anyway and your touchdowns will become infrequent.