Compact geometry does have advantages but it's also an acquired taste.
If I was getting a windfoil board built I'd use the new 16" Chinook boxes for both the foil and the mast. Not much extra weight for a whole lot of adjustment. They are also very robust.
I met up with Casey today and got to chat with him quite a bit and also got to watch him ride some decent swells on Lake Michigan. He builds all of his boards to work specifically with GoFoil. I'm happy with my axis stuff and don't really want to change.
He's going to do some calculations and see if he can make a 6'4"-6'6" board with 145-150 liters.
He said he'd put the 16" Chinook tracks in but that they aren't as strong as a deep Tuttle. I'm no where near the rider Casey is, nor will I ever be, so I'm thinking the Chinook foil tracks will be just fine. Another thing is that he says I'd have to shim the rear stab possibly, but if I went with tracks, I wouldn't have to because of the adjustment they allow. It may not be "perfectly" balanced, but I would probably never notice.
On another note, I had an absolute blast on my Levitator and 4.8 Duotone Super Session with the Axis HA 1000. Probably a little bit overpowered a few times, but had an absolute blast turning downwind and riding the 2 foot wind chop. Flagging the sail straight down wind and just gliding along and pumping the board and riding the waves. I was so stoked to be back on the wind foil. Definitely leaving my winging gear at home for awhile.
Compact geometry does have advantages but it's also an acquired taste.
If I was getting a windfoil board built I'd use the new 16" Chinook boxes for both the foil and the mast. Not much extra weight for a whole lot of adjustment. They are also very robust.
I met up with Casey today and got to chat with him quite a bit and also got to watch him ride some decent swells on Lake Michigan. He builds all of his boards to work specifically with GoFoil. I'm happy with my axis stuff and don't really want to change.
He's going to do some calculations and see if he can make a 6'4"-6'6" board with 145-150 liters.
He said he'd put the 16" Chinook tracks in but that they aren't as strong as a deep Tuttle. I'm no where near the rider Casey is, nor will I ever be, so I'm thinking the Chinook foil tracks will be just fine. Another thing is that he says I'd have to shim the rear stab possibly, but if I went with tracks, I wouldn't have to because of the adjustment they allow. It may not be "perfectly" balanced, but I would probably never notice.
On another note, I had an absolute blast on my Levitator and 4.8 Duotone Super Session with the Axis HA 1000. Probably a little bit overpowered a few times, but had an absolute blast turning downwind and riding the 2 foot wind chop. Flagging the sail straight down wind and just gliding along and pumping the board and riding the waves. I was so stoked to be back on the wind foil. Definitely leaving my winging gear at home for awhile.
Although I did break some tracks once when a fuselage broke, they seem to be holding up pretty well for all those guys jumping on the wingding. Maybe if you never intended to use footstraps tuttle is fine, but I would definitely go with tracks. And the longest ones you can get.
Glad you had a good session on the levi
Compact geometry does have advantages but it's also an acquired taste.
If I was getting a windfoil board built I'd use the new 16" Chinook boxes for both the foil and the mast. Not much extra weight for a whole lot of adjustment. They are also very robust.
I met up with Casey today and got to chat with him quite a bit and also got to watch him ride some decent swells on Lake Michigan. He builds all of his boards to work specifically with GoFoil. I'm happy with my axis stuff and don't really want to change.
He's going to do some calculations and see if he can make a 6'4"-6'6" board with 145-150 liters.
He said he'd put the 16" Chinook tracks in but that they aren't as strong as a deep Tuttle. I'm no where near the rider Casey is, nor will I ever be, so I'm thinking the Chinook foil tracks will be just fine. Another thing is that he says I'd have to shim the rear stab possibly, but if I went with tracks, I wouldn't have to because of the adjustment they allow. It may not be "perfectly" balanced, but I would probably never notice.
On another note, I had an absolute blast on my Levitator and 4.8 Duotone Super Session with the Axis HA 1000. Probably a little bit overpowered a few times, but had an absolute blast turning downwind and riding the 2 foot wind chop. Flagging the sail straight down wind and just gliding along and pumping the board and riding the waves. I was so stoked to be back on the wind foil. Definitely leaving my winging gear at home for awhile.
Sounds like a great session you had, always pumped after those ones
The adjustability tracks give make them a no brainer. If you can set up a custom with similar geometry to your Levi there's no reason you can't achieve your "perfect" balance
Compact geometry does have advantages but it's also an acquired taste.
If I was getting a windfoil board built I'd use the new 16" Chinook boxes for both the foil and the mast. Not much extra weight for a whole lot of adjustment. They are also very robust.
I met up with Casey today and got to chat with him quite a bit and also got to watch him ride some decent swells on Lake Michigan. He builds all of his boards to work specifically with GoFoil. I'm happy with my axis stuff and don't really want to change.
He's going to do some calculations and see if he can make a 6'4"-6'6" board with 145-150 liters.
He said he'd put the 16" Chinook tracks in but that they aren't as strong as a deep Tuttle. I'm no where near the rider Casey is, nor will I ever be, so I'm thinking the Chinook foil tracks will be just fine. Another thing is that he says I'd have to shim the rear stab possibly, but if I went with tracks, I wouldn't have to because of the adjustment they allow. It may not be "perfectly" balanced, but I would probably never notice.
On another note, I had an absolute blast on my Levitator and 4.8 Duotone Super Session with the Axis HA 1000. Probably a little bit overpowered a few times, but had an absolute blast turning downwind and riding the 2 foot wind chop. Flagging the sail straight down wind and just gliding along and pumping the board and riding the waves. I was so stoked to be back on the wind foil. Definitely leaving my winging gear at home for awhile.
Sounds like a great session you had, always pumped after those ones
The adjustability tracks give make them a no brainer. If you can set up a custom with similar geometry to your Levi there's no reason you can't achieve your "perfect" balance
Kinda my thoughts too. I expressed to Casey, the reef warrior board guy, that I will never be a "great" windfoiler and that I am happy to have one board that will give the the option to ride the way he does, or to ride in the foot straps and carve a little bit harder.
Here is Casey's Instagram account...
instagram.com/casey_treichler_dareef?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Having the adjustability of long tracks is a no brainer to me. Plus I prefer assembling my board from the bottom.
I prefer a style somewhere between Casey and the power carving crew in that I prefer footstraps but I have them fairly close to the UJ and entirely on center like a waveboard. I find the heel side carve can be much harder with straps.
Having the adjustability of long tracks is a no brainer to me. Plus I prefer assembling my board from the bottom.
I prefer a style somewhere between Casey and the power carving crew in that I prefer footstraps but I have them fairly close to the UJ and entirely on center like a waveboard. I find the heel side carve can be much harder with straps.
I'm hoping to have enough adjustability so I can do both of those styles to some degree.
Having the adjustability of long tracks is a no brainer to me. Plus I prefer assembling my board from the bottom.
I prefer a style somewhere between Casey and the power carving crew in that I prefer footstraps but I have them fairly close to the UJ and entirely on center like a waveboard. I find the heel side carve can be much harder with straps.
I'm hoping to have enough adjustability so I can do both of those styles to some degree.
Have to agree with grantmac having straps makes a big difference in control in wave conditions. Casey is a great foiler and very talented windsurfer and a pioneer in WWF his style is kinda like surfing which is super cool. I already prone foil but find I have more of a windsurfing wave riding style. Maybe its because I'm not a good wave windsurfer and we dont get the conditions for it anyway. This is my 5'4 windfoil board I'm making is 71cm wide and 5" thick. Very chunky and should be quite floaty. The length is right in between the wizard 90 and wizard 114 but volume is probably closer to the wizard 125/130 at a guess. I think slingshot should've came out with this size for people that thought the wizard 105 was too big but 90 too small, but that just me. Also will be running a central back strap on this board.
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I like the looks of that. Earlier today I remembered a guy who makes Reef Warrior boards in Ohio. He's about 6 hours away from me. I contacted him this afternoon. His boards are pretty cool, but heavily geared towards WWF as he puts it. Which is Wind Wave Foiling. Since I'm not huge on the foil mast to UJ distance of the Shred Sled, I asked if he could do something with the 14" tracks that would possibly give me something similar what he currently does, while still being able to move the foil farther back light wind days. Hopefully that makes sense.
Further back the foil al the rest being the same on light wind days? I would have thought the opposite, to move the foil forward for more lift and power given wind lightness, and bring it back to reduce front foot pressure when is windy...am I wrong?
In the photo above, take a close look at the location of the fin screws. They are way back there, fully aft of the back footstraps. This allows the board to run a race foil that has the wing further forward. You can foil this as a freeride setup.
Most foil boards have the front fin screw at about the mid point of the back footstraps. This is normal freeride geometry for freeride foils.
And the mast base is fairly far forward, for the race foil, so should/could have plenty of room to move it back for a free ride foil, something to check out.
I don't think moving the UJ and moving the foil Is the same, the rig weights less than 10 kgs, th hole carried weightbis around 100 kgs, so moving the foil Is much more effective in balancing the foil oard/rider combo, and much more effective than shimmi g the stabilizer since this add drago. Racers have tested the track system, they do not use It not because of strenght or rigidity issues but because somehow the feeling they have on the board with such large sails Is compromisero...they through change fuselages moving the foil but not the foil mast...something to be about alignment between sail COE and foil mast position
Compact geometry does have advantages but it's also an acquired taste.
If I was getting a windfoil board built I'd use the new 16" Chinook boxes for both the foil and the mast. Not much extra weight for a whole lot of adjustment. They are also very robust.
Since I have no experience in riding something compact, what are the advantages?
Let's put It this way, provided sail rig loads board on UJ position and weights around 8 kg the more we reduce the effect of It the more the board Is sensitive tonriders COG move back and Fort, so if you know how to use at your advantage such mevements you enjoy the fastest response to your inputs, if instead you are a Novi e and do not know what you are doing, you feel.less stabile and have the impression the board Is a wild horse.
Roberts makes custom foilboards. You see a few of them around in the Gorge. I have a custom that is 6'10" long and 32" wide and 140 liters. It has the tuttle box far aft to allow the use of a race foil in freeride mode. At 200 lb I can easily uphaul it. Being a Roberts custom, it weighs nothing. You can see some pix of them on the sailworks.com website.
Those look nice! I'm adding them to my list of options.
Roberts does make great boards, the workmanship is top notch. Things like reinforcing the nose to the point I have never had an issue despite many crashes.
If you have not gone through the custom process its fun being able to tweak the standard design and graphics.
robertscomposites.com/rc-boards/foil-gt/
These boards are awesome! So cool
Roberts makes custom foilboards. You see a few of them around in the Gorge. I have a custom that is 6'10" long and 32" wide and 140 liters. It has the tuttle box far aft to allow the use of a race foil in freeride mode. At 200 lb I can easily uphaul it. Being a Roberts custom, it weighs nothing. You can see some pix of them on the sailworks.com website.
Those look nice! I'm adding them to my list of options.
Roberts does make great boards, the workmanship is top notch. Things like reinforcing the nose to the point I have never had an issue despite many crashes.
If you have not gone through the custom process its fun being able to tweak the standard design and graphics.
robertscomposites.com/rc-boards/foil-gt/
These boards are magnificent! Dopo cool
Is it ridiculous to think I can get a custom that can blur the lines between a Shred Sled style board and something like my Levitator 150? I think I've seen long foil tracks, like 14" long. I am wondering if that would give the flexibility of having the foil mast and UJ close together like the Shred Sled for cruising waves, but also be able to slide the foil mast back and get something that performs similar to my Levitator when there isn't much for waves, or I want to go for a longer cruise? Maybe there's an advantage to riding with the foil mast and UJ so close together?
There has to be some compromise i reckon but long foil tracks are the way to go for sure. Having different foot strap options is the most important thing to allowing a board to go from freerace to freecarve. Tail width is also important. I tried to set up my freestyle like a freerace board and i couldn't stand lateral enough in the rear to really load up the sail.
I had the same experience with my board only 48 cm on the tail, not enough to load sail and back the board to windward, was looking for more width, After moving the foil forward in search of power
Roberts makes custom foilboards. You see a few of them around in the Gorge. I have a custom that is 6'10" long and 32" wide and 140 liters. It has the tuttle box far aft to allow the use of a race foil in freeride mode. At 200 lb I can easily uphaul it. Being a Roberts custom, it weighs nothing. You can see some pix of them on the sailworks.com website.
Those look nice! I'm adding them to my list of options.
Roberts does make great boards, the workmanship is top notch. Things like reinforcing the nose to the point I have never had an issue despite many crashes.
If you have not gone through the custom process its fun being able to tweak the standard design and graphics.
robertscomposites.com/rc-boards/foil-gt/
These boards are magnificent! Dopo cool
Is it ridiculous to think I can get a custom that can blur the lines between a Shred Sled style board and something like my Levitator 150? I think I've seen long foil tracks, like 14" long. I am wondering if that would give the flexibility of having the foil mast and UJ close together like the Shred Sled for cruising waves, but also be able to slide the foil mast back and get something that performs similar to my Levitator when there isn't much for waves, or I want to go for a longer cruise? Maybe there's an advantage to riding with the foil mast and UJ so close together?
There has to be some compromise i reckon but long foil tracks are the way to go for sure. Having different foot strap options is the most important thing to allowing a board to go from freerace to freecarve. Tail width is also important. I tried to set up my freestyle like a freerace board and i couldn't stand lateral enough in the rear to really load up the sail.
I had the same experience with my board only 48 cm on the tail, not enough to load sail and back the board to windward, was looking for more width, After moving the foil forward in search of power
Roberts makes custom foilboards. You see a few of them around in the Gorge. I have a custom that is 6'10" long and 32" wide and 140 liters. It has the tuttle box far aft to allow the use of a race foil in freeride mode. At 200 lb I can easily uphaul it. Being a Roberts custom, it weighs nothing. You can see some pix of them on the sailworks.com website.
Those look nice! I'm adding them to my list of options.
Roberts does make great boards, the workmanship is top notch. Things like reinforcing the nose to the point I have never had an issue despite many crashes.
If you have not gone through the custom process its fun being able to tweak the standard design and graphics.
robertscomposites.com/rc-boards/foil-gt/
These boards are magnificent! Dopo cool
Is it ridiculous to think I can get a custom that can blur the lines between a Shred Sled style board and something like my Levitator 150? I think I've seen long foil tracks, like 14" long. I am wondering if that would give the flexibility of having the foil mast and UJ close together like the Shred Sled for cruising waves, but also be able to slide the foil mast back and get something that performs similar to my Levitator when there isn't much for waves, or I want to go for a longer cruise? Maybe there's an advantage to riding with the foil mast and UJ so close together?
There has to be some compromise i reckon but long foil tracks are the way to go for sure. Having different foot strap options is the most important thing to allowing a board to go from freerace to freecarve. Tail width is also important. I tried to set up my freestyle like a freerace board and i couldn't stand lateral enough in the rear to really load up the sail.
I had the same experience with my board only 48 cm on the tail, not enough to load sail and back the board to windward, was looking for more width, After moving the foil forward in search of power
We'll my board is "ordered". Going to be real close to 6'4"x 31" and around 150L. 16" Chinook tracks in the bottom for versatility and Casey's normal foot strap layout, plus some that will give me the option to ride more like my Levitator 150.
still time to change my mind, but the foam blank is ordered. Won't realistically see the board until next March though.
We'll my board is "ordered". Going to be real close to 6'4"x 31" and around 150L. 16" Chinook tracks in the bottom for versatility and Casey's normal foot strap layout, plus some that will give me the option to ride more like my Levitator 150.
still time to change my mind, but the foam blank is ordered. Won't realistically see the board until next March though.
Dig those dims! Wholesome volume but compact! Keep us in the loop!
We'll my board is "ordered". Going to be real close to 6'4"x 31" and around 150L. 16" Chinook tracks in the bottom for versatility and Casey's normal foot strap layout, plus some that will give me the option to ride more like my Levitator 150.
still time to change my mind, but the foam blank is ordered. Won't realistically see the board until next March though.
Dig those dims! Wholesome volume but compact! Keep us in the loop!
I will definitely post some pictures here when I get to pick it up. Casey is pretty stoked about the dimensions of it. He said it may become something that he offers on a regular basis. For now it's a one off board for me because of the dimensions and the 16" Chinook tracks in the bottom. Normally he only does a deep tuttle box.
Looks very cool!
That looks fun!
Thanks. I'm pretty stoked! Looking forward to trying it out asap!