been windsurfing for 35 years, beers and age have got me to 91kg at 6'2', competent at windsurfing at most aspects.
I'm keen to get a kit together for some foiling on P/Phillip Bay and home bay at Westernport, budget around $3k, I have a JP excite ride 2008 pro model, power box at 120l/690wide, 6.0m ezzy sail the biggest with lots of smaller ones, at this stage keen to just learn craft to be able to gybe, then upgrade to get more stoke with more advanced gear, water time is an issue but with warmer weather coming on and daylight savings/restrictions, time will happen for me, I have been reading a bit in the foiling section but have struggled to find stuff on start up, could you please help me out and recommend some kit, please let me know if the excite ride is no good to get me up and going, also what foil to chase with the thought of me off loading once up and about.??
Maybe a Neil Pryde glide would be a good starting point because it can have a powerbox adaptor fitted probably a nice introduction obviously there's other makes and models I'm sure some others will know some also you will have some change out of 3k
Happy Days and good luck foiling is so much fun
I dig the Glide too. The big pro with that is it's all you need to start and it is only roughly a grand or less. Windfoil specific boards are easier to slog and get upwind so for me are they are worth it. The Slingshot Levitator and Infinity 76 would be a great starter set up for you and fits your budget. Your 6.0 will pair nicely with it. To put it less brand specific pick a front wing with at least 1500 cm^2 and choose a board with plenty of volume to up haul and a wide thick tail. I would recommend a volume 140-160 for your weight. With the compact length of the new board, volume is not a problem in the air but really helps in the water. Best of Luck!
The Glide is a good choice for your present board although there's a bit of concern on my part at 90kg that it's a long term solution. If you go that route, absolutely use a tether in case something goes bad so you don't lose the foil. If you are interested in foiling in the lighter winds, you may want to scout around for a used deep tuttle board 80cm or wider which will give you a much more stable base to start and easier take off in light winds. While we do get going in lighter winds, that invariably leads us into spending more time in really light winds waiting for the one golden puff that gets us off the water.
The deep tuttle will also avail you to more choices and generally are more robust.
With your 6.0 and your size, if your aim is to get more lilghter wind days on the water look at a foil that's 2000+ in area . As utcminusfour said, at least 1500 as a minimum, though.
We are all excited for you. Glad to you are taking the leap.
Welcome to our disease. I just have to discourage the use of a Powerbox for foiling. Not strong enough. If you go with the Glide, avoid the Powerbox version.
Go deep tuttle or twin tracks. Nothing else.
Select to expand quotesegler said..
Welcome to our disease. I just have to discourage the use of a Powerbox for foiling. Not strong enough. If you go with the Glide, avoid the Powerbox version.
Go deep tuttle or twin tracks. Nothing else.
Is not strong enough from experience?
I am 94kg and had the Glide on power box into an old 2012 Exocet 115L board for the past few months. So far seems fine but I admit I have had the attitude if the board snaps then so be it as it's old.
Hi
If you do go with the NP glide, you want the large front wing and the large rear tail
With your quoted weight don't settle for the small or medium size
I have a couple of thousand k"s on this NP large setup, it a lot fun and built to last
You could consider the NP 2020 extra large front wing but i have no experience with that one, others can advise on it or call Reg from windsurfing perth as he has used them i think
Cheers
Tony
I recommendation would be to borrow / rent a foil board and foil for a weekend and do 4 sessions @ 2 to 2 1/2 hrs over the 2 days. Get someone who knows what they are doing to give you some quick pointers or watch some youTube videos by Sam Ross, Balz Mueller etc.
I did exactly that and after the weekend I was able to get some good flights and started to attempt what sort of looked like a jibe. After that weekend I was hooked.
I have seen other people start out with "normal" windsurf boards and their progression seems to be fairly slow. Also when you talk to them they don't seem to be as hooked. I think not using dedicated foiling gear has a lot to do with it.
Once you know the basics a longer mast will help as will a foil that's more tuned towards free ride rather than racing.
Almost all big brands (Starboard, Slingshot, JP, Neil Pryde, Fanatic ... ) are releasing new 2021 boards and foils here in Australia over the next couple of months. I would expect there to be quite a bit of used foil boards and windfoils coming onto the second hand market.
Thanks all, brilliant info there, I have taken some notes down and will do some more research into the brands and sizes you have mentioned, sounds like dedicated gear is the way to go, more boards, going to have to upgrade the racks, what a shame. Cheers
I have to say my brothers pryde glide foil felt like the easiest foil to use, super stable but still had a nice top speed. He upgraded at the start of the year so it's going to go up for sale with the Tuttle and power box adaptor.
PM if your interested
cheers
Hi Shag, no, not from experience because I steer clear of Powerbox for foiling. It comes from a lot of feedback from board designers and builders and repairers. I have the advantage of living at the far east end of the gorge, so I can troll their brains for information.
The mitigation for Powerbox is if you use a PowerPlate to spread the load over a huge area of the bottom of the board.
However, if you have had good luck with the Powerbox, that's great. I hope it keeps working for you.
The Powerbox , on the other hand, is and has been most excellent for finning.
Select to expand quoteshaggy696 said..segler said..
Welcome to our disease. I just have to discourage the use of a Powerbox for foiling. Not strong enough. If you go with the Glide, avoid the Powerbox version.
Go deep tuttle or twin tracks. Nothing else.
Is not strong enough from experience?
I am 94kg and had the Glide on power box into an old 2012 Exocet 115L board for the past few months. So far seems fine but I admit I have had the attitude if the board snaps then so be it as it's old.
jp-australia.com/foil_windsurfing__jp_boards/
It'll work until it doesn't. Use a tether.
I do know someone about 75-80kg using a PB Glide with no problems, fwiw. 
Select to expand quotePaducah said..shaggy696 said..segler said..
Welcome to our disease. I just have to discourage the use of a Powerbox for foiling. Not strong enough. If you go with the Glide, avoid the Powerbox version.
Go deep tuttle or twin tracks. Nothing else.
Is not strong enough from experience?
I am 94kg and had the Glide on power box into an old 2012 Exocet 115L board for the past few months. So far seems fine but I admit I have had the attitude if the board snaps then so be it as it's old.
jp-australia.com/foil_windsurfing__jp_boards/
It'll work until it doesn't. Use a tether. I do know someone about 75-80kg using a PB Glide with no problems, fwiw.
That seems crazy how they can sell a "foil ready" board but void warranty if used with a foil. thanks for posting as I was going to upgrade to newer freestyle board partly for foil capabilities but not prepared to risk a brand new board.
From my own experience the NP glide on powerbox works really well. The PB adapter comes with a HUGE collar.
I've foiled for almost a year with the NP glide with powerbox adapter on my 2010 fanatic shark 125 liter. I've hit shallow underground incl big rocks at high speed. Seriously thought my foil was gone and box ripped out.. flip board over and to my surprise everything OK. Not a scratch.
Yes those legal disclaimers exist.. (for if your name is Balz Muller I guess)
Remoc go for it!
Select to expand quoteshaggy696 said..
That seems crazy how they can sell a "foil ready" board but void warranty if used with a foil. thanks for posting as I was going to upgrade to newer freestyle board partly for foil capabilities but not prepared to risk a brand new board.
You misread it. 
They have a foil ready powerbox version, JP Foil-Powerbox (red print).The warranty is void for non foil ready power boxes. Same for tuttle. Needs to be a foil ready version for warranty purposes.
Select to expand quotePaducah said..shaggy696 said..
That seems crazy how they can sell a "foil ready" board but void warranty if used with a foil. thanks for posting as I was going to upgrade to newer freestyle board partly for foil capabilities but not prepared to risk a brand new board.
You misread it. They have a foil ready powerbox version, JP Foil-Powerbox (red print).The warranty is void for non foil ready power boxes. Same for tuttle. Needs to be a foil ready version for warranty purposes.
I should wake up properly before reading in bed!
But yes that makes sense. That is why I didn't want to use my current JP freestyle as not ready to see that damaged yet!
To be fair that's not exactly legal text. The way it's written leaves it up to interpretation. The second sentence doesn't explicitly state it's referencing none Foil-Powerbox boards.
I'd be more interested in hearing what their warranty is on jumping with the Freefoil board. The warranty on the web site sort off kind off maybe excludes by including some vague terms around "proper use of the board". The pictures on the web site indicate it can be used for jumping but I wonder what happens if you return a board with the box torn out.
Select to expand quoteshaggy696 said..
But yes that makes sense. That is why I didn't want to use my current JP freestyle as not ready to see that damaged yet!
I've been using the NP Glide on my 2008 JP Freestyle 100 for 18 months now without any problems. I've not tried jumping yet as that may end in disaster. But as someone else said, jumping is just controlled breaching and I did a plenty of those when learning.
Two things I'd suggest if you do go the powerbox route:
1: Check how much of the bolt actually threads into the mast through the board and the PB adaptor. Not all boards have the same thickness of tail and you may need a longer bolt than the 80mm one supplied to have enough thread engaging into the mast. I now use a 100mm bolt.
2: My board has a pronounced convex hull at the fin box. I used 10mm wide strips of PVC insulation tape, built up in layers on the extra rubber pad NP supply, to make a flat base for the PB adaptor to sit on. You want maximum surface area contacting onto the base of the board and no movement of the foil either front to back or side to side.
I did short test today of a Fanatic Gecko 133,L, (power box) with the my NP glide Large
No problem, nice fit into power box and stable flight on the water
Yes we know it won't be as good as a foil board in some areas, but if you already have it in the garage doing nothing why not...
Select to expand quotetonyk said..
I did short test today of a Fanatic Gecko 133,L, (power box) with the my NP glide Large
No problem, nice fit into power box and stable flight on the water
Yes we know it won't be as good as a foil board in some areas, but if you already have it in the garage doing nothing why not...
Well end up taking Trentski offer to buy his brothers, JP glide, and as Tonyk said I have a board in the garage, so I will fit it to the 120l and see if it will work, thanks for the words up on the bolt length rob342, see how it fits, super keen now for the 13/9 to come around now so I can go pick it up and try it out once restrictions have lifted, knowing me I will more than likely invest in a new board for it or possibly stick with it until I have learnt enough to upgrade to a fully sick kit, bring it on.
Select to expand quoteremoc said..tonyk said..
I did short test today of a Fanatic Gecko 133,L, (power box) with the my NP glide Large
No problem, nice fit into power box and stable flight on the water
Yes we know it won't be as good as a foil board in some areas, but if you already have it in the garage doing nothing why not...
Well end up taking Trentski offer to buy his brothers, JP glide, and as Tonyk said I have a board in the garage, so I will fit it to the 120l and see if it will work, thanks for the words up on the bolt length rob342, see how it fits, super keen now for the 13/9 to come around now so I can go pick it up and try it out once restrictions have lifted, knowing me I will more than likely invest in a new board for it or possibly stick with it until I have learnt enough to upgrade to a fully sick kit, bring it on.
Let us know how it goes. We are excited for you.
