Minimizing the upwash effect in front of the sail is exactly why the strut is at least 18" long. You could make it 5 meters long if you want, but it would be difficult to attach securely to the mast or luff.
Anyway, when I first did this, I had the telltale attached to the leading edge of the sail. All it did was hug the surface of the sail regardless of point of sail. Moving it out there a ways gets it out in cleaner air. Yes, of course, you want to get it out of the leading edge boundary layer. For me 18" seemed to be enough.
And, yes, a good slalom board will be faster than a formula board in all points of sail except upwind. When cranking steeply upwind with a good fin, nothing can touch a formula board, either in raw boat speed or vmg. But ya gotta be massively powered, thus the huge sail, to make a good upwind vmg. I have been in many races, underpowered, when the non-planing Kona racers beat me to the weather mark. Hate that.
One way to absolutely ensure that the telltale is in clean air is to put it onto a rod a few feet above the top of the mast. It is a little harder to see, but it is definitely out of boundary layer flow way up there.
I'm the opposite Choco, always have earphones in, can't hear the wind so it never seems as windy. Also lets me listen to some old Aussie tunes and hear my speed readout.
Looking at the photo Pacey supplied even a telltale on the nose of the board would be 10-15 degrees out.
Footstrap insert in the nose of the board and a pole sticking up from there, should be able to get it above the bent air. I'll do it one day when we get water in our run.
Senor Quick said....
" (like knowing you have a 200gm lighter board - which must make you faster, right?) "which of course is quite valid, as positive thoughts always help........
......how differently we think, my take is.......... "my board's heavier so it goes through the chop leading on to the run better and it has momentum so doesn't slow in the lulls, so it must be faster, right?