Hi all, just finished a new board. 114x45cm from a 19mm pawlonia blank. Kerfed the nose rocker with a handsaw (the lines on the nose at the top and the rail, and you can see the bends in the underside of the nose too. Otherwise it's dead flat. Glassed with 6oz top and bottom, lapped at the rails, and a patch top and bottom at the mast mount. Used Surfset Flex epoxy. Put an extra set of mounting plugs (resin and q-cell) in, in case I want to move the foil forward for some reason. Low tech tools and materials. Weighs just under 3kg, volume should be about 10l, so well able to float a foil. It's very stiff, due to thicker core. The original shinnster that I've been using till now is way too flexy. Hopefully get a ride in and report back this week.

Cool. Look forward to the first ride report.

Yes bring on the pics of it in action

Nice! It's all you need. How much lift in the nose did you end up with?

What great way to get your bend in the nose.

Nice looking board.

I built a similar board for my zeeko spitfire (118 x 46 x 2kg). It works OK, however I quickly found that pocket boards should have continuous rocker along the length of the board.later I bought levitaz exo that is bit longer at 125 but narrower at 43 and slightly thicker with long shallow rocker.when i put those boards side by side I thought i made a mistake as they looked so similar, but on the water it was night and day difference. Exo is 10x easier to survive a nose dive and noticeably easier to get going in light wind. who knew

Old board

Borist's post made me look at my pocket Air which I had always just thought was flat. And yes there is a noticeable rocker way further back than I first thought.
the P Air is also noticeably kinder on touchdowns than my first board which was flat but lots of nose rocker.

but I now only use my Spitfire so maybe this is different for old school foils

I was noticing how far back the rear strap is on this Canard design, is this foot placement standard for this foil? If so than my board would not work with that foil. The Stringfellow foil is ridden right on top of the mast. I have noticed that race foils have similar foot placement to your setup.

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dafish said..
I was noticing how far back the rear strap is on this Canard design, is this foot placement standard for this foil? If so than my board would not work with that foil. The Stringfellow foil is ridden right on top of the mast. I have noticed that race foils have similar foot placement to your setup.

With a normal foil my back foot is in front of strap but with Spitfire it has to be in it. I also moved the front strap back a notch.
plus I find the Spitfire more forgiving in crashes so tend to leave feet in straps in less than huge crashes and heave it back around to start quicker in waves.
not that my wave skills are that good. My crashing in wave skills are probably right up there though.

Seems that back foot is generally further forward for strapless riders, partly because of a narrower stance, and probably because there's no temptation to use the straps to try to muscle the board-foil into doing what you want.

Marco, rocker is 52mm on a pretty even curve starting at 260mm back from the nose.

This is the larger portion of a seven foot (215cm) blank that I bought from these guys - www.paulowniatimber.com.au/surfboards.php
The remaining 101cm version will become another board once I've got my transitions happening better and worked out more exactly my preferred foot and mast positions. I may thin it out a bit and use other techniques for rocker and to reduce weight.

Hi all, I broke a rib (bjj, not kiting) just after initial posts, so it's taken until last week for me to get back on the water. I've now had 4 sessions on this board, from 12-25knots with Zeeko blue and white foil with carver wing and kites from 9-6m.

First session took a while to get used to the narrower (left to right) zone in which I can load the board for waterstarts. It's significantly less forgiving than the Shinnster. However, 4 sessions in and it's easy as, and forced me to tidy up my waterstarting technique a bit.

Once foiling the extra stiffness compared to the Shinnster is awesome. Both pitch and roll control is much more direct. The swing weight being lower, it's very playful. It took a little while to get used to having so little nose in my peripheral vision, but it adds to the magic of hovering over the water at speed.

For waterstarting and gradual touchdowns the combination of nose rocker and flat everywhere else works well. It can ride on the surface with surprisingly little power. If I fly too high and ventilate though there's no recovering - it just dives right down. The plus side of this is that this board doesn't chase me at all. This is a huge argument in favour of the safety of low volume boards in general, and very short boards especially.

I'm going to drill out the forward set of mounting plugs as it's a fraction rear foot heavy at the moment even with my back foot right on the very tail - perfectly ridable, just not perfectly balanced yet.

In summary - a cheap, simple build that weighs 3kg and should last forever, and rides sweetly for the style that interests me.

Low volume strapless pocket boards are easier than you think, to build and ride!

Nice, I cut a foot off the back of my shinnster and moved the foil forward bringing it to 128cm long. At first it was much less forgiving to touchdown gybe but once i got use to it after a couple sessions it's fine if i'm quick and it's helped me be less sloppy.

Nice. Sorry to hear about the ribs. Ribs and shoulder injuries suck because you can't sleep and get the rest you need. Looks like you built yourself a fun board. Foiling has opened up the amount of days I can get out when it's marginal and still have a blast. I was on a 4 meter Uno in 18 to 20 knots the other day and that too was a blast. Jumped on my surfboard and 8 Reo and though the kite is nimble, it was really slow compared to the 4. Hopefully my Spitfire will eventually get here so I can relearn all this stuff again in better wave conditions.

Rode today with the forward foil position - perfectly balanced now. Turns out for my setup (stance not particularly wide, but I am 6'3", and foil - Zeeko carbon with carver wing) I want my back foot pretty much on top of the rear bolts, so it's nice to have them a couple of inches forward from the tail. This didn't affect waterstarting at all so far as I could tell.

Shameless plug - my zeeko aluminium foil is now up for grabs as I treated myself to the carbon version.

Marco, how does the uno relaunch at the bottom of its range? Have you tried the 6m too?

Nice work, looks sick!

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djdojo said..
Marco, how does the uno relaunch at the bottom of its range? Have you tried the 6m too?

Relaunch is fine. I was surprised how well the kite went at that wind range. I just do my usual water start with a downloop and as the kite starts to come around I let go of the board. This technique pops me up on the foil instantly, even with a tiny kite. I don't own a 6 Reo but I haven't flown my 12 in so long I might sell it and get a 6. I was out on my 8 yesterday in 12 to 17 knots and it was good.I am finding the more efficient I get at foiling the better glide I get and I need less and less kite. Oh, and one more thing, I too find that my back foot is right on the bolts.

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borist said..
I built a similar board for my zeeko spitfire (118 x 46 x 2kg). It works OK, however I quickly found that pocket boards should have continuous rocker along the length of the board.later I bought levitaz exo that is bit longer at 125 but narrower at 43 and slightly thicker with long shallow rocker.when i put those boards side by side I thought i made a mistake as they looked so similar, but on the water it was night and day difference. Exo is 10x easier to survive a nose dive and noticeably easier to get going in light wind. who knew

Old board

Am guessing back wing carries most of the load. So with back wing under back foot, is it even rideable? Maybe lots of back foot pressure?

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dafish said..

djdojo said..
Marco, how does the uno relaunch at the bottom of its range? Have you tried the 6m too?

Relaunch is fine. I was surprised how well the kite went at that wind range. I just do my usual water start with a downloop and as the kite starts to come around I let go of the board. This technique pops me up on the foil instantly, even with a tiny kite. I don't own a 6 Reo but I haven't flown my 12 in so long I might sell it and get a 6. I was out on my 8 yesterday in 12 to 17 knots and it was good.I am finding the more efficient I get at foiling the better glide I get and I need less and less kite. Oh, and one more thing, I too find that my back foot is right on the bolts.

I agree with you on the 6m option. I have a 6m Ozone Catalyst and it is probably my most used kite for foiling. From 15 to 18kts it is perfect for me (81kg). Once it's over 18kts, my 3.5m Cloud C5 comes out to play.

I had a go on a friends Cabrinha Apollo 14m in 8 - 12kts yesterday. It was hard to keep it in the sky at times but then when I was up and foiling, the apparent wind generated made it way too powerful to foil comfortably with. Big inflatable kites and foils seem to have a very narrow useable wind range for the non-racer (free ride wings) on normal length lines.

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DukeSilver said..

dafish said..

djdojo said..
Marco, how does the uno relaunch at the bottom of its range? Have you tried the 6m too?

Relaunch is fine. I was surprised how well the kite went at that wind range. I just do my usual water start with a downloop and as the kite starts to come around I let go of the board. This technique pops me up on the foil instantly, even with a tiny kite. I don't own a 6 Reo but I haven't flown my 12 in so long I might sell it and get a 6. I was out on my 8 yesterday in 12 to 17 knots and it was good.I am finding the more efficient I get at foiling the better glide I get and I need less and less kite. Oh, and one more thing, I too find that my back foot is right on the bolts.

I agree with you on the 6m option. I have a 6m Ozone Catalyst and it is probably my most used kite for foiling. From 15 to 18kts it is perfect for me (81kg). Once it's over 18kts, my 3.5m Cloud C5 comes out to play.

I had a go on a friends Cabrinha Apollo 14m in 8 - 12kts yesterday. It was hard to keep it in the sky at times but then when I was up and foiling, the apparent wind generated made it way too powerful to foil comfortably with. Big inflatable kites and foils seem to have a very narrow useable wind range for the non-racer (free ride wings) on normal length lines.

yup, this is why I sold my 14.5 Cloud, fine for lightwind surfboard, but too much for a foil even in the lightest wind. It was fine while I was learning on the foil in lighter days. Which Cat do you have, new model or the older ones? I have a 6 meter Cat that I used for my school which is the new version and I didn't like it. I found it had poor drift and more prone to stall and certainly did not loop as smoothly as the Reo's or Uno. I suspect that the older Cat's would have been a better kite in that regard as seem to be (I have not ridden older Cats) like the Enduro only the Enduro would be even more refined.

Select to expand quote

dafish said..

DukeSilver said..

dafish said..

djdojo said..
Marco, how does the uno relaunch at the bottom of its range? Have you tried the 6m too?

Relaunch is fine. I was surprised how well the kite went at that wind range. I just do my usual water start with a downloop and as the kite starts to come around I let go of the board. This technique pops me up on the foil instantly, even with a tiny kite. I don't own a 6 Reo but I haven't flown my 12 in so long I might sell it and get a 6. I was out on my 8 yesterday in 12 to 17 knots and it was good.I am finding the more efficient I get at foiling the better glide I get and I need less and less kite. Oh, and one more thing, I too find that my back foot is right on the bolts.

I agree with you on the 6m option. I have a 6m Ozone Catalyst and it is probably my most used kite for foiling. From 15 to 18kts it is perfect for me (81kg). Once it's over 18kts, my 3.5m Cloud C5 comes out to play.

I had a go on a friends Cabrinha Apollo 14m in 8 - 12kts yesterday. It was hard to keep it in the sky at times but then when I was up and foiling, the apparent wind generated made it way too powerful to foil comfortably with. Big inflatable kites and foils seem to have a very narrow useable wind range for the non-racer (free ride wings) on normal length lines.

yup, this is why I sold my 14.5 Cloud, fine for lightwind surfboard, but too much for a foil even in the lightest wind. It was fine while I was learning on the foil in lighter days. Which Cat do you have, new model or the older ones? I have a 6 meter Cat that I used for my school which is the new version and I didn't like it. I found it had poor drift and more prone to stall and certainly did not loop as smoothly as the Reo's or Uno. I suspect that the older Cat's would have been a better kite in that regard as seem to be (I have not ridden older Cats) like the Enduro only the Enduro would be even more refined.

I have a 2014 (6m) and 2015 (9m). These are both nice kites. The latest Cats are back to beginner models and the Enduro carries on where the 2015 Cat left off. I will get Reos as my next kites. Never ridden one but their reputation is enough for me.