Reviewing a few forums it seems consensus to convert a surfboard is a bad idea.
Best to get a purpose built board save loosing your expensive foil gear.
Anyone got a reliable method for surfboard conversion to a plate ie 2 mast tracks? Or agree one should just spend a bit more for purpose built?

If you have the skill then I don't see a problem. You will have to stiffen the board forward of the mast. Otherwise it will fail in time.

Theres lots of people attaching them to anything they can put there feet on...
How do most people prevent heel dings ? Theres your answer

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warwickl said..
Reviewing a few forums it seems consensus to convert a surfboard is a bad idea.
Best to get a purpose built board save loosing your expensive foil gear.
Anyone got a reliable method for surfboard conversion to a plate ie 2 mast tracks? Or agree one should just spend a bit more for purpose built?

Hi Warwickl

I already answered your question in your first thread about converting a surfboard to a foilboard with tracks. It's straightforward - you just need to mount the tracks in something else first as surfboard foam is not strong enough by itself. I recommend making a box out of corecell / qcell which is much higher density and strong. I posted a pic showing how that box is then glassed into a board. It took my buddy 24 hours to convert his sup to a foil-sup.

Having said that, I am really loving the zeeko Air Race which is a purpose built foilboard in the shape of a surfboard.

Rrp on that is $1365 (I am a zeeko dealer) but I don't know whether that is good value or not in your book.

I can tell you a purpose built carbon fibre foil board from Temavento (Italy) or Bisschops Boards (based here in WA) will set you back around $1500

If you already have a surfboard and are willing to do your own fibreglassing, then the DIY option will be a couple of hundred dollars + your time.

I find this is a little stronger than an old surfboard.

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warwickl said..
Reviewing a few forums it seems consensus to convert a surfboard is a bad idea.
Best to get a purpose built board save loosing your expensive foil gear.
Anyone got a reliable method for surfboard conversion to a plate ie 2 mast tracks? Or agree one should just spend a bit more for purpose built?

Hey Warickl
I agree with James .
if you have a mate that repairs or deals with epoxy resin.Its a bit of an art and easily messed up.But done properly as James mentioned it will not or should not fail.
I have had three epoxy boards inserted with 10" Fin boxes with no issues.
Have a Nuggett with Jim Stringfellow foil online.
Cost me $150 to have the boxes done professionally.Took him a while because of the issues with epoxy resin and drying times.
I supplied the boxes.

I did take my surfboard to a reputable repairer and he felt the surfboard was to thin. The depth of tracks as in Slingshot Alien are almost the same as my surfboards thickness.
I did suggest setting in qcel plus add a plate to the bottom but he was not confident about strength.
Obviously I do not want to loose my foil.
Where can I get the tracks similar to Slingshot Alien?

Thanks for all the input so far.

Use a foil leash if worried about losing the foil.

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warwickl said..

Where can I get the tracks similar to Slingshot Alien?

Chinook have them:
https://chinooksailing.com/index.php/windsurf/board-building-parts-accessories.html

You can either pick the mast tracks or the fin box.

Shapers in QLD is a good alternative as well and will work out a bit cheaper:

www.shapers.com.au/fin-systems/

I am using mast tracks on a 30mm board. I had to plane the tracks to make them fit, did it for 3 boards 18 months ago and none has come back yet.

Out of the 3, 2 are embedded in Balsa wood and 1 in PVC foam box (divinycell). One of the balsa ones is ridden by a 100kg rider who jumps regularly. No sign of damage so far.

The one thing to understand with reinforcement is the gradient between the material we use. The tracks are made of hard plastic while the core of your board is made of soft polystyrene (or PU). The torque moment arm between the foil and the board can "roll" the box which in turn will crush the soft foam. In order to avoid this, we use a material of intermediate density between the core and the tracks (usually PVC foam, AKA Airex-Divinycell-Corecell-Herex....).

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nikmcc said..
I find this is a little stronger than an old surfboard.

And a self draining cockpit!!

Thanks for the advice.
Just bought a second hand board with the recommended conversion.

yep.. 2 correctly positioned fin boxes to which you can apply 4 bolts.
Cut a large rectangle chunk out of base of board and replace it with high density material (pvc or maybe pu but not as good..) epoxied into polystyrene to greatly increase resistance to torsion and simple torque

route out and epoxy in fin boxes to this high density foam

reglass...

convertible surfboard....

I converted my homemade Evo style surfboard and it works good so far. I'm a foiling noob,. Took leassons in Mexico and am now flying. Guy who taught me said some pointy nose surfboard conversions can have tendency to bury the nose when you touch down at an angle and have some speed. Rail Kinda gets sucked under and you nose dive sideways. Mine didn't do that and the guy first thought it would.

I used this stick on Foil Mount on a Booger with a Lift Foil (the beginning and end of video) plus we have used it on a stock surfboard. It does not let go. We ended up destroying the Booger bending it half and it stuck like sh!t to blanket .

Looks good ! Would be super easy to run some kiteline as a foil-leash to your surfboard leg rope mount and you wouldn't notice it when riding.

Seems to work well

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Piros said..
I used this stick on Foil Mount on a Booger with a Lift Foil (the beginning and end of video) plus we have used it on a stock surfboard. It does not let go. We ended up destroying the Booger bending it half and it stuck like sh!t to blanket .

Looks ideal.
The surface on the board for good adhesion would need to be very flat I expect?
Is the price based on true costs with acceptable margin or based on a price due to simpler/convient method of application? Material costs would not be much compared with $150us - correct me if wrong.

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jamesperth said..
Looks good ! Would be super easy to run some kiteline as a foil-leash to your surfboard leg rope mount and you wouldn't notice it when riding.

Seems to work well

I think connecting the leash to your ankle would be more fun.
actually connect to back ankle then loop leash around front ankle then those watching would be hoping for a foil mount fail.

There is a product on the market you should consider:

www.proteusdistribution.com/fone-mitu-foil-510-convertible-177-485-cm-21l-xml-355_369-1015.html

F-one MITU FOIL 5'10'' convertible (foil KF box) 177 x 48.5 cm - 21L

Everyone is aware that kiteboarding is an expensive sports. We have therefore decided to offer the MITU MONTEIRO pro model surf in 5'6'' / 5'8'' / 5'10'' in its "convertible" version (ie: equipped with a KF-BOX).

The deep concave on the bottom of the board provides great acceleration to lift off easily while the proven rocker and outline of the board make the transitions really easy and progressive when they are done on the water.

The large pad designed for strapless riding enable a wide riding stance for maximum comfort and stability.

With its very efficient and all around shape combined with the new construction HDFOAM FLEX COMPOSITE, tough and light, the surf MITU MONTEIRO Convertible is the perfect board to stop worrying about missing a session without loading your quiver.

I made a foilbox out of 2x US box and some corecell (similar to divinicell) for my SUP.

Basically cut sections of corecell and stick them to one another using qcell and resin mixed (I used epoxy), then clamp it all together.

Where can the go joe be attached?

I know it's a sup but been doing a few of late for a few guys on sups and kiteboards..
This is pretty much the process I've come up with, note the new HD core attached to the deck..
I'm doing these at $500 a go inc chinook strong boxes..
It adds approx 1.3-1.5kg to board so still quite useable without foil..
All in epoxy, carbon, top quality HD core, faired in epoxy with a pro finished epoxy primer to seal it off..
P.s this box was requested to be bombproof hence abit bigger surface area

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coxy31 said..



I know it's a sup but been doing a few of late for a few guys on sups and kiteboards..
This is pretty much the process I've come up with, note the new HD core attached to the deck..
I'm doing these at $500 a go inc chinook strong boxes..
It adds approx 1.3-1.5kg to board so still quite useable without foil..
All in epoxy, carbon, top quality HD core, faired in epoxy with a pro finished epoxy primer to seal it off..
P.s this box was requested to be bombproof hence abit bigger surface area

Do you put any glass around the boxes when you set them into the HD foam or are they just put in with a mix of resin and then glassed over?

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Do you put any glass around the boxes when you set them into the HD foam or are they just put in with a mix of resin and then glassed over?

I've used both methods and both with zero issues..
At this stage I'm just routering out the foam with a pretty accurate jig and just bogging the keyed up box into a very accurate hole.. I found it just gets real messy and boxs seem to walk around trying to utilise glass and the tolerance that comes with glassing em in aswell and from all the boards I've glasses em in they showed no benefit over straight glue/bog method

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coxy31 said..

I've used both methods and both with zero issues..
At this stage I'm just routering out the foam with a pretty accurate jig and just bogging the keyed up box into a very accurate hole.. I found it just gets real messy and boxs seem to walk around trying to utilise glass and the tolerance that comes with glassing em in aswell and from all the boards I've glasses em in they showed no benefit over straight glue/bog method

That is what i thought. I have always glassed them in but have been wondering whether they would be fine without the glass when set in HD foam.

Can I ask how much carbon/glass goes over the top? 2 or 3 layers of 200gm (6 onz) carbon?

Btw, I have a professionally converted Firewire Kite Dominator for sale in the for sale section. Just sayin' ...;).

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coxy31 said..













I know it's a sup but been doing a few of late for a few guys on sups and kiteboards..
This is pretty much the process I've come up with, note the new HD core attached to the deck..
I'm doing these at $500 a go inc chinook strong boxes..
It adds approx 1.3-1.5kg to board so still quite useable without foil..
All in epoxy, carbon, top quality HD core, faired in epoxy with a pro finished epoxy primer to seal it off..
P.s this box was requested to be bombproof hence abit bigger surface area

Looks very professional. I did similar build on kiteboards, some with HD foam insert hull to deck and some only hull to about 20mm from deck. Both set up took a pounding and none gave away. For the last build, I didn't have any HD foam left so I decided to try with Balsa inserts instead. It's been over a year, the boards have been ridden hard and there is no sign of fatigue so far. I ride it only strapless but one of the rider is around 100kg and uses it for boosting.

I think the mount plate type spreads the load much better than a tuttle or a KF-box and building a bombproof (heavy) box is probably overkill. To reduce the weight, I reckon a box made of XPS can do just as good as a full HD foam.

One of my build (3years ago) was from a 2 lb surboard blank. I made the box from a XPS block and a few pieces of balsa. This board is still going strong...

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Livit said..

coxy31 said..













I know it's a sup but been doing a few of late for a few guys on sups and kiteboards..
This is pretty much the process I've come up with, note the new HD core attached to the deck..
I'm doing these at $500 a go inc chinook strong boxes..
It adds approx 1.3-1.5kg to board so still quite useable without foil..
All in epoxy, carbon, top quality HD core, faired in epoxy with a pro finished epoxy primer to seal it off..
P.s this box was requested to be bombproof hence abit bigger surface area

Looks very professional. I did similar build on kiteboards, some with HD foam insert hull to deck and some only hull to about 20mm from deck. Both set up took a pounding and none gave away. For the last build, I didn't have any HD foam left so I decided to try with Balsa inserts instead. It's been over a year, the boards have been ridden hard and there is no sign of fatigue so far. I ride it only strapless but one of the rider is around 100kg and uses it for boosting.

I think the mount plate type spreads the load much better than a tuttle or a KF-box and building a bombproof (heavy) box is probably overkill. To reduce the weight, I reckon a box made of XPS can do just as good as a full HD foam.

One of my build (3years ago) was from a 2 lb surboard blank. I made the box from a XPS block and a few pieces of balsa. This board is still going strong...

It would wanna look professional it's my trade..
I offer a warranty on my inserts and not comfortable doing that with anything less than Atleast a 80kg foam secured to the deck..
This board with the bombproof construction will be used in a demo fleet by a well know brand it will see sand banks etc on a regular basis I'm sure..

usually the surfboards aren't build to withhold load of foils. Sooner or later the board will snap or crack.

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INTHELOOP said..
usually the surfboards aren't build to withhold load of foils. Sooner or later the board will snap or crack.

Most kite boards are actually built a lot stronger than ultra light race foil boards, just saying...

It's about how you make the box, not that much the type of board. Fin tracks, mast tracks, tuttle box, pro box or KF box are made of hard plastic. If you don't have a gradient between the board blank and these elements, for sure it's gonna crack but if you do it right like Coxy31 does it, there is next to zero risk.

It is the same principle as fin box reinforcement in kiteboarding construction. Ever heard of fin box rolling?

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coxy31 said..

Livit said..

coxy31 said..













I know it's a sup but been doing a few of late for a few guys on sups and kiteboards..
This is pretty much the process I've come up with, note the new HD core attached to the deck..
I'm doing these at $500 a go inc chinook strong boxes..
It adds approx 1.3-1.5kg to board so still quite useable without foil..
All in epoxy, carbon, top quality HD core, faired in epoxy with a pro finished epoxy primer to seal it off..
P.s this box was requested to be bombproof hence abit bigger surface area

Looks very professional. I did similar build on kiteboards, some with HD foam insert hull to deck and some only hull to about 20mm from deck. Both set up took a pounding and none gave away. For the last build, I didn't have any HD foam left so I decided to try with Balsa inserts instead. It's been over a year, the boards have been ridden hard and there is no sign of fatigue so far. I ride it only strapless but one of the rider is around 100kg and uses it for boosting.

I think the mount plate type spreads the load much better than a tuttle or a KF-box and building a bombproof (heavy) box is probably overkill. To reduce the weight, I reckon a box made of XPS can do just as good as a full HD foam.

One of my build (3years ago) was from a 2 lb surboard blank. I made the box from a XPS block and a few pieces of balsa. This board is still going strong...

It would wanna look professional it's my trade..
I offer a warranty on my inserts and not comfortable doing that with anything less than Atleast a 80kg foam secured to the deck..
This board with the bombproof construction will be used in a demo fleet by a well know brand it will see sand banks etc on a regular basis I'm sure..

Hey Coxy, where are you doing your work? I want to come watch and learn a few tricks!

Looks good Coxy. What sort of foam is the HD foam youre using?? Are you just flying together with epoxy, or epoxy with qcell?