The Gong shaper, Patrice Guenole', aka "L'Ours" (The Bear) was a bit worried by the direction taken by surf foiling, with micro boards that are hell to paddle if you are not young anymore. Gong is a brand aiming for volume markets, and he thought that these micro foiling boards were becoming a micro niche market: the amount of people able to realistically pump back to the lineup as an alternative to paddling will stay an ultra-small elite.

His solution: the foil cruiser: use an ultra-light 9' cruiser (an epoxy longboard with pulled in nose and tail). And since it does not pump well anyways with its length, just use the biggest foil wing possible (here the XXL 100cm wing). The result is something that glides in smooth arcs above the water, but can paddle back to the lineup effortlessly, and take off on non-breaking waves, as efficiently as a SUP foil.

As was said in another post, a foil carver rather than a foil pumper.

Beryl on a "short foil" and Patrice (100kg) on a "long foil", with moves making me think a lot of the "Silver surfer"...

Patrice explains his thinking:Flattitude :

It's been a while now that I've secretly been working on a Foil Longboard.

A compact Shortboard with a small wing is magic. It's quick and super agile. But after a while I get the itch for the glide of a Longboard, more precisely, the cruising.

Let the water flow under the Board, take my time, pump less, get loose in the turns...

When I was developing the 9'0 Carter, I immediately saw the potential of setting it up with a giant Foil.
With a classic Foil, we get a Board that starts off early and turns like crazy. But with a bigger Foil we get into the Caviar of Foiling : paddling from far out, getting on top of a swells bump, pop up and fly the surge, like we can only do in SUP.

The biggest advantage is the paddling speed. Paddling back out is no longer torture after a long flight. Getting on a wave BEFORE they unfurl makes life so much easier and doubles the pleasure.

Being a Longboarder, because of geographical and genetic reasons, 100kg, this project arrived naturally. I put the naysayers deafest criticisms behind me and got to work on my project, which is not as simple as it may sound because manoeuvring and pumping a 9' needs some serious fine tuning to erase the inertia.

I'm 100kg, I can get 4 waves from one take off and no longer drop in with the churn. Who would ask for more in a seasons where nothing works other than a race Board or Pirogue.

Everyone gets their choice, the Carter Foil will be available this spring.

Thanks

I like his line of thinking, but why not just go all out for paddle speed on the board shape and shape something closer to a race board?

Nice Colas! Great idea. And it works. Will be great for those comfortable on longboards too.

Great video & an awesome looking foil wave but it's really just the same as longboarding vs shortboarding & horses for courses...
I agree that there is a point when the boards get too small to paddle but with their volume to take the foil you can ride a much shorter board than your usual surfboard size.... I'm 53 weigh 82kg & ride a 5'10 29L shortboard & my prone JL foilboard is 5'4 at 45L... I have no problem paddling out nor do I have any problem with pumping back out.... It's usually a technique or fitness issue...
That's why a lot of guys as they got older went to longboarding or minimals as they were not surfing enough so they lost their paddle fitness or got too fat or lazy...

Select to expand quote

exiled said..
I like his line of thinking, but why not just go all out for paddle speed on the board shape and shape something closer to a race board?

I guess because a race shape has too much volume in the tips, so too much swing weight. And the Carter is a "Cruiser" that paddle already surprisingly fast because of its pulled in nose, a bit like a paddleboard.

I have handled myself a regular Gong Carter 9'8" in EPS and I was bluffed by the lightness, I never had something as light in the hands.

The hull has been modified so that the US boxes for the foil are at the proper angle. Production models available in March.

Select to expand quote

Jimmy Lewis Boards said..
a lot of guys

See, this is the reason: Gong mission is to bring fun to as many guys (and gals) of all ages, abilities, and time on the water first. It is the opposite of a brand dedicated only to the elite pros. So its R&D aims also to offer performance solutions for normal people to have fun with. Gong will still sell and develop ultra short foil boards, but also these "longfoils". As you said, shortboarding and longboarding both are interesting.

It was the same for SUPing: Any shaper is able to tell a customer: If you learn how to ride a 8x22" wide SUP, you will have insane performance. Only a few are able to make 7' x 30" wide boards perform well enough to offer enough performance to regular riders.

Also, there are (a lot of) people who are not "loyal to the foil" and do not foil all the time. So having solutions to enjoy foiling without huge practice time and fitness levels are needed. Looking only at the sport elite is what killed Windurfing.


Another example of Patrice thinking out of the box, what he calls "The alternative": A prone longboard with all the advantages of a SUP in taking waves, but which is designed to be ridden without the help of a paddle in turns:www.gong-galaxy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=9827

Loving this pic...

Nice Video, the long board really is interesting but that little Matata board looks pretty nice and they seem to have packed some volume in also.

Maybe one day they will offer overseas shipping on boards too.

Select to expand quote

Fishdude said..
Maybe one day they will offer overseas shipping on boards too.

They do, just contact them at info@gongsup.com

"In the case where you want to Order your merchandise from another Country or Region, please make contact with our Commercial Team for a personalized estimate for those shipping fees."
https://gongsupshop.com/epages/box1707.sf/en_GB/?ViewObjectPath=%2FShops%2Fbox1707%2FCategories%2FLivraisons

Hi Colas. I did contact them and they were very efficient in responding but said costs of transporting to South Africa were high. Made the board about double the purchase price.
as in another thread, found your comments re holding the paddle with one hand very helpful

Yeah, I asked and was told they don't ship boards to the US.

Select to expand quote

tannaman said..
Hi Colas. I did contact them and they were very efficient in responding but said costs of transporting to South Africa were high. Made the board about double the purchase price.

Yup, it is already 200 euros for Sweden...

Also, I guess it also depends on the destination country laws, and if they already know the customer. For long range shipping, the customer must be ready to be OK with a financial compensation in case of damages, returning the board for an exchange is not a viable solution. They thus will avoid selling to an unknown person in a country where the legal system can provide huge time-consuming troubles, since they already have a hard time keeping up with the European demand... makes sense.

But there is no reason you cannot have a great long surf foil made locally anywhere, just use a light cruiser and set the foil boxes with the proper angle (or use a wedge).

COLAS and Gong this is great stuff.

Ideally boards will be made with graphene and rigid SEAgel and weigh almost nothing but this is a step closer.

The issue of pumpability comes down to physiology. Pumping is more similar to walking/running than it is to riding a bicycle in terms of locomotion and efficiency. We pump at 10 mph. This equates to running at a 6 mile per minute clip. Anyone who has ever tried this on a tread mill knows how difficult this can be. Then try to run at a 6 mile per minute clip and carry 20 lbs or 30 lbs of weight on your shoulders.

Young people shaped like a gazelle could do this indefinitely. The heavier, and more out of shape, the more difficult. I can pump about 20 seconds with a 20 lbs foil board and 8 lbs of foil. For the record I can comfortably get on a treadmill and run at a 9 minute mile pace for 2 or more miles. I weigh 82 kilos / 188 lbs. The most significant change I could make is to lose 9 kilos / 20 lbs.