I've been foiling a ton over the last six months. I'm loving feeling like a grom again.

Big thanks to Piros and everyone for sharing their knowledge. And some local pros who are world class, watching them fully load up the foil on turns is just inspiring. It's a good time to be a foiler.

The thing is, I have gone through a ton of foil gear. I probably have 8 wing sets and a number of boards from various brands. Much of it has either broken or has performed poorly (and "poorly" is an understatement in some cases).

I am a really big dude, riding big foils in small surf. It's a lot of forces at work. So gear that might be just fine for a normal sized dude strengthwise is not fine for me.

Anyway, I don't want to flame out the companies where the gear has either disintegrated or performed poorly (or both). (Piros knows some of what I've gone through.)

Instead, I want to share my stoke on a new toy that -- so far -- is the best I've ridden.

It's the Blue Planet Easy Foiler board. (No affiliation with Blue Planet, etc.)

It's really the BP Easy Foiler with the GoFoil Iwa foil. If you get a BP Easy Foiler and GoFoil that is appropriate for your weight and conditions, you are all set. You can't blame it on the kit. I'm sure there's other decent gear out there. But I haven't found it better than this...

Here's the basic rundown on the Blue Planet Easy Foiler...

It is true to it's name. It IS easy foiling.
* So easy to get into the wave (parallel rails? not sure why)
* So responsive with it's short length and carbon construction.
* So easy to come out of carves without catching with the slight "reverse" Kalama rails.
* Bomber stiff, quality GoFoil branded tuttle box and high-density foam insert. (I've broken everything.)
(I don't recommend it, but coming in to the beach with my leash off, the board came out of my hands and got tossed by a wave right onto dry sand spinning and crashing multiple times. The Easy Foiler and the GoFoil Iwa made it just fine. Whew.)
* Super price for carbon -- especially as it comes with everything (except straps, but it has strap inserts).
* Sounds obvious, but... It's actually designed for SUP surf foiling! It's not production sup model with a foil insert. It's not a crossover / windsurf / kite / surf / downwind / hybrid / convertible thingy. It's a dedicated foil sup. Yeah!

Kudos to Robert and Sam and the crew at Blue Planet.

Having tried a bunch of boards and masts and foils, I can confidently say this is the best one I've ridden by far. By far.

Blue Planet Easy Foiler with a GoFoil... worth a go!

BigSeppo

Thanks for the report!

How big is big (in kg's and feet/inches)? I am 6'3 and 93 kg and have the Naish medium and large foil. I am VERY early in my foil progression.

Are you saying that using a board with parallel rails is best? For now, mine as stuck on the bottom of my old Naish 8'8 X32 - quite a curvy shape. But I assume you are saying that the BP was the best board for getting up to speed, up on the foil, staying up on the foil, and turning. Right now I can't do much of anything...

I'm 6'4" 120kg.

I'm using the 7'6" x 30.5" BP at 144 liters. Super stable (for experienced SUPers). I'm using the new GoFoil Iwa.

Your 8'8" Naish will do the job for sure to get you going. It will get you going, get you down the line, and get you doing roundhouses for sure. At this point for you it's probably more about focusing on correct foot placement and focusing on controlling your flight. Board is less important.

I have an older 8'6" Starboard Hypernut with a tuttle box. It does the job for sure, probably similar to your Naish.

The Easy Foiler is about similar in stability and wave catching. But once in the wave, bang, it's a different story! Night and day! It is the next step in the progression, once you get the 8'8" DOWN. You could switch to it now of course, but it's not necessary.

The cool thing about the 7'6" is losing a foot off your board... The swing weight and turning radius is fantastic. You can go anywhere you want. I didn't realize it, but these things were holding me back on my 8'6" Hypernut. With the 8'8" you are somewhat stuck with big roundhouse-type turns. Doing tighter turns is a next step up in skill.

Even getting into a wave is surprising on the Easy Foiler though... With the Blue Planet being relatively light and stiff you can pump / lift the foil up before the board itself is fully into the wave. So you are probably in just as early on the Blue Planet as the bigger boards, with a little technique.

I don't know about the parallel rails... I don't know why it catches waves well for being short. Maybe Robert from Blue Planet will chime in about the board, and the unique subtle Kalama rails.

There's something good here... I had other short boards with similar volume and length that pushed water so badly catching a wave that you might has well have been on your shortboard surfboard.

As an example of the ease of turning with the shorter board, if I was taking off frontside on the 8'6" Starboard, I would never "fade" the other direction on the take off a bit late before hooking it back around. But on the Easy Foiler I was doing it immediately without thinking about it.

Not complaining about the Starboard Hypernut. It was / is a good all around foil board. It is just really nice to knock off 12 inches in length on any foil board. With the Easy Foiler, I got a massive gain in performance, with no loss in stability / wave catching ability.

Hope that helps...

The 6'11" Easy Foiler is 128 liters.

I'm 120kg on the 7'6" and it's stable.

Select to expand quote

cantSUPenough said..
Thanks for the report!

How big is big (in kg's and feet/inches)? I am 6'3 and 93 kg and have the Naish medium and large foil. I am VERY early in my foil progression.

Are you saying that using a board with parallel rails is best? For now, mine as stuck on the bottom of my old Naish 8'8 X32 - quite a curvy shape. But I assume you are saying that the BP was the best board for getting up to speed, up on the foil, staying up on the foil, and turning. Right now I can't do much of anything...

Yeah I've had a lot of chats with Steve (Big Seppo) and he has certainly ridden some foil gear. He has tons of experience on big boy foiling , so his advice comes from good experience

Re your 8-8 x 32 good for initial learning but the board will drag on paddling for a wave and really stick on touchdowns . All that extra board adds to swing weight plus it catches the wind . You will know what I mean on your first wave on a smaller board. Robert at Blue Planet has been at the foiling game from nearly the beginning and has put in heaps of R&D .As I said in previous post the Sup Foil boards are now progressing faster than the foils and they make a huge difference. I'm onto my 4th board now in just 12 months. They are now shorter , flatter with bevelled , rails , nose & tails. You just need to keep the volume in and the foil acts like a keel so you don't need or want extra wide boards.

This is a great video of Sam P'ae on one of Blue Planets latest boards, you can see how much the design has changed. Sam's a pretty big guy.

thanks seppo

i'm the same size kg's and feet as you, and was almost wondering if there was equipment for someone our size, i almost bit the bullet on a naish 10'4 and foil combo the other day but missed out by a day, I'll still look for something to get my feet into the world of foiling, but ultimately this looks like the set up for us bigger guys, cant believe how much volume is in the easy foiler even the smaller boards

Jarryd

I almost bit the bullet on a naish 10'4 and foil combo the other day

Don't need that at all , you need volume not length to get you going. The foil kicks in after first few strokes , the shorter boards fit in the pocket better and give the tail boost

Select to expand quote

Piros said..
you need volume not length to get you going.

Yes, and the length may also damped the rocking motion due to paddling, that seems to help the foil take off.

If you need a 10' length, it means you have to practice more your paddling technique to master the row effect before attempting foiling, I guess.

Select to expand quote

Piros said..
I almost bit the bullet on a naish 10'4 and foil combo the other day

Don't need that at all , you need volume not length to get you going. The foil kicks in after first few strokes , the shorter boards fit in the pocket better and give the tail boost

it was more that it was a very cheap package deal to get my foot in the door, i was willing to buy another board in the future once i had some base ability

Jarryd

Can you describe the "reverse" Kalama rails a bit more?

Reverse Kalama rails...

Think of a surfboard rail. Then flip it over. No kidding.

Surfboard rail is "hard" on the bottom, and soft on top. Kalama does the opposite on foil boards.

Here's a 1-minute clip where you can see the rails in action.


The logic, I assume, is the foil board doesn't need a hard rail. The rail is not edging in the water like in surfing. You don't want it to grab.

The super soft rail on Kalama's board allows you to drive hard off a round house cutback. And importantly, if the board kisses the water, the rail does alter the path of the turn.

The Blue Planet board has a way-more-subdued version of this...

It's sort of a 50 / 50 rail, that has a way more pointy "peak" down the center than any 50 / 50 surf rail ever would. But it's all subtle.

I'm sure the goal is the same effect as the Kalama rail, which I think is for the rail to not grab the water and alter your path if it touches down on a turn.

I like the subtle Blue Planet rail and tail. It's not too crazy, therefore the board still acts like a SUP paddling around and setting up catching a wave, which is the most important part for most people getting into SUP foiling.

I haven't tried a board with the full blown Kalama rails. But I don't have the skills yet for those fully loaded carves like the top guys are doing where those extreme rails would really shine.

Thanks! How's the tail rocker on those Blue Planet boards? My research has shown foil-specific SUPs need very little even no tail rocker.

They more like have a tail kick under the board . My first board was dead flat in the tail . Very bad at picking up bumps

I guess it depends what sort of conditions you are riding but personally for myself and the small,short period and weak waves I have been riding and for down wind type waves I have been finding having some tail rocker helps pop the board up and having super hard rails helps the board release earlier than the rounded or chined rails but I guess if you have a bit more punch to the wave you can trade some of this off.
Its appearing fast that foiling will be no different to surfing and that most will have a quiver of wings and a quiver of boards!

Thanks so much for the detailed review BigSeppo. We are planning to post a video shortly where I will go over the design and features of our Easy Foiler boards in detail and will post it soon. These boards were designed as dedicated foil boards from the ground up and a lot of thought and time went into designing and testing the boards, so I'm super stoked to get this kind of feedback, it makes it all worthwhile! We have the boards available on our website now but we are currently sold out of the 7'6 model, so it does not show up on our website but we are getting another shipment so all models will be available again by January 15th. Our Australian distributor will have some Easy Foiler available soon as well.
Here are the boards on our website and the specs of the four different sizes:
www.blueplanetsurf.com/search/foil/

rob for down winding which do you find the best for getting going? do you notice much difference in taking of as the board get down into the 6's? do you find the length or width more important for getting going on a dw run?

Select to expand quote

charlieuk said..
rob for down winding which do you find the best for getting going? do you notice much difference in taking of as the board get down into the 6's? do you find the length or width more important for getting going on a dw run?

Hi Charlie, I have not tried downwind foiling on a shorter board yet. Only tried it on a 12'6 and don't feel ready to try a shorter board yet unless conditions are really good, I feel like the longer boards helps me get up to foiling speed but I don't really know. It's surprisingly easy for me to catch waves and pop up on the foil with the 6'6 Easy Foiler, it's probably about as easy to catch a wave as on a 10' SUP without a foil, so maybe I just need to practice and figure out how to get foiling on a shorter board in downwinders because it would make riding the foil, pumping and connecting bumps so much easier.

Select to expand quote

blueplanetsurf said..

charlieuk said..
rob for down winding which do you find the best for getting going? do you notice much difference in taking of as the board get down into the 6's? do you find the length or width more important for getting going on a dw run?

Hi Charlie, I have not tried downwind foiling on a shorter board yet. Only tried it on a 12'6 and don't feel ready to try a shorter board yet unless conditions are really good, I feel like the longer boards helps me get up to foiling speed but I don't really know. It's surprisingly easy for me to catch waves and pop up on the foil with the 6'6 Easy Foiler, it's probably about as easy to catch a wave as on a 10' SUP without a foil, so maybe I just need to practice and figure out how to get foiling on a shorter board in downwinders because it would make riding the foil, pumping and connecting bumps so much easier.

cheers for the reply I suppose I should really dig out my original 11'er put a plate mount on it and give it a try as well. I have a 6'10 under way but its so hard to know which way to go with so many new options yet to try and after going full circle trying the chined rails and going for paddle speed I'm now thinking maybe short and wide is more beneficial like the windsurf boards than trying to go narrow and loosing stability at the same time. I don't think my brain has worked so much in the last year and a half trying to figure all this stuff out as it has done in a long time.

Select to expand quote

blueplanetsurf said..
Thanks so much for the detailed review BigSeppo. We are planning to post a video shortly where I will go over the design and features of our Easy Foiler boards in detail and will post it soon. These boards were designed as dedicated foil boards from the ground up and a lot of thought and time went into designing and testing the boards, so I'm super stoked to get this kind of feedback, it makes it all worthwhile! We have the boards available on our website now but we are currently sold out of the 7'6 model, so it does not show up on our website but we are getting another shipment so all models will be available again by January 15th. Our Australian distributor will have some Easy Foiler available soon as well.
Here are the boards on our website and the specs of the four different sizes:
www.blueplanetsurf.com/search/foil/

G'day Blue Planet, love he look of the new foiling boards. Do they only come with a Tuttle box or do you have models for Pedestal mounts too?
Cheers.

The video of the Easy Foiler definitely demonstrates its flying abilities. I am interested in how it paddles, my experience with short and wide boards is that they yaw after a few stokes, so padding out can be long winded and when going for a wave you can end up chipping in side ways if your not right on the peak. All the video I have seen of the Easy Foiler is in what I would call excellent conditions, long period, clean swell and no wind. My reality is the opposite: short period, windy and choppy. Would a board with a longer waterline (in the 7 to 8 foot range) be better suited for my conditions?

Da hammer, with the foil attached to my board they track straight and seem to paddle easier too (my current board is 8' but does yaw with its normal fins and no foil). When you think about it, you can't get a bigger fin if you tried.

Great question. Is it the board or the size of the wings on a downwind/choppy small wave situation? I think it depends if your surfing board is on the limit of volume for your weight. I am not sure if length matters but definitely a little more stability on a downwind foil board has got to help in rougher conditions. Once all the bigger wings hit Australian shores in the next few weeks I think your question will be able to be answered.

Select to expand quote

DaHammerBDA said..
I am interested in how it paddles, my experience with short and wide boards is that they yaw after a few stokes

Disclaimer: I never paddled the Easy Foiler, but I am used to SUP fairly short SUPs, with or without a square outline.

[1] An outline like the easy foiler will have minimal row for its length. The parallel rails make wonders for this.

[2] You can always add small keel fins to the tail of the board. They have no drawbacks for foiling, and helps a lot to master the row effect if you have issues with it. I have them on my 6'10" SUP foiling board, as I see no drawbacks, but a noticeable advantage in being able to apply more paddling power on takeoff.

Also, the easy foiler seems to have the mast quite far back (relative to the paddling position), so it should act as a huge fin and counter the row effectively.

This said, there is no miracle. A sub-7' will paddle slowly, and the wide square nose will plough in any chop, stopping you. So getting back out to the (faraway) take off zone will take more time than a longer board. But a shorter board is hugely more fun once airborne and easier to control.

Colas and Piros (and Rob) have it right.

This Easy Foiler paddles relatively straight, for reasons Colas explained.

Somehow this board doesn't really push water getting into a wave nearly as badly as other foil boards. Or let me rephrase that... getting into a wave is not difficult. As Robert said, he can get into a wave about as early as a regular 10' SUP, once you have the foil takeoff technique down (a little pumping).

The paddle back out is certainly slower. But that's a tradeoff I'm willing to make!

Thanks for the feedback. We just posted this video that answers the questions regarding plate mount (starting with our mid January shipment, the boards come with both deep Tuttle and plate mount boxes), tracking and wave catching ability of these boards.

Select to expand quote

blueplanetsurf said..
Thanks for the feedback. We just posted this video that answers the questions regarding plate mount (starting with our mid January shipment, the boards come with both deep Tuttle and plate mount boxes), tracking and wave catching ability of these boards.

Cracker video guys, answers all the questions posted so far. Thanks heaps. A board to aspire to after I get the foiling basics down pat!

Thanks for the tips BigSeppo (and friends). As you suggested, I will start with the X32 and then decide what to do.

Some time ago I bought a Raptor (7'10, 31" wide, 116 L) and figure it could be OK for foiling. I have a plate I can stick on it, however I have been warned that it might destroy the board. (Anyone had any experience adding a plate to a Raptor, and if good, where did you put it?)

As a big guy, I would strongly recommend getting a dedicated foil board once you are ready to move on from the X32.

Think about it... We are around 100kg, flying through the air, balanced on the head of a pin. That pin head is where the mast meets the board.

The forces are enormous on that point. It has all your weight in the air. And it has all the forces of the foil.

We need that point to be as strong as possible.

I have ruined a number of boards learning this lesson.

Sometimes it was the box that wasn't fully reinforced from deck to bottom from the manufacturer.

Separately, with a foil plate, you are at the mercy of what is under the skin of the board... The plate itself can be strong. But my experience as a big guy is a fast delam between the foam and board skin. Board is ruined. Usually on Day One.

The board just flies wobbly with the plate. Then you get to the beach, and realize the bottom of your board is ruined.

That even happened to me with a plate on an extremely expensive, bomber construction Quatro custom built full carbon sandwich SUP that cost me a fortune. It broke down the the PVC (or whatever you call the hard foam material in the sandwich). That's when I realized that the plate isn't going to work at my size. That is one of a number of boards I ruined.

The Blue Planet Easy Foiler flies so solid. I know the box is reinforced "right" because I've experienced (and killed) so many boards and products that were no good. And soon ruined.

The R&D on the Blue Planet was properly done on placement of the box and reinforcement of the box. That rigid connection actually makes the board highly responsive.

Again, I have no relationship with Blue Planet, I paid retail, etc.

You can buy any brand. I would just recommend as a big guy getting a dedicated foil board if possible.

Hopefully the brand did the proper R&D, the box is solid, and is placed in the optimal spot. The forces we put on a board are great.

This probably won't be an issue on foil boards in a year or two. Nobody wants to deal with warranty issues, bad press, and such.

For now, I like this board.. A lot.

In your case, have fun on that X32! Don't stress about it too much! Enjoy being a grom again! It's the best part of the learning curve.

When it's right to move on, make sure the box is bomber. Then you don't have to go through what I did. You don't want to, I promise!

Select to expand quote

BigSeppo said..
As a big guy, I would strongly recommend getting a dedicated foil board once you are ready to move on from the X32.

Think about it... We are around 100kg, flying through the air, balanced on the head of a pin. That pin head is where the mast meets the board.

The forces are enormous on that point. It has all your weight in the air. And it has all the forces of the foil.

We need that point to be as strong as possible.

I have ruined a number of boards learning this lesson.

Sometimes it was the box that wasn't fully reinforced from deck to bottom from the manufacturer.

Separately, with a foil plate, you are at the mercy of what is under the skin of the board... The plate itself can be strong. But my experience as a big guy is a fast delam between the foam and board skin. Board is ruined. Usually on Day One.

The board just flies wobbly with the plate. Then you get to the beach, and realize the bottom of your board is ruined.

That even happened to me with a plate on an extremely expensive, bomber construction Quatro custom built full carbon sandwich SUP that cost me a fortune. It broke down the the PVC (or whatever you call the hard foam material in the sandwich). That's when I realized that the plate isn't going to work at my size. That is one of a number of boards I ruined.

The Blue Planet Easy Foiler flies so solid. I know the box is reinforced "right" because I've experienced (and killed) so many boards and products that were no good. And soon ruined.

The R&D on the Blue Planet was properly done on placement of the box and reinforcement of the box. That rigid connection actually makes the board highly responsive.

Again, I have no relationship with Blue Planet, I paid retail, etc.

You can buy any brand. I would just recommend as a big guy getting a dedicated foil board if possible.

Hopefully the brand did the proper R&D, the box is solid, and is placed in the optimal spot. The forces we put on a board are great.

This probably won't be an issue on foil boards in a year or two. Nobody wants to deal with warranty issues, bad press, and such.

For now, I like this board.. A lot.

In your case, have fun on that X32! Don't stress about it too much! Enjoy being a grom again! It's the best part of the learning curve.

When it's right to move on, make sure the box is bomber. Then you don't have to go through what I did. You don't want to, I promise!

Thanks for your comments!! I will try my X32 (it already has the box installed) and take it from there.

Just to clarify, I have had total failures on twin mast boxes installed by foil board manufacturers.

Piros and Robert from Blue Planet have seen pictures of one of these failures.

The manufacturer did have the two "fin boxes" set into a high density foam box. But the high density foam did not go from bottom to deck. So the separation happened as the high density foam rubbed up against the "beer cooler" foam, and delammed on day one. Standing on the beach, you could push on the foil and see the bottom of the board deforming each way you pushed it. The high density box was unattached from the EPS foam. (Don't want to flame out the manufacturer, they made good on things.)

I bring this up because there's some discussion of this over on StandupZone.com, saying the twin mast boxes might be superior to the tuttle.

www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,32989.0.html

I don't have a dog in the fight. Just wanted to point out that I have killed twin-mast-box boards, actually way easier than tuttles.

Piros has said to me that, regardless of box style, the high density foam should go all the way through, and that both the deck and the bottom should be reinforced.

The boards I've had that follow this thinking have held up. The others have not. It just so happens that my boards with tuttle boxes have this type of reinforcement. So tuttle has been better for me.

But I think it's about Piros's idea, not necessarily about the tuttle.

Select to expand quote

BigSeppo said..
Just to clarify, I have had total failures on twin mast boxes installed by foil board manufacturers.

Piros and Robert from Blue Planet have seen pictures of one of these failures.

The manufacturer did have the two "fin boxes" set into a high density foam box. But the high density foam did not go from bottom to deck. So the separation happened as the high density foam rubbed up against the "beer cooler" foam, and delammed on day one. Standing on the beach, you could push on the foil and see the bottom of the board deforming each way you pushed it. The high density box was unattached from the EPS foam. (Don't want to flame out the manufacturer, they made good on things.)

I bring this up because there's some discussion of this over on StandupZone.com, saying the twin mast boxes might be superior to the tuttle.

www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,32989.0.html

I don't have a dog in the fight. Just wanted to point out that I have killed twin-mast-box boards, actually way easier than tuttles.

Piros has said to me that, regardless of box style, the high density foam should go all the way through, and that both the deck and the bottom should be reinforced.

The boards I've had that follow this thinking have held up. The others have not. It just so happens that my boards with tuttle boxes have this type of reinforcement. So tuttle has been better for me.

But I think it's about Piros's idea, not necessarily about the tuttle.

Hear, hear Big Seppo. I added a twin box to one of my boards and told my installer to over engineer it all the way between decks as I didn't want a failure. Touch wood it hasn't happened yet. I'm still learning foiling and also been picking Piros' brain too (thanks for the help PIros!). I'll add a couple of photos of my build to the "show us foiling setup", hopefylully might help someone considering a conversion.

When I get better at foiling I'd love to get a blue planet board as they do look the goods and very impressed with them.