OK, Thought this may be a good time to get tech

Below is a high detail drawing of the balance points and the combined lifting moment of the foil. Look carefully then read my comments below.
1. I do not think the foil position has really anything to do with the the handle on the board, but it is possibly part of the equation. For perfectly balanced flight you ideally want all the forces aligning. But to get this you would need control over every force and it will never happen. So we try and work out where we can get the best alignment.
2. There is essentially a balance point of the board on it's own and a balance point of your self standing relaxed and still. This combined with your preferred stance to allow you to paddle should result in an un-realistic center of balance (because we can not 100% control it). Ideally if we could draw a force diagram and work out the cord and maximum lifting direction of the foil, we would try to match these two opposing up and attempt to create perfect balance. If that is what we are looking for?????
3. Having a perfectly balanced board feels amazingly light and is great for downwinding and ultra small waves. However this does result is a more twitchy ride and more difficult to control powerful turns and fluid changes of direction. Moving the "foil center" behind the "unrealist Center" gives us swing weight. This swing weight is used to help guide and give a force for us to work against. This will help in controlling turns especially as we get faster and ride bigger swells.
4. Most importantly. Everyone's perfect setup can and may be a little different as everyone's stance may be different. A heavier person may paddle in further forward to get better use of the volume of the board, hence changing the equation and bringing the foil forward to achieve their desired affect. I ride my foil about 4-5" further forward then Robby.
5. When experimenting with your setup, don;t just go to the polar opposites. Every inch makes a huge difference. I will ride my foil on the Hover 120 (7'6" @ 120 ltrs) between 19" - 20.5" from the tail of the board. On my prone boards I use markers to show where I like my foil for different conditions as seen below. This is the difference between riding not even breaking swells on the XL, to riding just breaking swells on the XL to where I start with the Large. Every movement back bring more swing weight into the equation and delivers more control allowing me to ride faster and turn harder. (these are marks to the center arrow on my Thrust Plate).

6. I've tried further forward and don't like the loss of control, as well I've tried further back and don't the feeling of having to work to keep my foil height stable. Make notes, try lots of things, don't just muscle around a set configuration and defend it like gospel. Get rid of the straps and get control for your setup.
Ride safe,
JB






