Hey,
I'm thinking of getting a Foil SUP.. Or foil for my SUP..
It's very hard to know where to start.. Anyone gone down a similar road?
I have a 9'2 NSP Cocomat I was thinking of fitting a box to.. not sure if it would be too heavy for a foil?

Cheers,

Nathan

Hey mate

Ive retro fitted twin US boxes to my ECS Slab 7'11 x 28 and use the Takuma Concept foil. Went this way so I can still use the board normally in the surf if I wanted plus keep costs down of buying a pure foil board from yhe get go. Most guys are foiling sub 9 boards but like anything you still need to be able to stand on it while you wait I guess

You're other option is buying one of those stick on foil mounts.

Having started with a 8'9", you can definitively learn to foil on a 9' board. But the lightest, the better.
Its reaction time will be slower than with a shorter board, but that may be a good thing in the beginning.
Once you foil on smaller boards, it is hard to come back to longer/heavier boards, of course.

A longer board will have more paddling speed and will be stabler, so it will be easier to focus on the foil part and not be bothered with balance, row effect, and paddling technique.

My advice is to set up the foil so that you can have the exact same feet position when paddling for the wave and foiling.
The 2 rails system seems nice for this, to be able to adjust the foil position.
I would avoid the stick on mount if you still want to SUP the board for time to time.
And it is critical that the foil wing angle of attack is parallel to the water surface, or slightly up, when paddling.

Having to move your feet around on a big board is tricky since you have less cues on where to put your feet, as the space available is so large. Something to feel where your feet are is mandatory: bits of extra pad for instance. Straps are nice, but not if you want to also SUP it, as plastic strap inserts wont survive frequent screwing/unscrewing of the straps.

Cheers Colas, good advice...
From what I can see you want your back foot pretty much over the shaft of the foil hey?

And as for Foils? The GoFoil seems to be aimed more at SUP/Surf rather than Kite...
I'm leaning towards one.. ??

I'm currently doing the same thing mate. I was told about a fitting kit (thanks Piros!!) sold by rideengine.com.au (go to foil parts), which I bought and dropped off with my 8' x30" board today to my repairer. The repairer was pretty stoked with the kit and said it was well made. I also bought the slingshot h4 foil that I plan to use on said board. Can't wait to get it all together behind a boat and then in the swells.

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nathan_benderhotmailcom said..
Cheers Colas, good advice...
From what I can see you want your back foot pretty much over the shaft of the foil hey?

And as for Foils? The GoFoil seems to be aimed more at SUP/Surf rather than Kite...
I'm leaning towards one.. ??

You should focus on your front foot position, the rear foot position is not as critical. The main lift of the foil is done by the front wing, on a point I'd say around 2"-4" from the leading edge (depending on the foil) and you want your feet spaced evenly around this point to balance properly on it. In practice, yes, the back foot will be on the the mast or just behind.

One of the difficulties of foiling is that it is definitely front foot driven, a big change of habit if you are a back foot SUPer or surfer.

Yes, the Go Foil is definitively totally designed for SUP/surf foiling, and there are others. Note that breaking/bending a foil is not uncommon, so choosing a brand where you have a good warranty service is important (cheap no-name chinese ones may be problematic in this regard)

For the fittings, do not hesitate to reinforce a lot the hull skin with carbon. The torque applied by the force of a wave on a big wing at the end of a 24" lever is insane.


I just stumbled upon some video clips that show the paddling on a SUP for takeoff. Have a look at the last 11 videos of "Jason Hall" videos on youtube: you can see there how people do not move their feet between paddling for the wave and foiling. So you need to place the foil according to your paddling position.