OK, I'm honestly not a completely terrible foiler. I've been riding Taaroa foils - 97cm mast, 95 fuse, foils from 1050cm HA to 2000cm LA very comfortably for some years, and before those a Slingshot i84. I'm happy on other brands too, like Severne. Heavyweight at 103kg and almost 70 years old, but fairly athletic. Jibes are a work in progress but I'm steady, can carry a lot of sail, and I'm actually fairly fast, especially upwind.

I CANNOT get my IQ foil setup to behave on my Alien 155. It's basically very slow to rise and then lift/slam/lift/slam. With a +1 shim and the mastfoot all the way forward I can get moderately steady flight but only if I cling to the rig like a scared koala with my back foot almost up by my front foot to keep the nose down. Railing the board to windward helps but not much. Is this just a compatibility issue? The Alien's mast track only extends forward to about 43" from the front bolt, which is about where the IQ board's track starts. I could move the footstraps forward a little, but not much, and they're perfectly balanced where they are for the Taaroa. On the Taaroa I generally ride right around 40" bolt to mastfoot.

At this point lots of you are riding much smaller foils than the IQ900, and flying much earlier and much steadier than I can. On the 95+ fuse the setup isn't awful - quiet and plenty fast, although no faster than the Taaroa in spite of the stiffer SBmast, but the 115+ is a nightmare. Thoughts?

Happy to give it a ride if/when our schedules line up. May be able to suss it out.

The foot strap and mast track may be influencing it. I use the iq foil on my starboard 150 (85wide) which has the footstraps holes about the same as the iq board, but the mast track a lot further back. I would advise moving footstraps all the way forward. That is where I ride them.

probably more importantly, and if you don't want to move your footstraps, use less rear shim angle. I assume you have the 255 (-2) rear wing, but double check. If it doesn't say -2 on it, then you have the original rear wing, in which case you have waaaaaay too much shim angle.

for reference, with the -2 rear wing all the iq riders around here use only the +.5 shim, or in very light winds/heavy riders, the +1. It doesn't sound like much but .5 makes a big difference. I always use the +.5. So I would try that. If you are still getting too much lift try the 0. There is quite a bit of variance in the plastic shims, so don't worry if you are using a different shim then everyone else, it might be that yours (or theirs) is actually a bit more or less than it says.

if you don't have the -2 rear wing, then you need to use different shims to get the same result. The -2 wing is 2 degrees flatter (ie less down angle) relative to the original. So to get the same angle as the -2 with +.5 shim, use the original (0degree relative) wing with the -1.5 shim.

fyi - I also have the mast foot between 41-43" from front foil bolt.

hope that helps

I'm a lightweight and run about 107-108 cm from the front screw. As mentioned above, shims are the path to enlightenment with the kit. I even have to switch shims when going from 800/900 to 1000 as (for me) it needs a half degree more angle to fly with the same balance characteristics. For a more reaching oriented day, I might go +0.5 (some older kits didn't have this shim) and +1.0 for VMG for the 900. If I run further back than 107 (say 104-105) I can take out a half degree of angle.

I'm not doing a lot of windfoiling myself, so take my comment with a grain of salt. Though I worked for nearly 10 years in a windsurf shop and been windsurfing forever.
In my opinion the foil and board don't match. The IQ foil (especially with the long fuselage) is designed for racing, whereas the Alien is a freeride board. The IQ foil needs a big board and big sail to perform well. Board, sail and foil all need to be in balance. Imagine a standard 100l windsurf board with a 50cm formula fin - that would be a nightmare to sail! Regardless what size sail you would use on this set up. So yes, as you mentioned, the shorter fuselage (95+) gives the foil less power and makes it a bit better suited.

I agree that it might not be a good match. However, I have been using the iQfoil foil with the 115 plus and the 1000 front wing for four years with my free race foilboard that is 76 cm wide 130ish liters). In light wind, when using my 8.5, I feel the combo is not ideal but as soon as the wind increases it works fine. When I use the 6.0 sail, the whole kit feels much better. I have the 95plus fuse but I don't like it because it's too pitchy compared to the 115. I I am not saying it's ideal but I am a weekend warrior. The mast is around 42-44 inches away from the front bolt. I just finished fixing a beat up SF freeride foilboard (85cm) and I'll try to use it tomorrow. I'll chime in once I get some sessions in.

For me anythig uder 7m2 sails is not ideal for the Iq900 wing or at least not comfortable as there is just not enough leverage to push down on the board. Since i have started using the iq foil setupp i have generally went from a back foted presure stance to a more front foted balance and relying heavily on geting down presure in the harnes with the hips. It helps a lot as the foil has a lot of lift.

Also went from a 85 to a 91 (patrick foil comp) wide board and it is also much more comfortable now.

Shim that i use mostly is +0.5 on the 115+ fuselage, with 2-2.5 deg of rake depending on the conditions. +1 shim for light conditions and 0 for high wind but mostly i just try to stick to +0.5 as it is where the foil is the most stable.

For masttrack position it depends on the sail. 7m2 sail is in the center of the masttrack or slightly back, while the 9m2 is further 1-2cm back from center, again depending on conditions.

Select to expand quote

WaterNomads said..
I'm not doing a lot of windfoiling myself, so take my comment with a grain of salt. Though I worked for nearly 10 years in a windsurf shop and been windsurfing forever.
In my opinion the foil and board don't match. The IQ foil (especially with the long fuselage) is designed for racing, whereas the Alien is a freeride board. The IQ foil needs a big board and big sail to perform well. Board, sail and foil all need to be in balance. Imagine a standard 100l windsurf board with a 50cm formula fin - that would be a nightmare to sail! Regardless what size sail you would use on this set up. So yes, as you mentioned, the shorter fuselage (95+) gives the foil less power and makes it a bit better suited.

Define perform well. Because of laziness and life getting in the way, I've spent much of the last six weeks with a 7.0 and 5.2 in the van along with a JP 135 and IQ800/900 plus the 1000 with the 115+ fuse. It works fine although the fuse is a bit too stable in close wind chop as it makes it harder to react quickly to pitch changes. I've a friend (working on jibes level) who sails his IQ board/foil with an FG 8 down to FG 5.0. I've considered a shorter fuse for windier days but it doesn't bother me enough to spend the money.

My normal daily drivers were a quiver from 3.4 to HGO 8, Phantom Iris/Spark with AHD 83/91 boards and an AFS 95/F800 (RIP but that's another story) and smaller 75cm board for freeride foiling . Trimming the stab appropriately goes a long way in matching the amount of front foot pressure on the IQ. My AFS had a lot of front foot pressure which made it great fun with small sails.

This weekend it was howling and I underestimated the wind when I loaded gear. My smallest sail was the 6.0 foil glide and I just brought the iqfoil and 900/115. I was overpowered on it and the setup was just fine with the track at the center? Some of the easiest jibes I've made with oodles of power cruising dead downwind where I could be very lazy and flip. I didn't seem to be going skyward from a lack of mast base pressure or anything, but I was hanging off the boom a lot in the 20+ knot gusts. What made it uncomfortable was the chop/swells (albeit sort of muted due to the location), where I would've preferred a narrower board.

However, that setup did NOT feel right with a no cam free race sail (fin), the goya mark, or other softer sails like that. Not a fan of how the cheetahs feel on it either, but it's doable.

Okay, first session with my beat up SB freeride 144 (85 cm wide). SB foil (115+ fuse, 1000 wing, 255(-2) stab, zero degree shim, iQfoil mast , and a Sailworks Flyer FR 6.0. I set the front foot straps the furthest forward they go and there were still 2 inches further back than in my 76cm Roberts foilboard so I set the mast base 2 inches further forward compared to what I use in the Roberts to compensate. I use seat harness and I weigh 80 (with thick and wet wetsuit, booties, gloves, etc close to 90)
The wind was around 20 knots and gusty. The combo worked great. Better upwind angles and I could feel I was able to push the foil through my back leg much harder than with my 76cm board. I was able to gybe no problem and the whole kit felt quite stable. I am very pleased with the outcome. I now need to see if I can get going in less wind when using the 8.0. I also want to see how it works with the 4.5. Awalkspoiled, I believe your board is also a 85 cm wide freeride foilboard. I remember when I started using my SB foil, it was very hard to control the power when using the +1 shim so I will always use the 0 or -.5. Then SB released the +.5 shim and I was able to use it. Now I use the +1 shim in light wind with no issues, even when gusty. So you might want to try the 0degree shim to get comfortable. At your weight you should be able to put enough weight on your front foot to make it work. Remember that a few years ago, PWA sailors were foiling with a 85 cm board and I believe SB had the 115 black fuse (don't quote me on the fuse), and they were using big sails like now.


If this is a new combination, check the mast rake in case the mast is not sitting properly.

5.2 session on JP 135 and + fuse with 800 wing. Very, very pleasant day. aeroegnr, I agree about no cam fin sails in the bigger sizes. My beloved Cheetah, even, was a disappointment after riding an older 2cam freerace sail.

Back to the original issue, a few years back, the guy (likely the source of awalkspoiled's Taaora) who made my first decent foil made a ++ fuse for it and sent it to me. Didn't say anything about adjusting the stab. The first ride on it, on a breezy day no less, was like an out of control elevator. I had to stand up by the mast to keep the board from flying out of the water.

Shimmed the stab and happiness ensued. Not sure but, iirc, I took almost 2 degrees out of the stab and found happiness.