I'm a big boy (over 2mtrs and close to 260lb). Lucky for the wife it is Not just fat . I've been wavesailing for the last 20 years and want to start foiling. I've allready got the foil but now I need a board. Here comes the question: does size matter? Of just floating Will do? Based on nothing I think if you have a board that floats (135ltrs)must be good enough because the wing provides the lift. Or, if I get a bigger board (155ltr), does the give more lift? I think the bigger the board, the more weight and the more the bottum is sticker to the water so the more wind, wing of sail you Need to start flying.

Hi Antoine, there are currently 2 schools of windfoiling. The freeride setup with small sails, small boards and foils with huge front wings. Your other option is the race setup - big cammed sails, big formula boards and race foils that have larger wingspans but less surface area of the wing. You pair your foil (which one is it again ? ) to your board according to the type - freeride or race. I don't think the difference in litres has that much of an effect on lift-off since the full race setups with big boards are the first to get off, at the cost of being more physical.

When most people I know start foiling they are a bit disappointed that take off is difficult without a decent gust (and if there is plenty of wind then they cant cope once up). The more so the heavier they are. As your technique improves this problem goes away (from both ends). Bigger, wider boards help (at least help me). The other issue, which depends on where you sail, but many people find themselves wanting to sail in marginal foiling conditions (8-12kts). Many places, when its that light there will be some prolonged lulls to 5-8kts. Wobbling around, and uphauling a small board for your weight in those conditions might be possible, buts its a huge pain, whereas pootling on a big board is quite chilled. I would recommend going big, learn quickly, then maybe go (much smaller).
also depends on what foil you have as if its racy then wide and big is what they all use.

Welcome Antoine!
That's a good question. I am 100kg and I built a board for myself after struggling to learn with a 120l foil board. www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Foiling/Big-guy-s-one-board-windfoil-quiver
I went short, wide and high volume. It made everything that happens in displacement mode MUCH easier. In the air the width allowed me to carry a lot of sail although that is not my goal. The big flat wide bottom paired with a small sail can be sticky in marginal condition and often requires good foil pumping technique to get flying. Once the breeze is always in the teens there are few noticeable cons to the board while flying. The biggest con is carrying the wide boards to the water.
So just with all things in life it is a trade off.
Since you have been wave sailing for 20 years your windsurfing skill will be better than mine so that will help. Given that you're a wave sailor you may not like the race oriented gear.
All that said, some float will help because everyone has a steep learning curve at first. Boards like the Starboard X 145 would be a great fit. They are super compact for good balance in flight. They have a full outline and super thick rails so they are easy to up haul in spite of the length. They have a carrying handle in the bottom and that helps immensely getting the kit in the water. So in other words, go bigger than you wave sail with but not race board dims. If you stick to popular products you can sell it later on in your learning curve.

Go big...160_200 liters.
Light wind means lulls of -5, you need to be able to slog out to the steady wind AND slog back to shore.
When slogging is easy, you will foil many more days instead of waiting for filled in solid days. Waiting means time on shore.

What foil and wing do you have?, hard to answer your question without knowing that. Pairing a foil with a board can be easy if board is made by the same manufacturer as the foil, but once you start mixing different foil brands with different board brands you have to be careful.

Although you clearly have the skills to make small gear work. I would suggest that your learning will go easier with a bigger, wider, hard railed board, which is the same board you will want to use if you are planning to push the foiling low end. eg www.slingshotsports.com/2019-Levitator

If you are intrigued by wingdinging then this sort of thing is good
www.slingshotsports.com/Shred-Sled-V1
but you might find the initial windfoiling progression harder and the low end not quite as good as the levitator. Although the shredsled would be more surfy in swell and better in the higher wind range (at least that is what I found)

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Antoine1972 said..
I'm a big boy (over 2mtrs and close to 260lb). Lucky for the wife it is Not just fat . I've been wavesailing for the last 20 years and want to start foiling. I've allready got the foil but now I need a board. Here comes the question: does size matter? Of just floating Will do? Based on nothing I think if you have a board that floats (135ltrs)must be good enough because the wing provides the lift. Or, if I get a bigger board (155ltr), does the give more lift? I think the bigger the board, the more weight and the more the bottum is sticker to the water so the more wind, wing of sail you Need to start flying.

As a few people here already stated ... go big. Volume is your friend and get a foil board. ~210-220 cm long ~85-90 cm wide (and a wide tail). For you - being a big guy - yet fit :-) this is important.
I'm not quite as big 188cm/200 lbs I started on a 160L SS Levitator using the infinity i84 most of the time. Since I have shifted to a 150L Starboard freeride and this season I have been using the SB 1100 freeride front wing and 330 rear (95 + fuse).

The SS Levi was a great board to start on - and I can recommend it to anyone starting to foil. I sold it to a person who wanted to start foiling and I have 100% confidence that the new owner will learn to foil pretty quickly. You basically get in the straps- bear off and start to pump.
I shifted to the SB setup because I wanted to go faster and get better upwind performance - I have no doubt that one could start on this setup also but I still believe the SS setup would be easier. SB seems to higher quality but SS is less expensive, available and customer service is very good.

Don't listen to people who tell you to start on a short mast .... it's a waste of time and it's actually harder to learn on a short mast.
Until you get your skills and technique up the wind speed you should be looking at is around 12 knots and higher. Below 12 you will be frustrated and you will learn slower.
Put a nose protector on your board and buy a helmet. Join the rest of us flying - it's awfully addicting. Hold on to the boom when you crash and trust me when I say that the crashes on foil is probably less severe than what you have experienced wavesailing :-)

Thanx for all the awnsers. Makes it a bit clearer. Most of My foiling is in "de gouden ham" (Nice one to Google). But it is flat water. I've foiled on a 133ltrs starboard hypernut( ok? did get up once for 5cm. Tryed the xfoil starboard 140, I hated the footstrap positions. On the boards I did not have any problems tacking op just floating. My biggest Sail is a 5,6 s1 pro. The Foil Is a Moses with w790 front wing or the w1100 for around 10- 12knots. Got everything sorted acccept the board size. ??

You need to get a board with foil box. I would normally suggest just getting a used larger size formula board (170 liter +), get good at foiling and downsize. With the 1100 wing and weight, you might destroy the box (tuttle - not reinforced). The Slingshot Levitator 160 would be my pick for the first year or two. The you can ride a 130-145 liter foil board once you are decent at foiling. You need to decide if racing or free riding is your style. The focus on racing is wide board, larger volume and high aspect wing. Or smaller size, low aspect wing and good carving in waves. I am pretty heavy too and decided to get a large formula board, changed the box with a foil reinforced tuttle box and got another board for free riding. Just get a decent used wide board (save money), learn and spend your good funds on nice board later. Keep in mind that you will be up hauling the sail now again. The volume is your friend.

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ZeroVix said..
You need to get a board with foil box. I would normally suggest just getting a used larger size formula board (170 liter +), get good at foiling and downsize. With the 1100 wing and weight, you might destroy the box (tuttle - not reinforced). The Slingshot Levitator 160 would be my pick for the first year or two. The you can ride a 130-145 liter foil board once you are decent at foiling. You need to decide if racing or free riding is your style. The focus on racing is wide board, larger volume and high aspect wing. Or smaller size, low aspect wing and good carving in waves. I am pretty heavy too and decided to get a large formula board, changed the box with a foil reinforced tuttle box and got another board for free riding. Just get a decent used wide board (save money), learn and spend your good funds on nice board later. Keep in mind that you will be up hauling the sail now again. The volume is your friend.

Thanks! Up hauling was not a problem on both boards, so for that 135-140ltrs is good enough. I will go for the freeride option. Race is not My cup of tea. ??

What didn't you like about the FoilX 145? Because that's the board I'd usually recommend.

I think a lot depends on your ability. If you are a proficient wave sailor 160 litres at your weight is way too big in my opinion. I'm 110kgs and started with a Slingshot Wizard 125 and Slingshot i76. I currently have a Severne Alien 125 with the same slingshot foil.

The biggest sail I use is a 6.2 Blade but as my foiling improved I found I could make smaller sail work in the same conditions.. It really depends on what style of foiling you are after.

i would recommend you try a board designed as a free ride board rather than something oriented towards racing and see how you find that.

Foiling, as a light wind sport, 6-22, go big board.
Foiling, in any wind, go around 140 liters.

I went with the Foil-X 145 at #245. No issues with float or maneuver. I previously had SS i84 foil, now SB carbon SC. I use 5.6 S-1 Pro or 5.9 Freek. Eventually, I may go with a custom Flikka, but I want to be sure I know exactly what I want. I am pretty happy with the volume and size of the Foil-X.

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Grantmac said..
What didn't you like about the FoilX 145? Because that's the board I'd usually recommend.

Had problems with the footstrap positions. I could Not get in them because they are (for me) to far to the rail.

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wsurfn said..
I went with the Foil-X 145 at #245. No issues with float or maneuver. I previously had SS i84 foil, now SB carbon SC. I use 5.6 S-1 Pro or 5.9 Freek. Eventually, I may go with a custom Flikka, but I want to be sure I know exactly what I want. I am pretty happy with the volume and size of the Foil-X.

I'm thinking of getting me a Flikka too. With them almost all is possible. I've got most of the shape sorted out. It's more or less a blown up compact shape. 225x72/74 (140-150ltrs) Some extra footstrap positions and a deep turrtle foil box. So I can still use It as a windsurf board. Other option is to have a board build just for foiling, freeride, around 160-1.80mtr long. But then it is only for foiling and I want best of both worlds.

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Antoine1972 said..

wsurfn said..
I went with the Foil-X 145 at #245. No issues with float or maneuver. I previously had SS i84 foil, now SB carbon SC. I use 5.6 S-1 Pro or 5.9 Freek. Eventually, I may go with a custom Flikka, but I want to be sure I know exactly what I want. I am pretty happy with the volume and size of the Foil-X.

I'm thinking of getting me a Flikka too. With them almost all is possible. I've got most of the shape sorted out. It's more or less a blown up compact shape. 225x72/74 (140-150ltrs) Some extra footstrap positions and a deep turrtle foil box. So I can still use It as a windsurf board. Other option is to have a board build just for foiling, freeride, around 160-1.80mtr long. But then it is only for foiling and I want best of both worlds.

I would be careful to get a wider board for foiling, at least 80+ cm, so you have leverage on the foil, read somewhere you do not want a wing wider than the board. The Goya Bolt 135 is what I have, not ideal for foiling in 8-10 knots because you have to step forward to level out the board until planing due to relatively narrow tail, but very responsive to pumping, handles touch downs great because of the length (243), as well as waves/swell, and light at 7.6 kg with a super strong foil box. And can be used for light-wind windsurfing.

I run an 80cm wing on a 72cm board all the time, the two don't relate.
Board width is mostly about sail size and how much upwind angle you are trying for. Specifically tail width affects upwind big time.

Sounds like Antoine is a maneuver based foiler. I'd highly recommend the Starboard Supercruiser. Board choice is a bit more challenging but you can't go wrong with Flikka build quality and ~140-150L is probably about right.

Hey Antoine

Lots of great advice, my 2 cents worth is bigger is better even though the learn to jibe stage, just more forgiving. I am not as big as you but started on an old Formula Board with a reinforced box (3 layers of glass top and bottom). I took the foot straps off the 2nd day and found I advanced quickly.

I then got a custom Roberts board around 130 to 140L and found that it performs like a small board (<125L) but gets on the foil as fast or faster than my formula board. So I believe it's not only the volume but how it's distributed that effect the performance. For example thick under foot rather than a thick nose.

Rob is about 6' 6" and 250 lbs so he relates to the big boys. His boards are bomb proof and not expensive. The Sailworks crowd ride them, the boards have some great features but he will make whatever is best for you.

Just another option, hope it helps

www.robertscomposites.com

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Grantmac said..
I run an 80cm wing on a 72cm board all the time, the two don't relate.
Board width is mostly about sail size and how much upwind angle you are trying for. Specifically tail width affects upwind big time.

Sounds like Antoine is a maneuver based foiler. I'd highly recommend the Starboard Supercruiser. Board choice is a bit more challenging but you can't go wrong with Flikka build quality and ~140-150L is probably about right.

Your leverage/control over the wing/foil is determined "in part" by how wide the board and wing are, a board wider than the wing will have more leverage on it making it easy to control or over-control, while a wing wider than the board will be "relatively" harder to control due to less leverage.

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Hess said..
Hey Antoine

Lots of great advice, my 2 cents worth is bigger is better even though the learn to jibe stage, just more forgiving. I am not as big as you but started on an old Formula Board with a reinforced box (3 layers of glass top and bottom). I took the foot straps off the 2nd day and found I advanced quickly.

I then got a custom Roberts board around 130 to 140L and found that it performs like a small board (<125L) but gets on the foil as fast or faster than my formula board. So I believe it's not only the volume but how it's distributed that effect the performance. For example thick under foot rather than a thick nose.

Rob is about 6' 6" and 250 lbs so he relates to the big boys. His boards are bomb proof and not expensive. The Sailworks crowd ride them, the boards have some great features but he will make whatever is best for you.

Just another option, hope it helps

www.robertscomposites.com

Agree, except "not expensive". Custom boards are expensive, even buying at their place or Sailworks. The other issue with custom boards is re-sale value. Generally, a standard production board fetches more money than custom. But I would rather have a custom board if I were to spend close to 3k (taxes, shipping incl.)

For now I set my eyes on a Starboard Freeride 150. Anybody got good or bad experiance with the board? Thanks for all the tips, helped me a lot.

Check with Bigwinds.com staff about the board, they are very knowledgeable, they have the 2020 only in 125L and it is on sale. Saw somewhere here that if you ding the board the end grain balsa sucks up water and that causes delamination.

I would not buy a foil specific board without a track mount.
Also you are again limited on strap positions.

Try to get your hands on a Fanatic Stingray 140LTD, this board will suit you perfect, by far easiest board to get you up onto the foil and is a absolute blast to sail. Fanatic will stop making this size in LTD for 2021, only in HRS which is on the heavy side. In combination with Flow foil 1250 and/or 1000 it is perfect for us heavy guys. I am now using Severne TurboGT 8.1 which will be soon replaced by new Foil Glide 8.0 which I hope will get me going in even lighter wind. And it has track mount so you can play around with the position of the foil and so much easier to connect foil to board. Trying to fit deeptuttle foils to different brands of boards can be a real pain.

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ZeroVix said..

Hess said..
Hey Antoine

Lots of great advice, my 2 cents worth is bigger is better even though the learn to jibe stage, just more forgiving. I am not as big as you but started on an old Formula Board with a reinforced box (3 layers of glass top and bottom). I took the foot straps off the 2nd day and found I advanced quickly.

I then got a custom Roberts board around 130 to 140L and found that it performs like a small board (<125L) but gets on the foil as fast or faster than my formula board. So I believe it's not only the volume but how it's distributed that effect the performance. For example thick under foot rather than a thick nose.

Rob is about 6' 6" and 250 lbs so he relates to the big boys. His boards are bomb proof and not expensive. The Sailworks crowd ride them, the boards have some great features but he will make whatever is best for you.

Just another option, hope it helps

www.robertscomposites.com

Agree, except "not expensive". Custom boards are expensive, even buying at their place or Sailworks. The other issue with custom boards is re-sale value. Generally, a standard production board fetches more money than custom. But I would rather have a custom board if I were to spend close to 3k (taxes, shipping incl.)

Good point, I stand corrected, if you go on line the Roberts Boards are $2500 USD @ Sailworks and the Slingshot Boards are $2000 to $2200. Thanks for the correction Zerovix

Dealing with Roberts directly I believe his price is now $3000 CND I got mine a couple yrs ago for $2500 CND which at the time was about $1,900 USD. Shipping is actually less for me. Hence my misconception

The reason I suggested custom board for the big boys is I am pretty sure you can get a board 7" thick under foot if you want. And we all know that there is NO budget on Sporting Equipment Well that's what I tell my wife

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Grantmac said..
I would not buy a foil specific board without a track mount.
Also you are again limited on strap positions.

Track mount is super important to position your foil which is not possible with tuttlebox boards. As mentioned before Slingshot Levitator is excellent to start (160 or 150 lt). Since you are very good with wave windsurfing, you may go to Wizard 130 lt if you could uphaul on this volume but may be difficult to learn in the beginning. For foil selection, Slingshot infinity 84 or 99 would be good to start since these provide excellent balanced lift to learn and make progress. Since the Slingshot mast is aluminum, it is a heavy set up but very balanced. Mast size 85-90 cm is better than short masts. For lighter weight options, Moses (1100) or Armstrong foils (HS1850) are really good for your size and low wind conditions. These foils are low to medium aspect so that you could use smaller sails. For the sails Ezzy Hydro pro, Sailworks Flyer, Goya Fringe X are all foil dedicated light sails ideal learning to foil.

I would argue against Slingshot foils, especially for a bigger rider. They are well known for bending masts and snapping bolts.
A better option for similar money would be the Starboard Supercruiser.

3 and 4 batten wave sails work quite well for most freeride foiling, no need for anything special.