I have a JP Hydrofoil 135 with F4 race (870 cm2)+ slalom (760cm2) wing. Also have Sabfoil 85 Tuttle mast with 790, 950 and 1100. Planning to extend the wind range in light wind with the 1100 and maybe 950, before putting on the race wing in stronger wind. Using Severne Turbo 7.5, Ezzy Cheetah 6.5, Ezzy waves 5.3, 4.5, 3.7.

Curious how I could have some variation & fun on a narrower and smaller board with the 790, 950 and 1100. My typical spots become choppy when wind passes 14 knots. I am 73 kg + suit. I have narrowed the search down to the following boards which are available in my "vicinity" at acceptable prices.
Severne Alien 115
Severne Predator 125
Tabou Magic Carpet 120 (MTE version)
SB FoilX 145
Fanatic Stingray LTD 110
SS Wizard 130 (not really small but "agile"?, and US tracks)

Any thoughts and experiences to share?

I don't have direct experience of those boards but at 78kg have owned the slingshot wizard 105 with slingshot infinity 76/65 and a Tabou pocket air 97 173cm with axis HPS 880. Both are easily uphaulable for me. One strapped and the other strap less. Use with sails 5.8 down to 3.3. I had to do quite a bit of adjustment to the position of the axis foil to get it comfortable which is where the tracks are a definite win if you are mixing board and foil brands. Really enjoying the smaller board for playful sailing.
So my take away. Less volume and length and tracks so go the magic carpet

I'm 83kg. I started my freeride journey on windfoil on an Alien 125. I changed to the Predator 110 9 months ago. Lao Shi is right, smaller is better. The 110 is the smallest board I can uphaul in waves. At your weight I wouldn't get anything bigger than 110 litres

For freeride foil board, not sure why limit to low aspect foils, just use shorter fuselage, use aspect 8+ now, my priorities at 62kg would be:
1. Us tracks ( so you able to balance diff foils, fuselages)
2. Length 160-190 cm
3. Width 70-80 cm
4. Volume 105-120l

My board 172/80/114

(To all who have relevant experiences.)Do you use these boards in very light wind, or only 12+ knots. And do you practice significant foil pumping with the smaller boards to rise up on the foil early?

go the wizard 114 not 130

Also take a look a the SS freestyle 115 (the first version has medium tuttle is your sab 85 mast medium or deep tuttle)

Personally I am loving the fanatic foilstyler at 103L and I am 80kg

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John340 said..
I'm 83kg. I started my freeride journey on windfoil on an Alien 125. I changed to the Predator 110 9 months ago. Lao Shi is right, smaller is better. The 110 is the smallest board I can uphaul in waves. At your weight I wouldn't get anything bigger than 110 litres

Do you depend on waves or significant wind to enjoy the 110? Which foil(s)?

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thedoor said..
go the wizard 114 not 130

Also take a look a the SS freestyle 115 (the first version has medium tuttle is your sab 85 mast medium or deep tuttle)

Personally I am loving the fanatic foilstyler at 103L and I am 80kg

The Sab mast is deep Tuttle. Thanks for mentioning that. I have been close to hitting the buy button on that board from abroad. I guess that I can invest in a us track adapter from sabfoil or others (there are several alternatives), . or invest in Kraken.

Do you jump the fanatic foilstyler, or primarily "surf around" and enjoy ability to make turns in "any" radius?

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snowsurf said..
(To all who have relevant experiences.)Do you use these boards in very light wind, or only 12+ knots. And do you practice significant foil pumping with the smaller boards to rise up on the foil early?

From 7 kn, yup, pumping is important

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snowsurf said..

John340 said..
I'm 83kg. I started my freeride journey on windfoil on an Alien 125. I changed to the Predator 110 9 months ago. Lao Shi is right, smaller is better. The 110 is the smallest board I can uphaul in waves. At your weight I wouldn't get anything bigger than 110 litres

Do you depend on waves or significant wind to enjoy the 110? Which foil(s)?

I actively chase waves, for me that's where the fun is! I use Slingshot PTM 899, 926 and Sabfoil WO940, they are medium to high aspect foils. My favourite is the 899. I mainly use 5 and 4 meter sails in 10 to 20 kts.

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lao shi said..
I don't have direct experience of those boards but at 78kg have owned the slingshot wizard 105 with slingshot infinity 76/65 and a Tabou pocket air 97 173cm with axis HPS 880. Both are easily uphaulable for me. One strapped and the other strap less. Use with sails 5.8 down to 3.3. I had to do quite a bit of adjustment to the position of the axis foil to get it comfortable which is where the tracks are a definite win if you are mixing board and foil brands. Really enjoying the smaller board for playful sailing.
So my take away. Less volume and length and tracks so go the magic carpet

Good input. The disadvantage with the Magic Carpet is that
- the track starts forward of the Tuttle, so, there is a gap of 5 cm that I will not cover (the track is meant for winging).
- the board which is for sale at a reduced price is an MTE model, so a bit heavy.
- and the construction has been debated: Is the sharp edge before the bevel aft deep enough to release water well enough? One review claims that is does not release well, while another was very happy with its "foil pumpability".

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John340 said..

snowsurf said..

John340 said..
I'm 83kg. I started my freeride journey on windfoil on an Alien 125. I changed to the Predator 110 9 months ago. Lao Shi is right, smaller is better. The 110 is the smallest board I can uphaul in waves. At your weight I wouldn't get anything bigger than 110 litres

Do you depend on waves or significant wind to enjoy the 110? Which foil(s)?

I actively chase waves, for me that's where the fun is! I use Slingshot PTM 899, 926 and Sabfoil WO940, they are medium to high aspect foils. My favourite is the 899. I mainly use 5 and 4 meter sails in 10 to 20 kts.

Where I sail, there is no ground swell. So some spots have some waves above 20 knots. Below 20 knots we have chop on which you can do "miniature surfing" or get a little push to foil up.

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snowsurf said..

thedoor said..
go the wizard 114 not 130

Also take a look a the SS freestyle 115 (the first version has medium tuttle is your sab 85 mast medium or deep tuttle)

Personally I am loving the fanatic foilstyler at 103L and I am 80kg

The Sab mast is deep Tuttle. Thanks for mentioning that. I have been close to hitting the buy button on that board from abroad. I guess that I can invest in a us track adapter from sabfoil or others (there are several alternatives), . or invest in Kraken.

Do you jump the fanatic foilstyler, or primarily "surf around" and enjoy ability to make turns in "any" radius?

No jumping for me, mostly just swell riding, foil raids and the odd 360.

I'm on Tabou pocket air 97l, 4.7m Axis HPS 880/700, Rob on slingshot 114, 5/4.5m Phantasm 730 wind 15-20knts on the Adelaide coast in South Oz. Lots of fun to be had in wind swell
?feature=shared

How much do you guys weigh?

Epic vid, love the drone and GoPro follow-me swapping.

Music rocks
How good is downwinding

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mr love said..
How much do you guys weigh?

I'm 78kg

I'm 64kg on the SS114. I've used wings as wide as the 800 and narrow as the 730PFI. All seem to work well. My largest sail is a 5.2, smallest is a 3.7.

This was yesterday in 28 knots on the Sabfoil 769.

?si=qIlP5wZQdKTmHPtK

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lao shi said..
I'm on Tabou pocket air 97l, 4.7m Axis HPS 880/700, Rob on slingshot 114, 5/4.5m Phantasm 730 wind 15-20knts on the Adelaide coast in South Oz. Lots of fun to be had in wind swell

?feature=shared

Nice ridin'

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lao shi said..
I'm on Tabou pocket air 97l, 4.7m Axis HPS 880/700, Rob on slingshot 114, 5/4.5m Phantasm 730 wind 15-20knts on the Adelaide coast in South Oz. Lots of fun to be had in wind swell

?feature=shared

Great video and riding. Looks like a fabulous playground for wave wind foiling.

Now I know how you can ride those little boards....I am a healthy 94kgs, all lard...

I now own the SS 130 Wizard and SS Wizard 90l super short, as well as the Naish Micro. The Naish micro is my absolute go to board, really fun for flowy carving riding (perfect with the Fanatic Flow 1250). I love the SS shorty (150cm) but you have to be a very confident/competent rider as it's a tricky board to uphaul and water start on. I've only just got the 130 Wizard, 1 ride in and I can see its potential as a very versatile board.

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WsurfAustin said..
I'm 64kg on the SS114. I've used wings as wide as the 800 and narrow as the 730PFI. All seem to work well. My largest sail is a 5.2, smallest is a 3.7.

This was yesterday in 28 knots on the Sabfoil 769.

?si=qIlP5wZQdKTmHPtK

Nice - looks like you're hitting about 21 knots speed on those downwinders ?

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Ant-man said..
I now own the SS 130 Wizard and SS Wizard 90l super short, as well as the Naish Micro. The Naish micro is my absolute go to board, really fun for flowy carving riding (perfect with the Fanatic Flow 1250). I love the SS shorty (150cm) but you have to be a very confident/competent rider as it's a tricky board to uphaul and water start on. I've only just got the 130 Wizard, 1 ride in and I can see its potential as a very versatile board.

Yeah it was very hard for me, like you, to pull up the wizard, as I had the 114. I recently got a freestyle 115 and even at 94kg I can uphaul a 7.0 3 cam foil sail, I just sink a bit. That board has a more "normal" shape even though it's still quite short.

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azymuth said..

WsurfAustin said..
I'm 64kg on the SS114. I've used wings as wide as the 800 and narrow as the 730PFI. All seem to work well. My largest sail is a 5.2, smallest is a 3.7.

This was yesterday in 28 knots on the Sabfoil 769.

?si=qIlP5wZQdKTmHPtK

Nice - looks like you're hitting about 21 knots speed on those downwinders ?

Thanks, I just have my phone GPS, showing max of 26.9 knots. Looks like 90% were in 22 knot range. This was absolutely pushing my limits with a 700sq cm wing and 184 cm tail. Sabfoil claims 30 knots with an "average rider". Guess I'm below average . The gusts to 32 knots were pretty violent so, plenty of "bailouts" that day.

Anyone got any "golden measures" when setting up a windfoil board?
E.g. one guy reviewing the Tabou Magic Carpet 120 wanted his (sail) mast to be 85 cm from the front screw of the foil box, and was able to achieve that on this board.

Not all foils have the same dimensions. Finding a balanced set up that suits your riding style is a bit of trial and error. I start with adjusting the footstraps and or foil mast (if it has adjustment) so the front foil is in the middle between the footstraps. I then place my mast base in the middle of the track. I then sail and check the balance. I like a bit of front foot pressure. If I have too much back foot pressure, I either move my foil mast forward, or front footstrap back or sail mast back. And conversely if too much front foot pressure I do the opposite. The trick is to adjust one thing at a time and then try. If I run out of adjustment, l then use either +ve or -ve shims on my stabiliser.

Great videos! Sorry for the long message. I want to share a bit more background before I continue dreaming of the conditions that you show on the videos.

I got into foiling two years ago to enjoy days with 7-14 knots wind. My plan was to enjoy windsurfing in stronger winds. The first season I tried using a Sabfoil 790 on my 80cm wide slalom board, but struggled with the balance of this setup - wrong board. I got a JP Hydrofoil 135 (86 cm wide) as my first real foil board a year ago, with two F4 race/slalom foils included for a nice price - might work with the Sabfoil 790, if not, for future fast cruising. The JP was not that fun with my 790, or even with a Sabfoil 950. After last season, I figured that I should have shimmed the 450 stab with the 950 (as most people seem to do). I am also uncertain whether the outboard foot strap placement will work with these mid/lower aspect foils. Maybe this will improve when things are more in balance (after shimming). I am also thinking about adding more inboard front foot straps on this JP. During this winter I got hold of a Sabfoil 1100 front wing (2100cm2) to push the wind limit lower. Not sure how this will work on the JP.

Anyway, I plan to use the JP for higher speed straight line cruising (small trips), and that I need something else for the more agile curvy rides - not planning any jumps.

So, if I want to experience more turns in 7 or 8-15 knots wind. does this change your recommendations for boards?
With my 73 kg without suit, I guess that I will need to use my 6.5m2 Cheetah, and that the 5.3m2 Wave/Elite will not be enough for the lightest breeze. I added some comments for each of the boards. All of them should be able to handle the 6.5 sail.
- Severne Alien 115 (200cm, 70cm, 7.3 kg) - easy to get going? Will this be agile enough, 10cm shorter than the popular 125L?
- Severne Predator 125 (195, 72cm, 7.5kg) - too optimistic with my skills? (expect slower progression) Length and weight is great.
- Tabou Magic Carpet 120 MTE (195cm, 78cm, 9.2kg) - will foil pumping work well enough with a sail to get going? Reviews were unclear. Tracks may start too far forward for windfoiling, so, foil box and shimming the stab might be the solution for adjustments.
- SB FoilX 145 2020 (190cm, 71cm, 8.3kg) - voluminous, very compact shape, but foil box far back. will likely need shimming (would rather try that than a track to tuttle board adapter which some of you use with this board)
- Fanatic Stingray LTD 110 2020 (215cm, 65cm, 8.0kg) - too old/long, ie. not agile enough? US tracks for windfoiling in addition to foil box.
- SS Wizard 130 (188cm, 78cm, 9.3kg) - not really small but "agile"? US tracks for windfoiling
- Wait for a SS Wizard 114 or Goya Airbolt 105 for sale second hand.
- Put board plans aside and add inboard foot straps on the 86cm wide JP - sounds boring.

Appreciate any additional input and advice - running in circles.

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snowsurf said..
Anyone got any "golden measures" when setting up a windfoil board?
E.g. one guy reviewing the Tabou Magic Carpet 120 wanted his (sail) mast to be 85 cm from the front screw of the foil box, and was able to achieve that on this board.

Like John340 said, a lot of trial and error. I really struggled with setup early on. Bottom line to me was adjustments relative to available foot strap positions. Being small and light, I had to use the extreme positions (farthest forward foot strap, and foil mast all the way back in the tracks). Before I got everything dialed, I was unbalanced in the harness causing lower back pain, foiling out a lot etc. Small adjustments make a big difference IME.

Azymuth did a cool mod on the 114 moving footstraps farther forward than the factory position and sliding the mast in the tracks forward by the same amount. That reduces the swing weight at the nose. Kind of like having the benefit of a 90L but uphaul ability of the 114. Brilliant idea, just not sure I'm ready or have the skills to add new holes in the board.

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WsurfAustin said..

snowsurf said..
Anyone got any "golden measures" when setting up a windfoil board?
E.g. one guy reviewing the Tabou Magic Carpet 120 wanted his (sail) mast to be 85 cm from the front screw of the foil box, and was able to achieve that on this board.

Like John340 said, a lot of trial and error. I really struggled with setup early on. Bottom line to me was adjustments relative to available foot strap positions. Being small and light, I had to use the extreme positions (farthest forward foot strap, and foil mast all the way back in the tracks). Before I got everything dialed, I was unbalanced in the harness causing lower back pain, foiling out a lot etc. Small adjustments make a big difference IME.

Azymuth did a cool mod on the 114 moving footstraps farther forward than the factory position and sliding the mast in the tracks forward by the same amount. That reduces the swing weight at the nose. Kind of like having the benefit of a 90L but uphaul ability of the 114. Brilliant idea, just not sure I'm ready or have the skills to add new holes in the board.

I am short, but not so light :-D, and can relate to using settings at extremes. I saw the mod Asymuth did. Cool.
I watched a youtube video for making holes and fastening inserts. Did not look that difficult, but it is easy go get fooled by someone who has done this many times.

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snowsurf said..
Anyone got any "golden measures" when setting up a windfoil board?
E.g. one guy reviewing the Tabou Magic Carpet 120 wanted his (sail) mast to be 85 cm from the front screw of the foil box, and was able to achieve that on this board.

Seconding the people say that it takes some experimentation. I have ridden other people's boards, who are much better foilers than me, making most of their jibes, and sometimes I found their foil to be backfooted compared to my setup. If I slide my foil backward, I find the nose dips too much in the jibes. I think some of this is poor technique on my part but also probably weight (me being heavier by 10-15kg).

For free ride, I really like the slot boxes for this reason. I played with a foilx 145 and the jack plate but a smaller board with a slot box is a lot easier to dial in.

If you use rear straps, it's nice to have the board foilable while out of the rear strap, which requires a pretty forward setting. If you go without you'll have a lot more room to move your foot to the rear and counteract a more aft foil.