If he ever takes off the helmet, we'll never recognize him.

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Paducah said..
If he ever takes off the helmet, we'll never recognize him.

His renaming of the Severne Predator might stick.

He mentioned that he's been using tracks lately. I hope it becomes the norm at least for non-race foils.

"Everything is still in the Pampers"

Any idea how much he weighs? Guessing mid-80s?

On another note I recently received a Fanatic Foilstyler. I wanted it for swell riding not styling. Can attest to the compactness giving even more control once up, but yeah, it's very "squirelly" getting going. Right now I have the masts fairly far apart but am working on bringing them closer together, especially moving the sail mast farther back so it has less leverage on the board angle.

I'm 85 kilos and the 103 liters - which I think is about right - makes it really hard to uphaul. So I'm also learning to manage that.

I wonder if he (balz) keeps his sail bagged out if he foils in high winds.

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thedoor said..
I wonder if he (balz) keeps his sail bagged out if he foils in high winds.

A lot of the moves I have seen on video of Balz seems like he pulls those off in really low wind or even a wind shadowed area.Fun to watch but beyond anything I would even attempt.

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BullroarerTook said..
On another note I recently received a Fanatic Foilstyler. I wanted it for swell riding not styling. Can attest to the compactness giving even more control once up, but yeah, it's very "squirelly" getting going. Right now I have the masts fairly far apart but am working on bringing them closer together, especially moving the sail mast farther back so it has less leverage on the board angle.

I'm 85 kilos and the 103 liters - which I think is about right - makes it really hard to uphaul. So I'm also learning to manage that.

Interested to see how you go moving the sail mastbase really close to the front straps to increase control riding swells. When Balz says it improves control perhaps that's for specific light wind rotational tricks?

On the W114 in light wind, I set the sail mastbase fully rear and foil mast quite forward but I feel I get more control in high winds and swells increasing separation - mast base fwd of centre and foil mast in rear of tracks.

Maybe reducing pressure on the mast base and redirecting through your feet (more like winging) is the way to go - it might just require getting used to it. Have my doubts but open-minded

You should definetly try it with the sail mast base further back. Especially in gusty conditions where the mast foot pressure can fluctuate a lot more, having the mast foot closer to your feet means it has less influence on your flight attitude meaning you can more easily maintain a stead flight.

I think also having the power of the foil between your feet is important or go even further forward to load up the front foot, with out that in light gusty winds as soon as a gust hits you you will loose height and go down. Interesting how far foward they are putting their foil Mast on the board. Looks like Jack Muller has his set further forward than stock settings allow you.

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azymuth said..

Maybe reducing pressure on the mast base and redirecting through your feet (more like winging) is the way to go - it might just require getting used to it. Have my doubts but open-minded

He does explain it out right : aft is more responsive.
Having your set up balanced for forward mast base increases longitudinal stability, but gives the sail more leverage in case of gust. It is good if you use a race typed sail.
Having your set up balanced for aft mast base reduces the sail leverage, thus instability caused by the gust. But it is way more reactive to riders weight shift input. If you use a freestyle sail, that's what you are looking for. But no autopilot, long reach are going to be quite tiring.

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6u1d0 said..

azymuth said..

Maybe reducing pressure on the mast base and redirecting through your feet (more like winging) is the way to go - it might just require getting used to it. Have my doubts but open-minded

He does explain it out right : aft is more responsive.
Having your set up balanced for forward mast base increases longitudinal stability, but gives the sail more leverage in case of gust. It is good if you use a race typed sail.
Having your set up balanced for aft mast base reduces the sail leverage, thus instability caused by the gust. But it is way more reactive to riders weight shift input. If you use a freestyle sail, that's what you are looking for. But no autopilot, long reach are going to be quite tiring.

90% of my foil time is now on IQ kit but I do notice that it is quite sensitive to mast base position, and my previous habits from freeride foiling (sheeting out/in constantly) made a forward mast base on it maddeningly sensitive to sail sheeting. I ride slingshot gear way further back and quite a bit differently.

I cannot currently explain it, but at some point, I think it was when I got longer harness lines for foiling, something clicked in my head. I understand the difference between sail and bodyweight/position trim intuitively now. At some point I'll be able to explain it maybe, but yeah at least for me, I started to feel the difference between sail being overpowered and the foil being too lifty, as it often happened at the same time because my movements, setup, or body position made it that way.

Point is, now I trim the sail a lot less in flight, or maybe I'm smoother, and try to hike out more to counteract gusts and steer the board more. Not riding it scared and sheeting out as much.

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swoosh said..
You should definetly try it with the sail mast base further back. Especially in gusty conditions where the mast foot pressure can fluctuate a lot more, having the mast foot closer to your feet means it has less influence on your flight attitude meaning you can more easily maintain a stead flight.

+1. Same experience here. Having sail mast forward in track, I would porpoise like crazy when turned down wind from mast base pressure in gusts. Also getting the mast closer to my body (I'm 5'8"), made harness use much more balanced.

Yeah I will be dropping it back, but incrementally. I knew that if I started it all the way back I would hate it because it would be so different. I also agree that making it more reactive makes it less stable so it gets harder to lock in and forget about it. Fwiw, I have the masts pretty much where Rossmeier has his set in the website photos. He's much better than I am of course and I think about 10 kilos lighter, maybe more.

I'm not specifically foil styling but I'm riding small sails on small boards with medium foils in a maneuver based way.

Everything is relative to your feet rather than relative to each other. Move the foil mast further back relative to feet=more directional, forward=less directional.
Sail mast closer to feet=less responsive to changes in sail power, more weight on the feet. Further from feet=the opposite. Closer works much better for foils that are designed to respond quickly, especially for riding with large changes in sail power ie: wave riding and foil style.
But again you can do this without running the foil mast really far forward.

The last part though is wing position relative to feet. Generally at a minimum you want it between them, but preferably towards the front since there is more board weight that direction and of course the sail. Trimming via changes in front foot pressure is more effective than alternating between front and back foot pressure. This allows more effective control of board lean, especially with centerline front straps. Also you get more pop for jumping (I've only done this a little) because you can run a more neutral stabilizer angle.

Another big plus of the putting the sail all the way back is the turnability. The gust/ power management surely is a lot better but also it just for a nice carving experience.

+1 for moving the foilbox more forward and shortening the fuse. Again makes it more reactive and improves jumping. Also, slogging is much nicer like this.

I moved my mast base even further back a few cm to give a try, and it fells even smoother. Makes my kit quite fun, even for a regular free rider as me.

Slingshot Freestyle V2:

At thedoor is going to love that.

me too !

me too ! !

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6u1d0 said..
I moved my mast base even further back a few cm to give a try, and it fells even smoother. Makes my kit quite fun, even for a regular free rider as me.

Awesome video!
how close do you put your mast to your front footstraps (most forward holes)?

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BullroarerTook said..
At thedoor is going to love that.

. He's kind of locked in to the tuttle for now, but at the rate he buys gear that could change any day

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NicoDC said..

how close do you put your mast to your front footstraps (most forward holes)?

Counting from the most forward strap hole, that would be 12cm. I usually count from the forward DTT of the foil mast, that is 80cm.
But more significantly, I have the axis of my forward foot crossing the centerline 2 cm aft of the mast base. Thats almost as maintaining the mast in place with my forward foot.


Feeling more confortable, I make progress :



Next step 360...

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BullroarerTook said..
At thedoor is going to love that.

Shape looks unchanged.

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Faff said..

BullroarerTook said..
At thedoor is going to love that.

Shape looks unchanged.

Yeah. wondering if the rail chines in the front are different on the V2?

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6u1d0 said..

NicoDC said..

how close do you put your mast to your front footstraps (most forward holes)?

Counting from the most forward strap hole, that would be 12cm. I usually count from the forward DTT of the foil mast, that is 80cm.
But more significantly, I have the axis of my forward foot crossing the centerline 2 cm aft of the mast base. Thats almost as maintaining the mast in place with my forward foot.


Feeling more confortable, I make progress :

Next step 360...

12cm is where balz has his.
Next you should be jumping, it feels so good to get 2m up in the air in 12-15 knots!

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thedoor said..

Faff said..

BullroarerTook said..
At thedoor is going to love that.

Shape looks unchanged.

Yeah. wondering if the rail chines in the front are different on the V2?

Maybe that will explain the differences. or maybe it's just a lick of paint.

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NicoDC said...
Next you should be jumping, it feels so good to get 2m up in the air in 12-15 knots!

However hard I have tried, I never found the trigger. I can easily jump on chop with a wave board, but I never got more than ridiculous stalling breach with a foil. The only way I get some air time is when I get blown backwinded during a downwind 360 failed attempt (so 50% of the time as the other 50% I fall into my sail) but that doesn't count as it is not intentional.