Hi, I have SB Supercruiser foil that I have been testing foiling on with my Flikka custom lightwind freeride 126l, 76 cm width foilready. I like the feeling of foiling which, compared to fin ws, is silent and much less physical and also that after every foiling session I make an improvement vs the previous one. Therefore I want to replace my lightwind ws board with windfoilboard for sailing with 6.0 to 7.0 sails. After reading many reviews and opinions on this forum, I belive the suitable foilboard for me could be Severne Alien 145. Has anyone on this forum experience from riding this combo and also Alien with Superfyer as this could be the future option when I have made some progres. Any other suggestins are also welcome.

How much do you weigh? Me 75kg. Had the Alien 125, then changed to 120 until i got a very well used 115. The Alien is very nice. Easy to learn, easy to ride. It turned out that 115L 200x70cm is perfect for me. Fast lift off and i am able to get back home at offshore low wind. I have only experience with SAB foil, do not know the Supercruiser. But my bigger frontwings should be similar to the SC.
How about a custom Flikka foilboard? They are very nice. A friend has one, i have a wingboard with windfoil option from them. They are good quality and nice looking. And you have the option for tracks beside the DT box you actually need for the SC foil.
Don't buy too big board as you get better with the time.

Hi PatK and thank for your reply. I weigh 85+ depending on the time of the year and amount of h/week at the gym ;-) so I need a bit more volume at least initially as I want the board to get easily into planing as I am not good at pumping. Flikka is sill an option (I have actually two in different sizes) and a couple of years ago it was close I ordered a Flikka foilboard but at that time I was not sure I would like foiling in the log run so I ordered light wind freeride hybrid fin/foil board. This bord works with foil but it is not optimal for foiling and I want now to replace it with pure foilboard. SB foilboards designed for Supercruiser FoilX need, according to what I read on the forum, certain amount of pumping to get going that is why I am looking for an alternative.

If your goal is to put max a 6 or 7m2 sail, I would go for a smaller board around 125l/75cm .. you are not such a heavy sailer ;)
145l boards with 80cm wide are more adequate if you plan to put a 8.0m2 sail on. With a 6/7m, you would need more pumping to pull such bigger board out of water.

But now, this is already what you have, isn't it? Not sure if you would gain in gliding/planning, but having a dedicated foil board, you will gain more control and more upwind with a large tail.

Thanks for your input. Good point, my current board takes off easily, the main problem for me is that it is difficult to control, even though I am improving for every session. I guess I'll have to test a couple of different boards before I buy one.

Another little advice when you choose/test a dedicated foil board, think of the evolution of your foil in the future. If you go for a more freemove/freeride board ("reduced" tail, more inward footstrap, mast rail closer to the front footstrap), it will go perfectly with your SB SuperCruiser and no cam sails, but not with a more advanced foil. Such combos are good for learning, cruising and perfect for chasing the swell!
But with a more freerace oriented board (larger tail, more parallel rail, full of backfoot position), it goes from the SB Supercruiser, freeride foil to Slalom foiling with cam or no cam sails. One board, multiple foils!

Example of freemove boards: Fanatic stingray, JP freefoil, Exocet Freefoil, Goya Airbolt, Sb Foil X, etc.
Example of pure freeride boards: SB freeride, Patrik foilride, SV Alien, etc.
Example of freeride/freerace boards: SB freeride (possible with race foil), Tabou Airride, Exocet RF, JP hydrofoil, etc.

I am looking for a freeride/easy cruising in light winds type of foil board that will be easy to take off and control in 10-15 kt. Do I gain much replacing my Flikka with e.g. Alien 125?

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lech_waldemar said..
I am looking for a freeride/easy cruising in light winds type of foil board that will be easy to take off and control in 10-15 kt. Do I gain much replacing my Flikka with e.g. Alien 125?

of course, it has a large tail for better control with your back foot. Big cutouts when you touch back the water surface and reduce bouncing. Check if it has at least two footstrap position lines at the back: If you have one day a freeride foil (faster), it's good to have inward/outward footstrap positions.

That Alien 145 might be the smoothest-rising foil board I've ever tried. I rode it with the Severne 1400 which would probably be closer to the Superflyer than to the Supercruiser. The SF might be as big as you'd need to go at your weight especially if you're ambitious to improve, because there's a definite top speed on the bigger wing, and a degree of sluggishness also. The 1700 is really for inexperienced riders or for getting up in the absolute lightest winds - once it's really powered it starts feeling big very quickly.

The 145 is terrific if you don't like pumping because you basically put a big enough sail on it, put your front foot in the strap, hook in and lean back and you're up. I wouldn't expect it to work well with very long racing fuselages but with something like the 102 from Starboard you'd be fine. It's pretty sensitive to boom height and mastfoot positioning. If you're not quite getting going just raise the boom a little and you'll jump out of the water.

I myself wound up buying the bigger 155 because I like carrying big sails and pointing high upwind, and I also weigh over 100kg, but there are days when I think the 145 would have been just as good (and it's cheaper!). I do agree with several of the other guys though, that if you mostly prefer sails smaller than 7.0, and you're athletic, then the 120 or 125 might be all the board you need - you could uphaul either easily if that's a concern.

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Awalkspoiled said..
That Alien 145 might be the smoothest-rising foil board I've ever tried. I rode it with the Severne 1400 which would probably be closer to the Superflyer than to the Supercruiser. The SF might be as big as you'd need to go at your weight especially if you're ambitious to improve, because there's a definite top speed on the bigger wing, and a degree of sluggishness also. The 1700 is really for inexperienced riders or for getting up in the absolute lightest winds - once it's really powered it starts feeling big very quickly.

The 145 is terrific if you don't like pumping because you basically put a big enough sail on it, put your front foot in the strap, hook in and lean back and you're up. I wouldn't expect it to work well with very long racing fuselages but with something like the 102 from Starboard you'd be fine. It's pretty sensitive to boom height and mastfoot positioning. If you're not quite getting going just raise the boom a little and you'll jump out of the water.

I myself wound up buying the bigger 155 because I like carrying big sails and pointing high upwind, and I also weigh over 100kg, but there are days when I think the 145 would have been just as good (and it's cheaper!). I do agree with several of the other guys though, that if you mostly prefer sails smaller than 7.0, and you're athletic, then the 120 or 125 might be all the board you need - you could uphaul either easily if that's a concern.

I would second the thought that your Supercruiser may become the limited factor WRT stability. I have demoed the Supercruiser and currently have the Superflyer that I use in a wide range of conditions (10-30 knots using Ezzy Cross and custom Roberts SL board). The Superflyer gives up v little in terms of early lift but has WAAAY more top end and control. I feel its actually better tracking (has more downturned tips). I found the Supercruiser v lifty, but ponderous and vague feeling. The Superflyer feels like you are on rails.

So for the lightest winds, a large board and a rangier front wing might be just the ticket. The other option would be to get a 95+ fuselage. I tried the 102 and much prefer the 95+ for all around riding.

I would say if you really want to use a 7.0 a 145 liter board would be good, a 6.0 you could get away with 10 liters less, or maybe 2-4 cms narrower. I have found as I progressed a narrower board is actually easier to get flying with the "popping" technique where you push down on the tail as your sail powers up.

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tswei99 said..

Awalkspoiled said..
That Alien 145 might be the smoothest-rising foil board I've ever tried. I rode it with the Severne 1400 which would probably be closer to the Superflyer than to the Supercruiser. The SF might be as big as you'd need to go at your weight especially if you're ambitious to improve, because there's a definite top speed on the bigger wing, and a degree of sluggishness also. The 1700 is really for inexperienced riders or for getting up in the absolute lightest winds - once it's really powered it starts feeling big very quickly.

The 145 is terrific if you don't like pumping because you basically put a big enough sail on it, put your front foot in the strap, hook in and lean back and you're up. I wouldn't expect it to work well with very long racing fuselages but with something like the 102 from Starboard you'd be fine. It's pretty sensitive to boom height and mastfoot positioning. If you're not quite getting going just raise the boom a little and you'll jump out of the water.

I myself wound up buying the bigger 155 because I like carrying big sails and pointing high upwind, and I also weigh over 100kg, but there are days when I think the 145 would have been just as good (and it's cheaper!). I do agree with several of the other guys though, that if you mostly prefer sails smaller than 7.0, and you're athletic, then the 120 or 125 might be all the board you need - you could uphaul either easily if that's a concern.

I would second the thought that your Supercruiser may become the limited factor WRT stability. I have demoed the Supercruiser and currently have the Superflyer that I use in a wide range of conditions (10-30 knots using Ezzy Cross and custom Roberts SL board). The Superflyer gives up v little in terms of early lift but has WAAAY more top end and control. I feel its actually better tracking (has more downturned tips). I found the Supercruiser v lifty, but ponderous and vague feeling. The Superflyer feels like you are on rails.

So for the lightest winds, a large board and a rangier front wing might be just the ticket. The other option would be to get a 95+ fuselage. I tried the 102 and much prefer the 95+ for all around riding.

I would say if you really want to use a 7.0 a 145 liter board would be good, a 6.0 you could get away with 10 liters less, or maybe 2-4 cms narrower. I have found as I progressed a narrower board is actually easier to get flying with the "popping" technique where you push down on the tail as your sail powers up.

I Agree. That's exactly why I mentioned to have foil evolution/upgrade in mind for the future. It's possible to have one unique board with many foil combos from cruising, freeriding to racing.

You really need to target your sail size limit first to choose your board:
8.0m2 max = 145l/80cm
7.0m2 max = 125l/75cm.

In lightest wind (9-12nds) with a 7.0m2, there is no magic, you need more energy, more pumping to fly with a 80cm board rather than 70-75cm board.

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lech_waldemar said..
Hi, I have SB Supercruiser foil that I have been testing foiling on with my Flikka custom lightwind freeride 126l, 76 cm width foilready. I like the feeling of foiling which, compared to fin ws, is silent and much less physical and also that after every foiling session I make an improvement vs the previous one. Therefore I want to replace my lightwind ws board with windfoilboard for sailing with 6.0 to 7.0 sails. After reading many reviews and opinions on this forum, I belive the suitable foilboard for me could be Severne Alien 145. Has anyone on this forum experience from riding this combo and also Alien with Superfyer as this could be the future option when I have made some progres. Any other suggestins are also welcome.

Check out the Patrik boards too. Foil Ride 145 is great. There's probably a few in Europe for sale.

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Lezardo said..

tswei99 said..

Awalkspoiled said..
That Alien 145 might be the smoothest-rising foil board I've ever tried. I rode it with the Severne 1400 which would probably be closer to the Superflyer than to the Supercruiser. The SF might be as big as you'd need to go at your weight especially if you're ambitious to improve, because there's a definite top speed on the bigger wing, and a degree of sluggishness also. The 1700 is really for inexperienced riders or for getting up in the absolute lightest winds - once it's really powered it starts feeling big very quickly.

The 145 is terrific if you don't like pumping because you basically put a big enough sail on it, put your front foot in the strap, hook in and lean back and you're up. I wouldn't expect it to work well with very long racing fuselages but with something like the 102 from Starboard you'd be fine. It's pretty sensitive to boom height and mastfoot positioning. If you're not quite getting going just raise the boom a little and you'll jump out of the water.

I myself wound up buying the bigger 155 because I like carrying big sails and pointing high upwind, and I also weigh over 100kg, but there are days when I think the 145 would have been just as good (and it's cheaper!). I do agree with several of the other guys though, that if you mostly prefer sails smaller than 7.0, and you're athletic, then the 120 or 125 might be all the board you need - you could uphaul either easily if that's a concern.

I would second the thought that your Supercruiser may become the limited factor WRT stability. I have demoed the Supercruiser and currently have the Superflyer that I use in a wide range of conditions (10-30 knots using Ezzy Cross and custom Roberts SL board). The Superflyer gives up v little in terms of early lift but has WAAAY more top end and control. I feel its actually better tracking (has more downturned tips). I found the Supercruiser v lifty, but ponderous and vague feeling. The Superflyer feels like you are on rails.

So for the lightest winds, a large board and a rangier front wing might be just the ticket. The other option would be to get a 95+ fuselage. I tried the 102 and much prefer the 95+ for all around riding.

I would say if you really want to use a 7.0 a 145 liter board would be good, a 6.0 you could get away with 10 liters less, or maybe 2-4 cms narrower. I have found as I progressed a narrower board is actually easier to get flying with the "popping" technique where you push down on the tail as your sail powers up.

I Agree. That's exactly why I mentioned to have foil evolution/upgrade in mind for the future. It's possible to have one unique board with many foil combos from cruising, freeriding to racing.

You really need to target your sail size limit first to choose your board:
8.0m2 max = 145l/80cm
7.0m2 max = 125l/75cm.

In lightest wind (9-12nds) with a 7.0m2, there is no magic, you need more energy, more pumping to fly with a 80cm board rather than 70-75cm board.

I would think hard about the marginal gain you would get by going from an Alien 125/6.0 and an Alien 145/7.0. Especially with low aspect foils I think the gain is minimal. I have been down this path with 6.0 and 7.0 Ezzy Hydras with a Slingshot Infinity 76. The 7.0 definitely had a better glide and got thru lulls better, but in terms of takeoff the difference was negligible because the bigger board required creates a lot more friction. Also carrying around a bigger board and bigger sail is a pain.

I would consider an Alien 125 and get a good dedicated 6.0 foil sail that is pumpable

Thank you all for your valuable input, it has changed the way I look at the upgrade path. I also need to consider bying another front wing. Supercruiser is very lifty in low speed and in low speed it is not stable, specially in gusty conditions it becomes v difficult to controll. One can call it playfulness but when learning foiling I would rather appreciate more stability. I understand that Superflyer is more stable, right? If so which one (1300 or 1500) do you recommend?

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lech_waldemar said..
Thank you all for your valuable input, it has changed the way I look at the upgrade path. I also need to consider bying another front wing. Supercruiser is very lifty in low speed and in low speed it is not stable, specially in gusty conditions it becomes v difficult to controll. One can call it playfulness but when learning foiling I would rather appreciate more stability. I understand that Superflyer is more stable, right? If so which one (1300 or 1500) do you recommend?

I have the 1300 Superflyer that I use the with 95+ fuse (more forward wing position than the 102) and 330 tail on a custom Roberts (about 76 cm wide, and maybe 115 liters, I am 90-95kgs). I use these with Ezzy Crosses from 3.4 - 5.7. typical range is 10-15 knots for the 5.7 up to 25-30 knots for the 3.4. The Cross is an excellent match for the 1300 Superflyer.

Relative to the Supercruiser, the SF 1300 lifts maybe 1.0 knot later, but gives you an additional 2-5 knots on the high end and is significantly more stable and easy to control. The really big low aspect wings tend to max out early, forcing you to sheet out to stay in control which impacts your pitch control. So while the big low aspect wings get you up early, they are harder for blasting around in the harness.

I have not tried the SF 1500 as I don't think I really need it. Pumping my 5.7 Cross in 10-15 knots and flying all over the place while the wingers are groveling is v satisfying. I guess it would depend on your prevailing winds, if you get alot of 5-15 knots the 1500 might be better.

From my own personal experience and what I see in my local area, most folks get the most range of use out of an all around dedicated foil board about 20-40 liters more than their bodyweight in KGs. Not too wide or too big as those boards are difficult to handle on land, require bigger sails to get going, and are less reactive when flying.

One last question I have is about tail wing spacers. Do you use the same spacer all the time or different spacers for different conditions?

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lech_waldemar said..
One last question I have is about tail wing spacers. Do you use the same spacer all the time or different spacers for different conditions?

It's quite personal and it can really change with the whole setup (footstrap position, sail size, etc.)

With my best combo (255 stab, 105+ fuse and 800/900/1000/1100), yes I use the same spacer for any front wings and any wind conditions (from 9-25 kts). I may increase the stab angle for light wind (9-12 kts) only if I want to use a smaller wing (race 800). If I need more lift depending on the sail size, I just move back a bit the mast base.

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lech_waldemar said..
One last question I have is about tail wing spacers. Do you use the same spacer all the time or different spacers for different conditions?

For me I tend to find one spacer that gives enough lift, but doesn't over-lift and cause the foil to be pitchy, and then stay with that one spacer.

I think racers since tune a bit with race foils based on conditions.

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tswei99 said..

lech_waldemar said..
One last question I have is about tail wing spacers. Do you use the same spacer all the time or different spacers for different conditions?

For me I tend to find one spacer that gives enough lift, but doesn't over-lift and cause the foil to be pitchy, and then stay with that one spacer.

I think racers since tune a bit with race foils based on conditions.

I asked this question because I noticed the other guys at my local spot (with race foils and race foilboards) change spacers depending on conditions. In order to gain more lift or control I was changing mastfoot position and/or sail but not spacers.

For me, This windsurfing/windfoiling season is actually finished with tempreratures dropping below 0 Celsius at night but for the next year my plan is to upgrade my gear with 1300 Superflyer wing and 120 or 125 Alien. Thank you all for your input & advice and see you in other threads on seabreeze.

When upgrading or buying from scratch look for a
foul that is compatible with lots of options of front & rear wings, fuse & mast lengths. A mat has 4 Starboard foil
set in his garage. I have 1 with wing options to cover all sessions.
can you put another wing on the SC fuse? If so can you buy one, as it's in stock somewhere?
ie- patrik foils have multiple mast fuse stab & wing options to cover learners to advanced winging & windfoiling. And styles too.