Hi
Silly question, where should I put the foot straps?
(100kg experienced windsurfer novice windfoiler!)
How shouldd I decide to move the front strap, back, both or mast foot?
Thanks!

Welcome Pipington!
No such thing as a silly question.

I have never ridden either the foil or board but they are presumably designed to work together. Looking at the board there is only a slight range fore and aft for the straps so look at that as the fine tune. Inboard is alway easier to get in and out of than out on the rail. Here is how I would start out and then fine tune from there.

Start with the front straps inboard and centered fore and aft.
Leave the aft straps ashore or if you want them, set them inboard and in the middle fore and aft. The back strap gets in the way but it can also be a good reference. The best IMO is to have no back strap but a center ridge for reference.
You can alway slide your feet outboard of the straps to explore and compare how strap location affects things. But if the straps are out on the rail that's where you HAVE to be and that means you HAVE to be powered up. Many of us find foiling to be so smooth that straps are not needed. I think they help at first to limit you to one spot and then you learn how to move your weight with your hips and hang from the boom.

Since that board is tuttle and your strap range fore and aft is limited the sails location in the mast track will be your main course trimming tool to change the balance in pitch. Again, your board and foil are probably designed to balance so here is a general guideline for sail location and it's based on the size.
Set the sail in the middle or just forward of the middle for sails 7m and up. As the sails and/or the booms get smaller move them back. With a 4.0 you will want to be at the back of the track. These guidelines will keep the sails center close to where your body needs to be and that's over the foil. Your goal is to balance the load between your front and back feet. It took me a while (like a year) to have any idea how my feet were weighted. But I did start to notice which leg got tired first and started to sort it out from there. As you advance balance becomes a personal preference thing where one rider may prefer a backfooted set up and another wants more front foot.

Most of us find that a wave sail around 5.5 meter and 15 knots of breeze is ideal for learning. Flat water is better in the begining. One of the coolest things is learning how the waves affect the lift but at first it just easier where it's smoother.

Don't overthink it, just get started and keep going. The learning happens on the water. Everyone overthinks their gear setup when they overfoil and crash. You have to foil out to learn when and why to shift your weight it's part of the process. Keep your settings simple and consistant.

As you progress you will start to understand why you may want to move your foot strap half an inch or you may add the back strap for jumping.

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Pipington said..
Hi
Silly question, where should I put the foot straps?
(100kg experienced windsurfer novice windfoiler!)
How shouldd I decide to move the front strap, back, both or mast foot?
Thanks!

I have both the Alien 125 & Redwing 1400. I weigh 92kgs. I set my footsteps in the front most position and my mast base in the back third of the track.



This is a balanced setup for me.

At 100kg, you might have to move your mast base forward a couple of centimetres for the same balance. Use this as a starting position, then make small adjustments until you find what works for you.

That's a slightly different strap set up than what I saw on the web.
www.severnesails.com/boards/alien/
Which do you have Pipington?

Thanks guys!
my Alien 125 has one set of 3 foot strap inserts at the back & one set of 5 insets in the front. They are "mid-board" not really inboard or outboard.

Middle hole front and back. On a reach I struggle to keep the board down I am fighting to get my weight forward enough most of the time to stop breaching. It's seems too much lift.

Di front and back straps have different effects?
eg back foot lift, front foot control/pitch, mast foot height? A bit like a windsurfer? Probably not that simple!

(Only (?) about 4 sessions on my Alien/RW + 6 sessions on various rental gear).

should I just leave the straps in the middle and work on the learner pilot!? Would a wider stance eg back strap back
, front strap one forward of the middle help make true controls less sensitive and easier to keep a level? Never has so little wind been so thrilling!!!

Thanks again!!!

Thanks guys!
my Alien 125 has one set of 3 foot strap inserts at the back & one set of 5 insets in the front. They are "mid-board" not really inboard or outboard.

Middle hole front and back. On a reach I struggle to keep the board down I am fighting to get my weight forward enough most of the time to stop breaching. It's seems too much lift.

Di front and back straps have different effects?
eg back foot lift, front foot control/pitch, mast foot height? A bit like a windsurfer? Probably not that simple!

(Only (?) about 4 sessions on my Alien/RW + 6 sessions on various rental gear).

should I just leave the straps in the middle and work on the learner pilot!? Would a wider stance eg back strap back
, front strap one forward of the middle help make true controls less sensitive and easier to keep a level? Never has so little wind been so thrilling!!!

Thanks again!!!

I think the Severne 1400 wing provides a lot of lift, great for learning on, but once you pick up to a decent speed it will give you too much lift. Think of it as balancing on a see-saw, standing with one leg either side of the pivot. As you pick up speed, its like someone lifting one end of the see-saw. So you have to press down with the front foot, or move a bit towards them to counteract. But if they let go, you need to move back to where you were. After a while, you will know where to put your feet for your average speed, then alter body position for gusts and lulls. It just take time on the water to find your balance point, there arent any shortcuts.
A local here in Poole UK has that foil and he uses it with small sails, 5.4, when I was on 6.5m. He was flying all the time, but only around 17 knots max speed I reckon.
At Portland harbour, I saw an expert on the 125 Alien with 1000 front wing, and he had his front footstrap in the front plug. But he was around 75kg.

I would take the back strap off as well. Im still improving after nearly 1 year and find it easier to adjust my balance point by shifting my back foot forwards/backwards by small amounts when I see a gust/lull coming.

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Pipington said..
Thanks guys!
my Alien 125 has one set of 3 foot strap inserts at the back & one set of 5 insets in the front. They are "mid-board" not really inboard or outboard.

Middle hole front and back. On a reach I struggle to keep the board down I am fighting to get my weight forward enough most of the time to stop breaching. It's seems too much lift.

Di front and back straps have different effects?
eg back foot lift, front foot control/pitch, mast foot height? A bit like a windsurfer? Probably not that simple!

(Only (?) about 4 sessions on my Alien/RW + 6 sessions on various rental gear).

should I just leave the straps in the middle and work on the learner pilot!? Would a wider stance eg back strap back
, front strap one forward of the middle help make true controls less sensitive and easier to keep a level? Never has so little wind been so thrilling!!!

Thanks again!!!

Your weight is too far back. That's why you are struggling against the lift of the foil. Put the front straps all the way forward and as suggested by Phil, remove the rear strap so you can move your rear foot back or forward to help find a balanced set-up. You might have noticed that I use half straps as my rear straps, so I can easily move my rear foot forward when carving on waves.

Once you have a balanced setup, the 1400 wing is not too big and lofty. I've comfortably used my 1400 wing with a 5m sail in 16 to 20kts. Just use smaller sails as the wind picks up.

I also have the 1000 wing which I use when the wind gets over 20kts.

You have to balance all the loads on the foil board. They are the downforce from the rig on the mast base, your front and rear feet and the uplift from the foil. If this is not balanced then you will have to fight it by leaning on your front or rear leg depending on whether you have too much or not enough lift.

Last year i had the alien 125. For my SAB foil i had to put the straps most forward to get it some way balanced. Have sold it in winter and got the newer 120. This board has another shape, inner strap plugs and is built in a different factory (south korea?).
Then i realized i have to put the straps much more back with the same foil. My local dealer told me that the plugs of the older alien where not ideal. So they changed it. Cannot measure the difference, do not have the older board anymore.

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PatK said..
Last year i had the alien 125. For my SAB foil i had to put the straps most forward to get it some way balanced. Have sold it in winter and got the newer 120. This board has another shape, inner strap plugs and is built in a different factory (south korea?).
Then i realized i have to put the straps much more back with the same foil. My local dealer told me that the plugs of the older alien where not ideal. So they changed it. Cannot measure the difference, do not have the older board anymore.

I roughly measured where the foil box was on the 125 I saw, its about 10cm from the end of the board. My AHD is 5cm. Not saying what is best, but maybe its the foil box being a bit further forward. Even that minor(?) difference highlights why its a good idea to buy same brand board/foil (of same program), as you would hope they have tested it.

There are three adjustments to balance the foil. Finbox, footstraps, and sail mast base. A tuttle finbox is not movable, but footstraps and sail mast base are adjustable. I idea is get the front wing at about midpoint between front and back feet.

Don't guess. Measure. I made a youtube a few years ago about doing this measurement. If your foil mast has a 90 deg angle to the board, the measurment is easy. In the youtube my foil mast was raked forward, so I have to use a 90 deg tool.

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PhilUK said..
I think the Severne 1400 wing provides a lot of lift, great for learning on, but once you pick up to a decent speed it will give you too much lift. Think of it as balancing on a see-saw, standing with one leg either side of the pivot. As you pick up speed, its like someone lifting one end of the see-saw. So you have to press down with the front foot, or move a bit towards them to counteract. But if they let go, you need to move back to where you were. After a while, you will know where to put your feet for your average speed, then alter body position for gusts and lulls. It just take time on the water to find your balance point, there arent any shortcuts.
A local here in Poole UK has that foil and he uses it with small sails, 5.4, when I was on 6.5m. He was flying all the time, but only around 17 knots max speed I reckon.
At Portland harbour, I saw an expert on the 125 Alien with 1000 front wing, and he had his front footstrap in the front plug. But he was around 75kg.

Ha! That's me!

I use the redwing with a 5.4m and below (i still use the 5.4 even when marginal), a larger sail gives no advantage and is heavy when up on the foil. When the wind picks up i just move to a smaller sail - either 4.7/4.5 or even a 4.0. The 1400 wing is fab and even when overpowered does NOT give too much lift. Its not particularly fast but is extremely well balanced and enormous fun.

I have just bought the 1000 front wing and the smaller back one. This has taken some getting used to and is faster but I am equally happy on either. The larger 1400 is fab for the sea and rolling swell (the 1000 is too fast for the waves) and the smaller one for flatter water in the harbour.

The biggest fun factor i find is trying to match the conditions to the gear. I sailed in 10 knots yesterday with a 5.4 when everybody else was slogging. A small board helps - i have a 110 litre starboard foil board.

Hope that helps. Have fun, you have chosen a really fun and well designed set up.