I currently have a starboard race foil with 900 / 115 fuse / 255 rear and 100 kgs. It works well in 10 knots plus. However I'm looking to improve my light wind performance after being smoked by iqfoils last weekend.
Which would be the best option?
- swap to 115 plus fuse?
- swap to 1000 wing?
- swap to 1100 free ride wing?
- lose 10-15 kgs

board is Exocet RF91 with 9m in light wind.

cheers

Your foil is quite heavy at 100kg. Mine is about 5 kg
Without a doubt, the best upgrade will be the 115+ fuselage. That will increase the power of the foil (due to the front wing being moved forward) and on top of that, you can change the angle of the stab (thus increasing its power even more or decreasing it for better control at higher speed).
The 1000 front wing will allow you to fly earlier or have better angles but you lose a bit in top speed.
Of course, considering your weight, if you have the option of both upgrading to the 115+ fuselage and the 1000 wing, that would be the best.
I'm 72 kg and it is the set up I use the most here in Brisbane.

If you don't like being smoked by IQfoils I would stay away from the 1100, more designed for ease of use than speed.

The + fuselage should bring a lot of improvement in the low end, also by far the cheapest upgrade.

The Exo 91 - the older 2019/2020 model is very good for control and low resistance when you touch the water. It is not good in taking off with low wind speed. New shapes (2021) are much better to get foiling.
I got the Exo 81 in AST from 2021 and the take off is amazing, 1 pump and you are up.
Much more technical though - took me 3 sessions to get a hang of it. You get airborne before planing.

The IQ foil boards are also designed to take off very fast.
New 91 boards are slalom models with a pinched back - also faster take off
Even the new 100cm boards have slalom board like bottom shape to make them take off earlier but it remains that the wider the board the more power you need to get into the air.

The plus fuse will help with reducing drag. but I have your combo above and use my 1100 wing most of the time. Not quite as fast as the 800, but I love the light wind performance it brings. My 115++ fuse and -2 255 stab is on order.

How's the IQ alu kit (900/255 -2?/115+/new alu 95 mast) for light wind free slalom use? I mean, is the kit too powerful for beam reach being only 80 kg and not quite expert? I still don't figure what's the "right" fuselage length!
I think it could be (later) upgraded with both some smaller wings and carbon mast ?

Hi James,
Plenty of guys at marmong with the new fuse and I have the 1000 wing . You are welcome to put them on and give them a go. Personally I find the 1000 wing a bit draggy and I only use it in below 8 knots conditions. the 1000 does get very low downwind however and you want it for light conditions anyway. I also tend to fall into the trap of pointing too high and not keeping my speed up when using the 1000.

As for your weight, I have gained 5 kilo's myself and I'm now 85 kg. I like it. It's definitely faster. Personally I would rather be heavy than light for foil racing. Being light is only an advantage in very light conditions and you need to be pretty fit to really exploit the advantage. The apparent wind battle is the thing that screws you over the most in the those conditions.

Your board and sail aren't doing you any favours either. A tall heavy bloke like yourself needs to be on a 100 wide board and a 10 metre sail. Old formula boards are good for getting going early. I have the Fanatic Falcon foil 200 and it is actually a bit slower to pop than my 2015 falcon formula board. That's where the advantage ends though. The extra width at the back strap makes the foil 200 a beast upwind. You are also welcome to try the foil 200 as long as I get it back lol.

So to sum up you need to be on a 100 wide board and a 10 metre sail up to as much wind as you can hold it. You have the capability to generate a ton of speed and vmg with your physical characteristics.

And ditch the 9 metre titan. It's a disaster.

I have new parts on the way in the container that is due at SB
wings fuse shims so we can play with them at the club when they get here
as for the 10-15 kg buy a mtb and come riding with us

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Cluffy said..
....
And ditch the 9 metre titan. It's a disaster.

Are you referring to an MS Titan? I have one in the garage and never really used it. Wondering if I should go ahead and sell it so someone else can get it wet? I have proper foil sails so I was just holding on to it more for the area - it's my biggest sail but I'm at the opposite end of the weight spectrum from the OP.

I really like the 9m Titan (for an older sail). Not sure why cluffy is hating on my gear

hey James, i recently got a 1000 wing and really like it ; lately that is all i have been using, in all winds.

it is interesting to see what everyone registered at last years Worlds ; it seems the top guys using Starboard Foils had a 1000 registered ;

new.myliveregatta.com/files/106/ONB/Formula%20Foil%20Equipment%20Form%20%28Responses%29%20-%20Copy%20of%20Form%20Responses%201.pdf

And 11m sails :))

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DarrylG said..
And 11m sails :))

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Mitch Pearson said..

DarrylG said..
And 11m sails :))

:)
They also want to limit mast to 100cm, which excludes a lot of current masts ????

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DarrylG said..

Mitch Pearson said..

DarrylG said..
And 11m sails :))

:)
They also want to limit mast to 100cm, which excludes a lot of current masts ????

They have limited it to 100 cm. However there are two submissions to increase it after they admitted they didn't do great market research; one to make it for the longest mast on the market (starboard 110?), one at 106.5. This annoys me as my Moses is 107! But Moses assure me it's actually 106.5 haha.

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Mitch Pearson said..

DarrylG said..

Mitch Pearson said..

DarrylG said..
And 11m sails :))

:)
They also want to limit mast to 100cm, which excludes a lot of current masts ????

They have limited it to 100 cm. However there are two submissions to increase it after they admitted they didn't do great market research; one to make it for the longest mast on the market (starboard 110?), one at 106.5. This annoys me as my Moses is 107! But Moses assure me it's actually 106.5 haha.

It seems that they are working hard to kill formula foil. Much faster they did with formula 20 years ago.

It took about five season to kill formula by making it very expensive to be competitive, but now it's done with the accelerated schedule by ruling out already existing gear and allowing some huge and pricy 11m? rig.

So it looks pretty simple James, you need a new board, an 11 metre sail (That will require a new mast and boom), the 1000 wing a 115+ fuse and probably should get a carbon foil mast too, but don't worry you can use your existing rear stab (but to be honest you would be better off with the 255-2 version). Let's see that lot will cost you about $12,000. So much exactly do you mind "being smoked by the IQ foils"?

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Siksvan said..

Mitch Pearson said..

DarrylG said..

Mitch Pearson said..

DarrylG said..
And 11m sails :))

:)
They also want to limit mast to 100cm, which excludes a lot of current masts ????

They have limited it to 100 cm. However there are two submissions to increase it after they admitted they didn't do great market research; one to make it for the longest mast on the market (starboard 110?), one at 106.5. This annoys me as my Moses is 107! But Moses assure me it's actually 106.5 haha.

It seems that they are working hard to kill formula foil. Much faster they did with formula 20 years ago.

It took about five season to kill formula by making it very expensive to be competitive, but now it's done with the accelerated schedule by ruling out already existing gear and allowing some huge and pricy 11m? rig.

Formula foil already got killed by the IQ. I sold all my racing kit because pretty much all competative up/down racers on the foil in europe switched to IQ. I cant afford IQ (10K is ridiculous), so stopped racing alltogether and decided to invest in my other hobbies instead (kitefoiling, wingfoiling, guitar).

To reply to the topic, my racing kit was a formula with a 9.0 Phantom RF and Lokefoil Race 872cm2 front wing. Got my 95Kgs going in 6 knots. Now I have a 7.0 freeride sail and an 880cm2 freeridefoil with 135L board as biggest and that gets me going in 8-10. I think you should invest in stamina instead of gear ;)...

Your board maybe holding you back though. I read the Exocet RF isnt the fastest to fly, although I haven't tried myself.

115+ fuselage will also make a massive difference, IF you have a good active pumping technique!

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tbwonder said..
So it looks pretty simple James, you need a new board, an 11 metre sail (That will require a new mast and boom), the 1000 wing a 115+ fuse and probably should get a carbon foil mast too, but don't worry you can use your existing rear stab (but to be honest you would be better off with the 255-2 version). Let's see that lot will cost you about $12,000. So much exactly do you mind "being smoked by the IQ foils"?

That sounds like a lot and it is but if you compare it to a new foiling moth at about 30 grand or a new carbon 16 foot skiff from china at 50K plus then from a performance per dollar perspective it starts looking a bit better.

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WhiteofHeart said..


To reply to the topic, my racing kit was a formula with a 9.0 Phantom RF and Lokefoil Race 872cm2 front wing. Got my 95Kgs going in 6 knots. Now I have a 7.0 freeride sail and an 880cm2 freeridefoil with 135L board as biggest and that gets me going in 8-10. I think you should invest in stamina instead of gear ;)...

Your board maybe holding you back though. I read the Exocet RF isnt the fastest to fly, although I haven't tried myself.

115+ fuselage will also make a massive difference, IF you have a good active pumping technique!

This seems to make the most sense. 115+ is about 300usd, IQFoil also uses the 900 front and 255 rear. You're basically on the verge of that capability when you get extra power from the wing being further forward. I'm not a great pumper and have gotten going in pretty light stuff with that setup.

I don't currently understand the need for 10 or 11m2 sails on a foil. Even with 100kg it seems excessive to me. When I got back into windsurfing last year I was around 95kg and just from being on the water all the time and working hard I'm down to sub 85kg on most days.

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aeroegnr said..

I don't currently understand the need for 10 or 11m2 sails on a foil. Even with 100kg it seems excessive to me. When I got back into windsurfing last year I was around 95kg and just from being on the water all the time and working hard I'm down to sub 85kg on most days.

Racing... if you drop off the foil for a moment while the lighter guys are still going, you are toast. If it takes you 7 seconds to get back on the foil even at a lowly 15 kt pace for everyone else, the rest of the fleet is now a half football/soccer pitch away. Also, remember that much of windward/leeward racing takes place at the most underpowered angles: upwind, deep downwind. It sounds obvious but that's when having adequate power makes or breaks you.

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Paducah said..


Racing... if you drop off the foil for a moment while the lighter guys are still going, you are toast. If it takes you 7 seconds to get back on the foil even at a lowly 15 kt pace for everyone else, the rest of the fleet is now a half football/soccer pitch away. Also, remember that much of windward/leeward racing takes place at the most underpowered angles: upwind, deep downwind. It sounds obvious but that's when having adequate power makes or breaks you.

Makes sense. I'm trying to get the bare minimum skill to start racing. Will just have to see if anyone uses sails that size in low wind or if they just change to slalom format to avoid needing rigs that size.

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aeroegnr said..

Paducah said..


Racing... if you drop off the foil for a moment while the lighter guys are still going, you are toast. If it takes you 7 seconds to get back on the foil even at a lowly 15 kt pace for everyone else, the rest of the fleet is now a half football/soccer pitch away. Also, remember that much of windward/leeward racing takes place at the most underpowered angles: upwind, deep downwind. It sounds obvious but that's when having adequate power makes or breaks you.

Makes sense. I'm trying to get the bare minimum skill to start racing. Will just have to see if anyone uses sails that size in low wind or if they just change to slalom format to avoid needing rigs that size.

Note that very few on that list were doing 10 and 11 when I scanned through it. They were generally really good racers for whom all the weight, expense and effort is worth it (at least in their minds). Down where you are, 9.0 is a reasonable limit iirc and what the young guns are riding plus will give you a good benchmark on how you are progressing.

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Paducah said..


Note that very few on that list were doing 10 and 11 when I scanned through it. They were generally really good racers for whom all the weight, expense and effort is worth it (at least in their minds). Down where you are, 9.0 is a reasonable limit iirc and what the young guns are riding plus will give you a good benchmark on how you are progressing.

Rumor has it that as soon as I join them, everyone else in the fleet will suddenly have an improved ranking.