HI,

Has anyone bothered using a fin on a foiling board? More specifically on a exocet RF81. I would be interested to know what it was like before I invest in a fin.

Cheers

Ben

Only consideration is the flat deck putting stress on your ankles when planing.

At best itll be less comfortable with less range than the foil.

I'd say if that was the plan you should look at swapping it for a convertible like the RS:ONE etc.

Select to expand quote

Grantmac said..
At best itll be less comfortable with less range than the foil.

I'd say if that was the plan you should look at swapping it for a convertible like the RS:ONE etc.

Cool. Thanks. I wouldn't go to the extent of swapping it as it is a great foiling board and I have other boards, but its just that my main spot is very tidal and possibly I could get an extra hour on the water by simply putting a fin on. I think I got my head around the lack of comfort and yeah the exocet rf is a dead flat deck and would be hard work perhaps. I was just trying to think of a lazy way to get going rather that carrying/swappping another board.
Cheers for your input

Are you happy with the board as a foil board?
Can you give a review? Looks like an interesting board

Select to expand quote

ZeeGerman said..
Are you happy with the board as a foil board?
Can you give a review? Looks like an interesting board

It's a great board. Solid build. The flat deck is great to control the foil and there is some nice deck pad, like a big lump between the back straps. It feel awesome when out of the back strap on a downwind. I managed foiling in 20kts on a 7.7m rig and I am 65 kg...It was full on but I managed for a little while with the back foot in front of the strap. Lots of control. The bottom shape is good, I hardly feel the water when I touch down. Doesn't slow down much and usually just keep foiling. Even when I stall the foil and dive the nose, I never catapulted. The board bounce me back into the air and then I either fall or manage to keep going. I also hit a sand bank at speed and took a severe crash. The board is still intact. I am very please with that. The only down side, and I can only compare with my Freeride board that I learned with, is it take more pumping to get going. It like a deep bellied sail in light wind to get the initial momentum. The good thing is I can pump it off the plane in the front foot strap. That really help to transmit the sail energy into the foil. Hope this help?!

Used the JP foil as a slapper, extremely harsh my teeth are still loose

Here's my RF91 in light winds
Oops looks like the video did not upload. Any tips on how to load a video?

Select to expand quote

elmo said..
Used the JP foil as a slapper, extremely harsh my teeth are still loose

Haha!! I get the point!

Select to expand quote

oscardog said..
Here's my RF91 in light winds
Oops looks like the video did not upload. Any tips on how to load a video?

foiling or with a fin?

Benn, this is on a foil. Have a 71cm mast for the lake. Maybe you can get a shorter mast for the tidal areas

Select to expand quote

oscardog said..
Benn, this is on a foil. Have a 71cm mast for the lake. Maybe you can get a shorter mast for the tidal areas

Yeah. That's fine. I can foil no problem with my board. I was wondering how would it be with a regular slalom fin (50-60 cm) I wouldn't foil with a mast shorter than 70 myself. Have you tried your board with a fin? Cheers

Bennn,

Did you try a fin?

I don't have fin for deep tuttle, was thinking of buying a fin for the Exocet, any suggestions?

Buy a used Formula fin for under $80 and chop it to length and foil the cutoff.

Select to expand quote

oscardog said..
Bennn,

Did you try a fin?

I don't have fin for deep tuttle, was thinking of buying a fin for the Exocet, any suggestions?

You do have a fin - at least one good enough for trying the concept. Remove the fuse and sail with the 71cm mast. You'll want the mastfoot much further forward than with a foil, and you'll probably tailwalk some anyway, but it'll give you a sense of the thing. Working to windward the board will rail to leeward just like a formula board, and with so little twist or flex it'll be pretty unforgiving, but it'll work well enough to get a sense of whether you'd want to invest in a real fin. I've sailed my 95cm slalom board with the 90cm Slingshot mast and had a good laugh. pointed like crazy, unmanageable off the wind and useless jibing, but fun.

Foil is is more than double the effective area of a windsurf fin per size. Area, thickness, and stiffness.
So you can probably go a lot shorter in length than a windsurf fin.

Select to expand quote

LeeD said..
Foil is is more than double the effective area of a windsurf fin per size. Area, thickness, and stiffness.
So you can probably go a lot shorter in length than a windsurf fin.

not sure what that means ...

Anyway, fin size is mostly related to sail and body size. If you use a 7.5-8.5 a 45-55 cm fin should work. And you can get a G10 fin for dimes (i.e. $150-250) compared to the cost of a foil!. Or apparently carbon: www.ebay.com/itm/Windsurf-Windsurfing-fins-slalom-fin-DTB-Carbon-50cm/264021018019?hash=item3d78e105a3:g:BacAAOSwUpFb3Vqc

50 mast fin probably has double the lift of a 50cm windsurf fin.
I mentioned the used formula fin idea.

Thanks Duzzi and LeeD,

Will look for a 45-55cm deep tuttle, and in interim, try with my 70ish cm Slingshot mast.

Look after yourselves.

I used a stingray 140 foil board a few times with conventional fins. It is doable in light wind, you can get on the plane in flat water with a 6.6, but not having cut outs and being heavy it is slow, if the wind picks up it becomes hard to manage. I would not use it if it's choppy or the wind over 15 knts.