All the "surfy" foils have pretty short masts:

Slingshot Hoverglide FWIND - 61cm
Naish Thrust - 70 cm
SB SuperCruiser - 85 cm (ok, this one is not that short)

why is that? I foil on Mediterrenian sea where we have a lot of chop and small swell on SB Freeride with 75 cm mast and very often I either touch top of the chop or cavitate . I would like to get one of those "surfy" foils to ride the swell, but with a longer mast, like 95 cm to have more clearance. Would it make sense to get a SB SuperCruiser with 95 cm mast or am I missing something?

Select to expand quote

smellme said..
All the "surfy" foils have pretty short masts:

Slingshot Hoverglide FWIND - 61cm
Naish Thrust - 70 cm
SB SuperCruiser - 85 cm (ok, this one is not that short)

why is that? I foil on Mediterrenian sea where we have a lot of chop and small swell on SB Freeride with 75 cm mast and very often I either touch top of the chop or cavitate . I would like to get one of those "surfy" foils to ride the swell, but with a longer mast, like 95 cm to have more clearance. Would it make sense to get a SB SuperCruiser with 95 cm mast or am I missing something?

I don't own a surfy type foil, but i would guess (actually i've been in this situation before on my race foil) that the top of a wave on a 95cm mast, about to breach is a bad place to be. Especially if you've go a stubby nose freeride board to suit.

Better to have something shorter to reduce the hurt when the foil inevitably ventilates through manoeuvres, not to mention jumping them is becoming a thing now. I cant imagine a long mast helps when youre trying to do a fully sik back loop on one

id guess theres nothing stopping you sticking a long mast on one if you just want to do low wind cruising.

Also so you can ride beach breaks more easily. At most small beach breaks waves break in water shallower than would be comfortable on a 95cm+ mast.

Most also have slower high lift wings so you're riding the swell not overtaking it so much so the relative peak to trough height isn't such an issue.

Select to expand quote

CJW said..
Also so you can ride beach breaks more easily. At most small beach breaks waves break in water shallower than would be comfortable on a 95cm+ mast.

Most also have slower high lift wings so you're riding the swell not overtaking it so much so the relative peak to trough height isn't such an issue.

Ah yes, probably more relevant

You can buy 90cm masts for both Naish and Slingshot. I have the long naish and it's made a huge improvement for me, although I'm using it on a choppy lake rather than riding swells on the ocean.

Select to expand quote

CJW said..
Also so you can ride beach breaks more easily. At most small beach breaks waves break in water shallower than would be comfortable on a 95cm+ mast.

That is exactly what I was missing. Thanks!

Shorter mast help with faster roll for maneuvering, thus better for surfers. But options are nice.

Select to expand quote

IndecentExposur said..
Shorter mast help with faster roll for maneuvering, thus better for surfers. But options are nice.

I also find that a shorter mast is a little more forgiving when you're not strapped in. I mean, the second you're applying force at the wrong angle, the thing throws you off. So a 70cm mast is easier to live with in the beginning than the 90cm mast for sure.

Select to expand quote

smellme said..

CJW said..
Also so you can ride beach breaks more easily. At most small beach breaks waves break in water shallower than would be comfortable on a 95cm+ mast.

That is exactly what I was missing. Thanks!

..and launching a tall mast into surf/shorebreak is not as easy.

I am pretty certain SS sells the windsurf package with the 24 inch as most people need to learn on it. Unless water depth is an issue everyone progresses to the 90cm mast in a week or so.

the 2018 windsurf package from SS came with a 90cm mast and most people straight away bought the 24 in and used it for week. Maybe the 2020 package will come with both.