This was my first board I built about 3 years ago. Worked well for freeride but deck is quite flat so uncomfortable on the feet/ankles after a while. I converted it to a foil board to learn foiling, which worked very well. Now converting back to a freeride board, and experimenting with better feet angle. Added EVA foam wedges...looks kind of ugly, but might work? Any other suggestions? See picture...
Original board build:

Nice job and will certainly work
Albeit not so high, but many factory boards do the same. I have kept sone brand new Severne Fox pads for that exact reason. ... one day fix a funny angle and will be just the ticket

My first board had a flat deck, never again!
There's also a problem going to high, The closer your heels are to the water, the more control you have.
If it was me, I'd create concaves where you back feet go. A bit more work making that strong enough to take all the back foot punishment, but it will be more enjoyable afterwards.

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decrepit said..
My first board had a flat deck, never again!
There's also a problem going to high, The closer your heels are to the water, the more control you have.
If it was me, I'd create concaves where you back feet go. A bit more work making that strong enough to take all the back foot punishment, but it will be more enjoyable afterwards.

Good idea! Would probably look a lot better also. I'll give the "wedges" a go and adding concaves may be my next project. I've been thinking about adding cutouts, so might be a good reason to do both at the same time.

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Mark _australia said..
Nice job and will certainly work
Albeit not so high, but many factory boards do the same. I have kept sone brand new Severne Fox pads for that exact reason. ... one day fix a funny angle and will be just the ticket

Thanks, Mark. Mine don't look quite so extreme next to the Severne Fox pads. I had forgotten they have pads on the front and shaped deck on the rear. Good inspiration for v2! Should be some wind in the next couple of days to test my current version.

Success! They worked well. It took a few runs to get used to it, but is much more comfortable and gives something to push against. Here's some on the water footage from yesterday.

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Mark _australia said..
Nice job and will certainly work
Albeit not so high, but many factory boards do the same. I have kept sone brand new Severne Fox pads for that exact reason. ... one day fix a funny angle and will be just the ticket

Just finished version 2 and looks a lot better! As you suggested Mark, not so high and improved design. Thanks!

This is the same board...decided to add cut-outs, changed the rails a bit, and refinished the whole thing while I was at it. Will be interesting to see what the difference is on the water, and if there's any performance improvement:)

I finally got around to making a short video showing the steps to adding the cutouts - used divinycell core and 2-step vacuum bagging. Hopefully someone finds this useful - either what to do or what not to do:)

so what is the difference in performance ?

I have had the board out in lighter winds, but haven't had any runs in good wind at full speed yet. I didn't notice any big differences so far other than the board felt a bit "looser". I'm not too optimistic about any major performance improvements, but will be interesting to see...will provide an update when I can get it out in better wind.