To fellow foil drive frothers who have got their hands on an integrated mast:

Cedrus will be opening orders soon for their alu forged integrated mast, with a couple of pod height options.

their 78cm mast will have a pod at 15cm from base plate/where it touches the board. You need to add another 1.5-2cm on each length of mast to account for their adapter to get a total of about 79.5-80cm for the 78cm mast, measured from base plate to where the mast sits flush with the fuse.

Other options: their 80cm mast with pod at 17cm height

longer option at 82cm with pod at 19cm.

based on your experience are you happy with the pod height on your own integrated masts or Would you go shorter or longer now you have some experience? And how does a trench board affect those considerations?

thanks a lot for any advice!

foilcedrus.com/collections/masts/products/foil-drive-integrated-masts

Get a zip pod, fraction of the price but 90% of the benefits of an integrated mast. thee3shop.com/

The only benefit of an integrated mast over the zip pod is that you don't have to tape your cable. You can set your pod height where ever you want. It solved my cavitation issues with my short cable setup and you can barely feel the pod when it touches down now. The difference is huge. The secret is the mast breaks the hydro dynamic flow before it hits the much smaller pod at the trailing edge of the mast.
Some older integrated masts still use the original large pod design and they are inferior to the zip pod because they have all of the hydrodynamic drag of the old pod design

If you prefer to not go the third party route FD has their adjustable mini pod coming out later this year as well.
The Cedrus integrated does look really nice though and the price is fair. Great option if you need to buy a mast anyway for a dedicated FD setup.

To answer your question directly pod height is pretty well tied to individual preference and ability. I like mine as close to the board as possible but it's a trade off on choppy days. The nice thing about the mini pods is that they have significantly less drag than the old style pods so you can get away with mounting it lower as it has less of an impact to performance when it touches down.

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CFL Foiler said..
To answer your question directly pod height is pretty well tied to individual preference and ability. I like mine as close to the board as possible but it's a trade off on choppy days. The nice thing about the mini pods is that they have significantly less drag than the old style pods so you can get away with mounting it lower as it has less of an impact to performance when it touches down.

Thanks for your advice : I've been looking at the after market mini pods and while I do like the look of them, I just find the whole installing and uninstalling is such a faff. I just don't see myself showing up at a spot and going through the hassle of retaping the cable and rescrewing the mast to the foil drive base unit each time and vice versa. If I had a spare mast lying around I'd probably reconsider but at the moment I just have the one alu forged mast in my quiver.
regarding pod height yes seems like it's down to skill and personal preference. Seems like 17/18cm is described by many as the 'sweet spot'

For me the higher pod the better though I have found the limit in our chop for upwind/downwind. If using a regular board, I use a 12cm cable, but if on a trench ventilation became an issue and I went to the 15cm cable.


A 15-18cm pod seems the target for most users, will work in even the largest chop. Minipods do make a big difference when dipping on a wave, less chance of the nose being dragged down. Fitting and removing can be a pain if you need to remove the stator each time, look for a minipod that doesn't require tools to remove or fit. Foildrive has one coming soon that works like this.

Yeah, dedicated mast for FD is the way to go. No one wants to tape and retape their motor mount. Even the new quick release from FD would be annoying in my opinion. These are not cheap toys. A spare mast dedicated to FD is how everyone I know rides that does more than one discipline. I love my Cedrus Evo Surf masts too. The Al Forged is great as well and very stiff.

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CFL Foiler said..
Yeah, dedicated mast for FD is the way to go. No one wants to tape and retape their motor mount. Even the new quick release from FD would be annoying in my opinion. These are not cheap toys. A spare mast dedicated to FD is how everyone I know rides that does more than one discipline. I love my Cedrus Evo Surf masts too. The Al Forged is great as well and very stiff.

Yes the prices are eye-watering (at least for me) and will make a dent in my long term retirement savings. I'm really happy with the forged mast although with my foils it is very loud . Apparently the integrated mast isn't so loud. I've put in an order for a 80cm / 17cm pod mast from Cedrus. What convinced me of the 17cn height was if (eventually ) I go for a trench board (more gear ) then the height won't be ridiculously low to the board.

I'm on a 15cm integrated with a trench board. I'd been advised to get a 20cm one to make the learning easier but for the price I wasn't going to drop that sort of money on an integrated mast twice, so figured I'd just take the learning pain at the start. It really doesn't take that long to get used to and I think it's actually a benefit when trying to go direct upwind as the board isn't as exposed to the wind.

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Dl33ta said..
I'm on a 15cm integrated with a trench board. I'd been advised to get a 20cm one to make the learning easier but for the price I wasn't going to drop that sort of money on an integrated mast twice, so figured I'd just take the learning pain at the start. It really doesn't take that long to get used to and I think it's actually a benefit when trying to go direct upwind as the board isn't as exposed to the wind.

Interesting! How does that height deal with chop?

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WindyBear said..

Dl33ta said..
I'm on a 15cm integrated with a trench board. I'd been advised to get a 20cm one to make the learning easier but for the price I wasn't going to drop that sort of money on an integrated mast twice, so figured I'd just take the learning pain at the start. It really doesn't take that long to get used to and I think it's actually a benefit when trying to go direct upwind as the board isn't as exposed to the wind.

Interesting! How does that height deal with chop?

12cm combined with a trench is difficult in chop but fine in smooth surf conditions. I rode the 12 on a standard board in heavy chop for a long time but had to go to 15cm when I got a trench board. It was just too difficult to keep the pod in the water going upwind on the 12, ventilation was killing the thrust.

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airsail said..

WindyBear said..

Dl33ta said..
I'm on a 15cm integrated with a trench board. I'd been advised to get a 20cm one to make the learning easier but for the price I wasn't going to drop that sort of money on an integrated mast twice, so figured I'd just take the learning pain at the start. It really doesn't take that long to get used to and I think it's actually a benefit when trying to go direct upwind as the board isn't as exposed to the wind.

Interesting! How does that height deal with chop?

12cm combined with a trench is difficult in chop but fine in smooth surf conditions. I rode the 12 on a standard board in heavy chop for a long time but had to go to 15cm when I got a trench board. It was just too difficult to keep the pod in the water going upwind on the 12, ventilation was killing the thrust.

I used to have all kinds of ventilation issues in those choppy conditions with my short cable setup. The Zip Pod completely solved my ventilation issues. I think its one of the key benefits of the mini pods that allow the Mast to break up the water flow before it hits the pod. I think you can go shorter on any integrated mast or DIY mini pod. Note this would not apply for older integrated masts with the original large pod that protrudes in front of the mast.

I feel unstoppable now knowing I wont have to worry about ventilation while motoring upwind. Trench + Mini Pod = the perfect FD setup.

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CFL Foiler said..

airsail said..

WindyBear said..

Dl33ta said..
I'm on a 15cm integrated with a trench board. I'd been advised to get a 20cm one to make the learning easier but for the price I wasn't going to drop that sort of money on an integrated mast twice, so figured I'd just take the learning pain at the start. It really doesn't take that long to get used to and I think it's actually a benefit when trying to go direct upwind as the board isn't as exposed to the wind.

Interesting! How does that height deal with chop?

12cm combined with a trench is difficult in chop but fine in smooth surf conditions. I rode the 12 on a standard board in heavy chop for a long time but had to go to 15cm when I got a trench board. It was just too difficult to keep the pod in the water going upwind on the 12, ventilation was killing the thrust.

I used to have all kinds of ventilation issues in those choppy conditions with my short cable setup. The Zip Pod completely solved my ventilation issues. I think its one of the key benefits of the mini pods that allow the Mast to break up the water flow before it hits the pod. I think you can go shorter on any integrated mast or DIY mini pod. Note this would not apply for older integrated masts with the original large pod that protrudes in front of the mast.

I feel unstoppable now knowing I wont have to worry about ventilation while motoring upwind. Trench + Mini Pod = the perfect FD setup.

Yep, waiting for the Foildrive mini pod to drop and I'll swap over.