As a new beginner to foiling, I have seen and read threads providing advice on suitable boards and wings for beginners, however I am not seeing much on the foils themselves. At 6' and 90kg, I have picked up a used 120l 4in1 board (SUP, wing & wind) and 6m wing. Initial use with no foil was all good, not loosing too much height downwind. First try with a foil was with my kite foil, which proved extremely inadequate. Could not get any lift at low speed, even towed behind a boat. So I figure a new foil investment is required, but with so many out there, what is best to make wing and SUP foil learning as quick and easy as possible. Brands aside, what are the recommendations for size, plan shape, aspect ratio, etc. Look forward to hearing from all those experienced as to what has worked well for you.
Cheers

At your weight & kite foil experience, a ball park foil size for learning - I wouldn't go bigger than a 2000cm foil...IMHO.

Your board most likely has tail rocker which dedicated windwing boards do not as they are flat.
The rocker causes the mast to slant back making the foil wing point down a bit. With the foil wing pointing down more effort is required to fly up on the foil.
I had a board like that so shimmed the mast plate to make the mast vertical.
Also multi purpose boards tend to be very heavy adding to the challenge.

Besides a bigger wing...which you never revealed it's size.... you need more boardspeed.
Kites can be flown to lighten your body weight, like skilled riders with wings.
Add more boat speed, all your problems are solved.

I'm same size and started with a medium aspect 1950cm2 foil. Definitely not too small and hasn't felt too big. I suppose on the windier days I'd like more speed.

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Grantmac said..
I'm same size and started with a medium aspect 1950cm2 foil. Definitely not too small and hasn't felt too big. I suppose on the windier days I'd like more speed.

Thanks Grantmac, which one did you go for? If you don't mind me asking.

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LeeD said..
Besides a bigger wing...which you never revealed it's size.... you need more boardspeed.
Kites can be flown to lighten your body weight, like skilled riders with wings.
Add more boat speed, all your problems are solved.

The kite foil is 800cm2. We did add more boat speed, enough to get up on the foil, however found at such high speed, learning was not easy. Any mistake was quickly punished, with no time to react. I'm hoping there is an easier way to learn. Plus I can't see getting that speed when SUP foiling.

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warwickl said..
Your board most likely has tail rocker which dedicated windwing boards do not as they are flat.
The rocker causes the mast to slant back making the foil wing point down a bit. With the foil wing pointing down more effort is required to fly up on the foil.
I had a board like that so shimmed the mast plate to make the mast vertical.
Also multi purpose boards tend to be very heavy adding to the challenge.

Thanks Warwickl, excellent advice! You are right the board is know to be on the heavy side. Maybe I need to loose a few more, to make up for it. Anyway, what did you use for shims and how much? A couple of SS washers? Thanks for the great feedback.

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longboard said..
At your weight & kite foil experience, a ball park foil size for learning - I wouldn't go bigger than a 2000cm foil...IMHO.

Thanks longboard. I'm thinking 1500 -2000, with a system where I can change to a smaller wing for strong wind days, once I improve.

I went with a Gong Curve, its definitely much better than Slingshot (which I've also owned) but not quite as good as Starboard which I've used for windfoiling and will probably return to.

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marts86 said..

warwickl said..
Your board most likely has tail rocker which dedicated windwing boards do not as they are flat.
The rocker causes the mast to slant back making the foil wing point down a bit. With the foil wing pointing down more effort is required to fly up on the foil.
I had a board like that so shimmed the mast plate to make the mast vertical.
Also multi purpose boards tend to be very heavy adding to the challenge.

Thanks Warwickl, excellent advice! You are right the board is know to be on the heavy side. Maybe I need to loose a few more, to make up for it. Anyway, what did you use for shims and how much? A couple of SS washers? Thanks for the great feedback.

Initially I used washers at the back however, this puts bending load on the front of the plate. The result was on the Naish Abracadabra plate cracking from bolt hole to edge.
Next ( after obtaining a new plate) I made a wedge from some solid foam.
Next sold the board and have had a few dedicated boards and now my favourite of all by a long way - Fanatic 95l.

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marts86 said..

warwickl said..
Your board most likely has tail rocker which dedicated windwing boards do not as they are flat.
The rocker causes the mast to slant back making the foil wing point down a bit. With the foil wing pointing down more effort is required to fly up on the foil.
I had a board like that so shimmed the mast plate to make the mast vertical.
Also multi purpose boards tend to be very heavy adding to the challenge.

Thanks Warwickl, excellent advice! You are right the board is know to be on the heavy side. Maybe I need to loose a few more, to make up for it. Anyway, what did you use for shims and how much? A couple of SS washers? Thanks for the great feedback.

I made a shim from a $3 Nylon breadboard... The Nylon is super tough, not hard enough to hurt the board, and plastic enough to make working with it easy.

I cut two pieces and glued them together (as I needed a decent amount of shim), and then just used a cheap electric planer to work it to the angle I wanted.

I never actually used it, as I ended up getting a dedicated board anyway, but it looks the part.

Agree with 2000cm wing. But hear of 2400cm wing being ok for 90kg & over body weight.
You've got the right size wind wing at 6Meters in my opinion.
Now the wind speed. Go out in 20 knots. I found at around 16 knots & under I have found it much more difficult & much more work to get up on foil.
I was previously too apprehensive to go out in stronger winds and failed each time.
And in my opinion put your foil all the way forward towards the nose of board for best lift. You can adjust later if ever needed.
After trying all this first and you think its still difficult to get up on foil. Or if you do get up on foil but constantly get thrown off backwards because you cannot put any wait forward then make a wedge which can be anything around 4mm to 15mm at the thick end depending on board tail rocker.
Adjusting stabilizer tail wing may also help with initial lift too.
I have a wedge at aporox. 13mm for one of my boards wich has excessive tail rocker. And my other board has a 5mm wedge.
I found making one out of epoxy resin & matting in a greased with Vaseline cardboard rectangular mold that is tipped up at one end for your desired thickness easiest for me. Just make sure the corners of the mold are taped up to stop any leaks.

Should you learn to ride switchfoot straight away as a beginner I normally just surf goofy

Don't count out the 2400cm size. I'm only 65kgs and came to wing foiling with two years of foil surfing prone. No prior wind experience. Struggled with my 1600cm, so purchased a 2400. I used that size for months, and it made everything so easy. Not only getting up on foil, but also learning gybes and small wind chop riding. I still keep it as a session saver for very light wind, and mostly ride my 1250 or 1850 now, with the 1050 and 850 in the more powered up sessions.

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Paul68 said..
Should you learn to ride switchfoot straight away as a beginner I normally just surf goofy

I would say if you don't learn it straight away...you will never do. A lot don't ride switch and It's fine also. I'm a windsurfer, so I can ride in both side, but can only surf in my natural stand(regular).

As a 90-93kg guy I'd recommend a front wing around 2400cm2.

I started on a wing at 1780cm2 and could only get on foil in over 25kts which was very hard work and overpowered. Once I got a 2400cm2 wing I could start flying at only 18kts.

As I improve I will return to the smaller wing but for now I need to larger one to be able to learn more...

I'm 92kgs and learnt/learning on Naish 1400 and get on the foil in 10 knots with a 6m.

2400 was awesome to learn on. Easy to get up, slow speed so crashes don't hurt as much, slow to react to your poorly placed feet so you have time to correct. Only negative is if you get the sniff of a wave you breach.

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Paul68 said..
Should you learn to ride switchfoot straight away as a beginner I normally just surf goofy

Got mates who don't and do okay. But you can't haul upwind back to a wave nearly as well. It's worth putting some time into it once you are up and going.

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hilly said..
2400 was awesome to learn on. Easy to get up, slow speed so crashes don't hurt as much, slow to react to your poorly placed feet so you have time to correct. Only negative is if you get the sniff of a wave you breach.

Yep. I still have the 1700 for waves. Even that is a handfull...

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marts86 said..
As a new beginner to foiling, I have seen and read threads providing advice on suitable boards and wings for beginners, however I am not seeing much on the foils themselves. At 6' and 90kg, I have picked up a used 120l 4in1 board (SUP, wing & wind) and 6m wing. Initial use with no foil was all good, not loosing too much height downwind. First try with a foil was with my kite foil, which proved extremely inadequate. Could not get any lift at low speed, even towed behind a boat. So I figure a new foil investment is required, but with so many out there, what is best to make wing and SUP foil learning as quick and easy as possible. Brands aside, what are the recommendations for size, plan shape, aspect ratio, etc. Look forward to hearing from all those experienced as to what has worked well for you.
Cheers

Start with around the 2000 size foil and 450 stabaliser. You will need around the 20knt mark in wind initially. I am around the 85kg mark. 6m wing/jet 2000/106ltr SUP foil board. It took a couple of goes to get up but if it is less than 15knts don't bother. It will take time and practise to get your pump going.

I am now on a dedicated 110ltr wing board and the 1800 HA/280HA and loving it. Can get going in around the 15knt range now. Been at it since October.

My advice stick at it>>>>

I also started on the 4 in 1 type board (125 L) 1 year ago, but found it to be too heavy for my local spot that has chronic lite winds. Selling the 4 :1 and getting a dedicated wing board (much lighter) got me headed in the right direction. Getting the 2400 front foil was critical to get flying last summer. I'm about your size and vacillate between the 1850 and 2400 front foil depending on the conditions.

What would be the best option to make this work until the new board show up. A wizard 150 with no track with an infinity 99 with a power plate to put the mast the more fwd(chinook power plate + tuttle box). The board release well, cannot pump much but i had to keep
a lot of weight on the back foot. Shim the stab? Wedge the mast? Both? Cannot move the mast more fwd.

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NordRoi said..
What would be the best option to make this work until the new board show up. A wizard 150 with no track with an infinity 99 with a power plate to put the mast the more fwd(chinook box + adapter). The board release well, cannot pump much but i had to keep
a lot of weight on the back foot. Shim the stab? Wedge the mast? Both? Cannot move the mast more fwd.

Start with shimming the stab.See how that goes.

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NordRoi said..
What would be the best option to make this work until the new board show up. A wizard 150 with no track with an infinity 99 with a power plate to put the mast the more fwd(chinook power plate + tuttle box). The board release well, cannot pump much but i had to keep
a lot of weight on the back foot. Shim the stab? Wedge the mast? Both? Cannot move the mast more fwd.

I tried my Slingshot Wizard 150 when I first started winging and found it to be a complete waste of time. Went and bought a Smik Slab and it was perfect, made good progress after that.

Yeah I agree, the slab dimension look a very nice platform! He is waiting for his board to come, however it's doing the job way better than I initially thought for the record! If he can just level that backfoot pressure he will be fine until the big day.