Considering chopping my HA38 for better turning and better control in solid swells. Anyone done it? Outcome? Pics?
Here’s an HA40 that I chopped. Loosened it up quite a bit and didn’t lose much in glide. There is a lot of profile on the tail so it required a lot of careful sanding to taper off the tips.
Adam Bennetts was riding a chopped Afs ha tail for a while. His chop was really aggressive. I think he told me 3” off each tip. Mine is probably more like 1.5”.
1 Like
No issue with foam core?
No. I think the ha is solid carbon - or at least I didn’t hit any foam.
1 Like
In a recent podcast it was brought up that when chopping tails, minimize the shaping of the chop to just slight amount of rounding off. The idea being that all that shaping will only cause added drag when compared to a flat planar cutoff. Many airplane wing/tail just end in a planar end with no rounding off and that was stated to be the best.
1 Like
Tail worked well, improved control and turning. Video below of one wave from a long session from Swellnet, rode most of the session out of cam range. 700 enduro 80 UHM mast with a tow boogie.
Tail test video
Not sure when it started happening but my chopped 38 is whistling like crazy lately - I tried sharpening the trailing end of the stab but no luck. Any tips on fixing the whistle?
To stop the whistle you want to flatten the trailing edge not sharpen it.
ok I just tried that, went out - still whistling…do I need to flatten the edge and round the corners?
I tried following that crisp video a week ago and pretty sure that is what caused the issue ha. Probably user error.
Drag your fingernail all over it. Sand anywhere it catches smooth, with high grit.
Check your front wing also. In the past I’ve thought my tail was whistling, but it was the front.
I’ve gone out on 3 different setups today to isolate the tail is the issue haha. Thank you! Smoothing it now.
Chopped the width of my roll of tape off both ends of the HA38 and I love it. It is now a fantastic surf tail. A few sessions paired with my 850 Silk, feeling great.
3 Likes
I would say thats MM within the one I ride. Love it!
I got two chopped tails. A chopped HA 38 and a chopped Silk 132.
I think in both cases they are quite surprisingly excellent, I love the chopped Silk 132, it’s my go to for Silk 850, Enduro 900, I’m amazed at how little is seemingly lost.
The Enduro 1300 is only one where the chopped HA38 is possibly better than chopped Silk 132
I think I’ll probably keep reducing them down, I haven’t gone back to back just yet but the loose feeling is exactly what I was looking for. I think chopping the HA38 much further is likely.
I’m also tempted to chop the Enduro 900. I think if the tails are anything to go by it will only be net positive for my surf style. I feel like doing this to the tails takes the edge off, makes them less precise and slightly more mushy on the margin, which makes them more fun and playful, and predictable.
Chopped my e900 by 3cm or about 12cm2. Definitely drops into turns better and has less super sharp parts.
1 Like
I applaud you guys. I’m not one to drop thousands of dollars on foils and then chopped em up, the engineers and designers came out with those designs and determined that its optimal for what they were designed for. I have chopped in the past but once you chop, there’s no going back and resale will be obsolete and the gains you get are all subjective. It might work great for you but another rider will think it rides like dogshit, but its people’s foil and you can do what u want with it. I have not modified any of mine AFS
1 Like