Hi! Anyone have any experience with the new mid length from Appletree?
Thanks
I bought a 5’0”x18”x 3.13” 37L skipper midlength board. I’ve only used it once for foil drive in flat water and once prone surfing mushy waves. Im riding Progression 140. I have to place mast all the way back in the tracks and it still doesn’t feel quite far enough back so I had some trouble pumping. It paddles real well and catches mushy rollers. When I’m on foil and riding the rail to rail turns felt good. Need to give it some more sessions
The apple tree mid length is good. Note that for pure prone foil, it will be 10-15% heavier than the skipper Dw prone board of similar dims. This is because the board is made for potential wing foil use which means a heavier and more stiff construction. It’s a very good board, but it will be heavier than other prone options from Apple.
Any more reviews…particularly interested in its stability on the water
Any reviews of these boards in the larger sizes, say the 77L for a 78Kg rider?
I just got a 77L and had my first session on it last weekend. I’m 62 kg and have been riding a 90L 5’3” x 27” KT wing drifter for the last 3 years. The wind started out a little too light for me to get up. I was able to taxi back and forth standing up though I fell pretty much every time I turned to go the other way. Eventually the wind picked up a bit (like 12 knots) and I was able to get up and flying. I used what I think people call a knee start like I would on the other board. The spot was a river mouth so there was boat traffic putting out wake waves and some small chop from the wind. I was surprised by how stable it felt on the water. It wasn’t as stable as my other board but it was not challenging to figure out and get comfortable. I’ll be on vacation next week and should have a chance to try it out in rougher conditions.
One thing that was tricky was figuring out where to be on the board. With the all black traction pad, it was difficult to know where my feet were. Adding to the trouble was not knowing if my foil was in the right spot in the boxes. Once dialed in, this shouldn’t be an issue. I’m planning to use paint pens to put a few marks on the pad to help with this.
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Got a few more days on the board this week. One lightwind and two in the 15-20 kt range. One of those higher wind days included my third ever parawing session. I am quite happy with the stability. Just like in the lighter wind, it is not as stable as my previous board, but is plenty stable for me.
I have seen some comments about the deck pad being a bit slippery. With a wetsuit on I didn’t notice this, but with trunks and freshly sunscreened knees, I did find it a bit slick. It was fine once I was standing though.
It seems to deliver on the claims of the midlength board: easy to get off the water, doesn’t feel big, reasonably stable. I’m happy with it.
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How is the weight? Total = ? and is balanced?
I have the 67l and the 87l. Stability-wise these long and narrow boards have a very different feel compared to the ubiquitous door shaped boards we all have/had. The narrowness feels daunting at first but the mast slows down the lateral movement especially when you start getting some forward motion. Once up on your feet the extra length creates stability in the chop and speed for takeoff. When flying the width forces your feet closer to the centerline which in turn allows quicker and more controlled edge to edge turns. It’s really surprising by how much you can crank them over. The length creates stability for footswitches and the tracks allow you to place the mast sufficiently forward to reduce swing weight. I only ride the midlengths now and at 75kg could probably get away with just the 77l as a one board quiver. But I love the agility of the 67l. Indeed some brands initially positioned their midlengths as higher volume lightwind boards. But its a shame not to go smaller as their extra length really facilitates takeoff.
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The weight of my 46L apple tree mid length 6’2 is 1kg less than my 90L 6’3 sunova.
That is THE best description of “narrow” boards that I’ve read. I got off chicken nugget boards a couple of years ago. After the first session I never noticed the perceived instability of the narrower width again however have enjoyed their ease of takeoff. The only downside is the trackiness of them.
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Thanks. Tell me more about “trackiness” ?
I love the way these mid-lengths wing but JESUS CHRIST I hate surfing them. As a short boarder, when riding my regular prone board I get to my feet and pivot a bit to point the board down the line while I initiate foil.
When I try a mid length or any kind of downwind shape I get to my feet and it won’t let me pivot so I just taco into the foil half the time. I really have to coach myself to get on foil(on that slower crappier angle) before I try to make any angle change.
Absolutely a game changer for winging though and I can see how if you lived someplace with deep water energy maybe this could help you get in sooner but for my mushy shorebreak I find the mids borderline useless for surfing
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Agree, my comments were with respect to winging. And I have more an upwind-downwind program than winging on the more critical breaking sections. For that I foil drive on a 4’7 32l Zapple. Turns on a dime.
My 77 L is 13 lbs/5.9 kg with track nuts
I have 87l (88kg). It’s been great, if a bit of a squeeze in the car compared to the old boards. Tried the slice V3 80l before, and owned sky style 85l before that. No issues whatsoever, beyond it would have been handy to have a demo one to try out before committing. Width at around 20” is ideal, and the longer length does help with smaller foils. Was on 900 glide2, but blitz 800 working well as well as carve 850, 650. It’s pretty floaty compared to other boards, and if probably have got the 77l as a one board solution as it had the exact dimensions I was looking for, but was quite a risk without the ability to return.
Has been great all summer though, and handy to have a bit too much volume given the overall lack of wind. Good to know would be fine for parawing if that takes off (more). Would definitely be happy with another as a smaller board, but given the cost of new will probably opt for something similar but used (i.e. cheap but still 20” wide and longish)…
Any issues with the nose diving under water on these boards…did they get the volume distribution/buoyancy up front right?
Parawing?
I’ve demo’d a Appletree Mid Length 87L as a Surf SUP. It actually performed really well, possibly more stable paddling around than my current 95L duotone which suggests the volume distribution is pretty damn good. It had the typical Appletree stiffness and solid feel under my feet while surfing it.
Downside is it was noticeably heavier, so whilst it felt very nice to pump due to the feedback through the board it was also gassing me out a little bit quicker due to the weight.
My mate rides the same board for parawing and loves it though!
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