From what I’ve seen in surf foil and downwing videos, the better the riders, the smaller the stabs.
And that made me wonder, are stabs really just making your setup more pitch stable in the expense of performance? And if so, shouldn’t we all use the smallest stabs we are comfortable riding?
Pitch stability is something that is also trained, so being able to have more stability this way might unlock better performance. I’d love to hear your opinions on this, as someone that’s starting to ride a smaller stab and finding that it’s harder but could be more fun
Yes, in a standard plane a stab provides downforce and a significant amount of drag. The smaller the stab, the more pitch sensitive, but also more lift and less drag everything else staying the same.
For me the the sweet spot is to reduce span as much as possible without making it too high aspect as that is less fun for surf. Best is to find a nice stab and just downsize it, never a bad outcome.
I played with the Axis skinny stabs and they were all the same span but as you lost chord they got really funky and unpleasant. Nice experiment but not nice stab range other than for going straight
I agree completely. Reducing span is the main gain.
The other thought is winglets. I don’t like winglets on a stab. When coming up to the top of a wave after a bottom turn, I like to be able to unweight and rotate the foil. Winglets and span play a part in resistance to that.
Some theories disagree. James Casey for example goes to a smaller front foil and larger stab when towing. He wants the extra drag of a larger stab in the system. So it just depends what you are trying to solve for and the system needs to work together.
I think maybe the larger stab is used to create more drag to prevent a smaller, faster, front foil from out running the wave and help keep you in the pocket.
This could be useful when towing big fast surf.
The stab angle and length of the fuse are also really important.
A greater stab angle creates more front foot pressure and drag and low end. A flatter stab does the opposite.
Longer fuses increase the leverage the stab has over the front wing leading to more front foot pressure without stab related drag increasing.
A long fuse can give the same pitch stability with smaller stabs than a short fuse.
The fuse shape makes a difference, Code’s chunky fuse probably calms the pitch compared to brands with thinner fuses.
Found it easier to go fast with a longer fuse and a larger, flatter stab compared to setups with a shorter fuse and stock stab angle. I can get used to riding a tiny stab and short fuse, but no way to push it as fast.
Early on in your riding and progression they are like training wheels.
Once you reach the low end of tail sizes it’s not just about finding something smaller. It’s about matching your tail to the experience you want or need on the water that day based on your foil and conditions.
Just like the smallest front foil isn’t always the goal, neither is the smallest tail.
I ride a 113² UHA tail for glide days.
125² Surf tail when it’s good.
157² Surf tail to slow fast foils in swell.
Next purchase is a 115² Surf tail for hero days.