I reached out to appletree a couple months ago…they said it would be a while before its retailed still sussing out details
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I just finished my latest tuttle project. I cut down my F4 TX (Tuttle AX) mast from their claimed 82cm (more like a 85) to a true 75cm. It was a little too wobbly at that length and feels a lot more direct at 75cm. Worked a charm. Since bending stiffness goes with the length to the third power - a 75cm mast is about 45% stiffer than a 85cm mast in bending, which I bet a lot of people will be surprised to read.
I made a dozen pairs of the tuttle potting molds and got a good price. If anyone else wants to make one, hit me up. I can sell you a potting mold for $300.
1)cut to length and marked for the angle cuts 2) prepped for molding, needed to thin out the thickest part of the foil section to 0.625" with a sander and roughly round off the angled part 3) out of the mold
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oh, and I wetsanded it to 800 and it sure feels slippery, but who knows if that is just because the tuttle 
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What’s the process here? You cut the mast shorter, then cut a rough tuttle shape and then use the mold to fill in with epoxy to a perfect shape?
Yes, I cut a bunch of carbon cloth with scissors to make short fiber and filled the epoxy to about peanut butter consistency. Slather it on and clamp the mold shut. It’ll squeeze out all sides. I like to add a little black tint to the mixture because it looks better but no need.
then I 3D printed a drill jig to drill the holes. You can buy the stainless steel cross dowel nuts on amazon.
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Off topic but in the spirit of this thread:
Somewhat interesting to see the development of the “industry standard” around foil drive.
Trench dimensions dictated by the relatively arbitrary foil drive size, which keeps getting bigger, and Axis accommodating it.
Also the organic evolution of the boards getting trenchs to fit the demand for performance from e-assist in a capitalistic harmony, I guess leading to a a happy compromise with this hidden trench system, with slots out the back.
What is interesting is this organic cooperation makes all the other e assists look less appealing as they don’t fit into the same ecosystem, with all its performance benefits.
Given what we are seeing with Slingshot and F4, I see a good chance that if the performance is there, the market will happily adopt tuttle to make it viable and gather momentum, with Trench boards and related developments as possible evidence
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Enterprising people seize opportunities. Trench boards are a great example. If a new mast-to-board system with tangible performance/ease of use benefits is licensed out to brands at a reasonable price, the market will adopt it.
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maybe in the future, you could see foil tracks recessed 1-2cm with a cover, or set of forward and back covers tailored around the mast. Some sort of shallow trench board, just to remove the drag of the typical plate mast. Adjustable position in the tracks, and assuming you can customize or 3d print a set of covering plates, you can have a really neat bottom surface.
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yup
I think interestingly cost and maybe hassle are overweighted, and performance and ease is underweighted in the way brands predict adoption at the cutting edge.
(hassle = owning two masts vs ease = easier to ride the foil)
and then this flips where at some point it’s mass market and people just want cheap and warranty
Options are great in many ways…but they can be such a killer for retails shops trying to serve everyone…
I have said in previous posts, Tuttle is for such a niche group. Having plate mount covers such a wide set of disciplines from boat, to foildrive, to wind, and paddle. Tuttle cannot cover this because of its depth to mount the box. Tracks are a low cost, high flexibility, and reasonably high performance tool. Josh ku had the best comment somewhere in all of this. Buy your Ferrari but I will keep my Miata. Enjoy changing your gear and building you home shop projects. I will be on the water!
I’m totally cool with that. I DO INDEED enjoy my home shop projects.
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Most people don’t realize that foiling was invented by people tinkering in their workshops and they are just consuming / abusing the fruits of hobbyists
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I’m sad to see some misinformation in Dwight’s latest video. Mostly the video is about the new F4 SR mast, but at the end he gives his opinion about tuttle. Dwight is a legend in foiling and knows more than most of us, but unfortunately he is missing some key insights into the fine details of composite structures.
The reason plate masts have to be so wide at the base is not because this makes them stiffer. It is to solve the serious problem of interlaminar stress in the composite layup. Turning carbon fibers through a corner is incredibly inefficient structurally, and it needs to be done with a large radius and a lot of extra carbon. Those of us who have been around foiling for a while know that until the manufacturers figured this out we used to see a lot of carbon masts failing at the baseplate - this is the reason.
One of the benefits of tuttle mast construction is that all the carbon fibers can be aligned straight all the way through into the box. Even though the maximum mast thickness will be around 19mm, every fiber in that 19mm will be put to work efficiently.
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I believe Dwight was referencing comments by Adrian (Axis) who’s masts are so thick, most wouldn’t even fit into a Tuttle. If you are making masts that are that beefy, you wouldn’t want to entertain notions of a Tuttle mount.
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Armstrong were early adopters of the Tuttle, great to see what was old tech may now be new again. https://www.facebook.com/share/1BnCC5kPKz/?mibextid=wwXIfr
That board is very cool
As always, I really appreciate the down to earth, non-hyped language here Matt, and the “come try it and judge for yourself” offer…
Since you have the comparable setups, how much weight difference is there in the 2 Hydrocraft systems altogether?
Any feedback from average joe/jane foilers that have ridden both systems?
What are you all doing in terms of board production for tuttle?
Tempting if going full Hydrocraft to also make the leap to tuttle as well…I think the biggest source of hesitation for me would be the simple lack of the ability to use 99% of the other boards out there…but I still think about it…
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I’ve jumped on the Tuttle bandwagon. F4 Emona 75L with 85cm SR Tuttle. I’ll add a smaller 50-55L board and probably sell all my other kit. Feel like I’m finally getting where I want my setup to be.
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