I want to get to the bottom of the claim that the tracks on early Barracudas are too far back. Here is a picture of a Barracuda. Are its tracks too far back? Can somebody, please, explain what is meant by this claim? Thanks in advance.
Here is a custom 8’4" that looks similar to yours and (drum roll please) the very first Barracuda 7’6" that Dave made. He traded me for the 8’6" because he wanted her back for nostalgia. The boxes on the original cuda are too far back. I could not flat water paddle up this one. My first try on the 8’6" I flew easily. I have been surfing, DWing and winging this board for over a year now and the boxes are in a fine spot for my Axis wings with various length fuses. For winging, I run mast pretty far back even. I heard that the first round of production cudas’ boxes were not forward enough for certain brands like Armstrong and some other one. They worked better on Gofoil which Dave rides. How much does yours weigh? Mine is around 9lbs. Very durable too. I absolutely love this thing.
Full disclosure, that’s a photo of a board I screenshotted. I’m actually considering buying it, but whispers of Barracuda’s tracks being too far back have held me back, hence my question.
That’s too cool that you had the original Cudda, even cooler that it made its way back to Dave.
Getting back to the whole track placement thing, you’re saying it’s a non-issue with these “newer” Cuddas? I’m not looking for a guarantee, or anything like it, though I would like to be reassured. Thanks
If you put the board in the water with no foil on it and find the bouyancy balance point, the mast goes about 10" back from there. Give or take based on foil brand.
Or on dry land, find the balance point of the board - the center of gravity. The mast should go about 8" or so behind that point. That’s because the board has a bit more weight in the foil tracks so the dry land balance point is a bit behind the bouyance center. This varies more since board construction varies. But these rules of thumb have worked for me.
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and how do you find this center of gravity on dry land ?
Pick up the board and balance it on your hand, and the balance point is over your hand.
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I think a comment I made in another thread may have contributed to the confusion. Someone asked about a specific “Gofoil version of an earlier barracuda”. Gofoil foils ride farther back than any other foil brand typically.
I would imagine that newer barracuda boards would pretty much accommodate anything
have the owner of the board, send you a measurement from where he places his front foot, to where the front end of the tracks are located. Then compare that distance to your current board. Tell him to measure where the ball of his foot lands on the deck pad. Where this ideal fails, is if the board doesn’t work for the current owner and could be why he’s selling.