Let’s compare a 82 to a 75 mast. Prone takeoffs. Theoretically the longer mast would receive less power on the takeoff meaning if you’re overfoiled on the shorter mast, you can use a longer mast to prevent overfoiled on the takeoff. Also when riding a wave, a longer mast would make bigger waves drive the foil less, also reducing the overfoiling effect. Is this correct? Shorter mast gives more power as your foil will always be closer to the surface.
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Yeah, much bigger difference with short period energy as the wave energy doesn’t penetrate as deep with the shorter interval.
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Your theory makes sense but it seems better to use the right foil size for the job and the shorter mast. As boards get narrower there’s no longer any need for a longer mast. Along with what you’ve mentioned, the shorter mast will be stiffer, lower drag, and have a faster roll rate. The narrower board keeps your bank angle clearance where it was with the longer mast.
I just switched to an 80 from 85 for winging in waves and I’ve yet to find the top of it in use. I wasn’t even using that extra 5cm. Also been using a 68.5cm Go Foil mast w/ the RS 1300 105cm span foil on a narrow board in small conditions. No significant issues breaching and recoveries are a breeze if it happens.
I duno man, I think your confused about what’s the accepted part of that analysis. 80-85 masts are the de-facto size for most performance wave foiling out there in deep water, long energy, “performance” wave foiling spots.
The more radical part of what I was suggesting was that a shorter mast has a place in shorter interval.
May Matt Costa righteously strike me down if I am spreading wave misinformation, but IMO the shorter mast wouldn’t make much of a difference for reducing overfoiling in bigger waves. The wave energy decreases with depth down to 1/2 wavelength. So for small short peried waves a short mast will access more of this energy since the energy tapers off very quickly relative to depth. In the case of larger, long period waves, breaking in deeper water the energy goes further down so the reduction in energy from 5cm height difference of the foil would be minor.
Personally I like my 75 for prone surfing mostly because of our shallower spots and I find it give me more stability during takeoff. I prefer the 87 winging most days for the extra clearance over irregular chop which is very useful when going upwind, but will still wing the 75 for small waves since it make staying closer to the surface easier where the foil is more efficient and wave energy is greater.