I’m sup foil in my local beachbreak = messy uk water . I ride a 7’10 by 20’ DC foil board that is a copy of a baracuda v1. Its a good board for the conditions - hard chined so stable … if a little sticky compared to more recent designs
I’m using a gong veloce XL foil … aspect ratio of around 10. thin and glidy. Surface area of around 1050cm or ~160 inch sq.
I’m finding pumping difficult…. the foil stalls reasonably easily as i come off the back of the wave …. I’m almost making 2 for 1’s but its hard work !
I’m considering a larger foil … and / or a lower aspect thicker profile foil with lower stall speed
Any thoughts or experience on the best characteristics here would be most appreciated .
The board it big so hard to pump well …. I wing lots / fairly used to pumping but need to improve technique for sure also
I had a self built SUP based on the barracuda v2 that I was riding with v2 Gong gear (sirus and curve h). It felt so much bettter with a 1.5 ° nose down mast shim. You could try that. For me the difference was day and night
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My SUP had 0° deck and track. Maybe your mast shim angle required will be different for you.
How much do you weigh? I don’t know much about Gong foils but that would seem to already be a fairly large and glidey HA foil as it is.
I sup surf foil a lot riding a Appletree ML 87L and most often a Code 810x (8.2AR)
As with all forms of surf foiling I tend to advise that matching the foil to the energy of the wave always gets priority over the pump.
I’ll get 3 for 1’s on the 810x which I’m happy enough with (I’m usually pretty gassed by that point)
If it’s really small I’ll upsize to a 985x or 980s which obviously pumps easier but you are limited in what size waves you can ride on them and the types of turns.
Until 4kg SUP’s become the norm it’s going to be hard to match the pump of a small prone board but in all other categories I think it’s an amazing discipline
Thanks Matt for the response
85cm gong 15m mast. Not the stiffest but ok i think
I’m 75kg but thats before 6/5mm wetsuit and the rest so … 80 kg ish on the water
I’ve read your pump/foil trim post with interest … perhaps i’m too far fwd
I’ll also have. a think / research about shimming as per LaPaloude comments
me:
75kg plus a whole load of neoprene for UK winter
been winging 3 years… do it more than work allows … love it but Suop foiling in waves is my favourite foil sport …. its just in UK wind sports are almost always on, waves are much less consistent
the board:
My last sup foil board was a very different animal a starboard 6’5 x 25’ ish 95L.
It was great on clean days with decent shaped waves but on the whole conditions here in the UK where i live are messy wind blown chop ontop of any swell … beach break ….. and that board felt like tryiong to push a barn door thonto a wave……so board characteristics here need to cater for stability and ability to get on poorly formed, fat waves. Similar in many ways to DW board characteristics i suspect but perhaps not quite as extreme. My current thoughts a are a sub 7ft and say 21 inch wide board at circa 100L might be the sweet spot btwn glide, board pumping and enought stability to put power down ….without falling off ! Some of the earlier DW board designs look appealing actually… slightly shorter and fatter and tend to be good prices now so perhaps i should experiment re the foil
Yes the gong Veloce v3 is very glidey and 10 HA. I have a few of these …. I wing on a 800cm2 version … my sup foil is 1050cm2 or ~160inch
To yiur point …. this foil matches the local wave energy really well … and turns pretty well
I have set a personal objective to at least manage a few 2 for 1’s this year but dont want a foil that is so large that its no longer fun on the actual wave … so perhaps its ‘not about the bike/foil’ but more about better technique , some experiments with shimming …and practise, practise , practise!
thanks for your input and thoughts on this … much appreciated
