Hi,
F4 masts are measured from the bottom of the board to the top of the fuselage. Not sure how everyone else does it though.
Br
Chris
Mast looks crazy. What’s the lenght of the chord at the bottom or halfay up ?
The fuse to mast is 3 x m6
@Dylan If we are making request… the podcasts with @Chrisrad99 convinced me to make a custom Tuttle SUP DW board, but I might need a 75cm Tuttle for it.
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Too add to this… I want BOTH.
There’s going to be a lot of personal preference about the feel and pros and cons of each mast. I’ve ridden back to back surf and DW session on the 11.5mm and 13.5mm 75cm masts on then 685 and 800 Orca.
The skinny mast is my preference for DW ‘cos of the added acceleration, glide and speed range.
The 13.5mm for surfing with the pro’s the responsiveness and the added “drag” helps to stay with the wave.
For me there is enough difference that I’d have one less front wing in my quiver so that I could afford both masts.
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Interesting, but if you want max glide and pump then the skinny mast is all you need right? I have already code so if I want something that has a bit more drag then I already have it.
@Meow The foils are special and have different feels and attributes too.
I’m trying to place an order but the email response is taking so many days to reply back and it is taking forever to start the ordering process, I am convinced that I want to take a chance on f4 after seeing it may be the code. 2.0
Hi,
just back after a quick trip, wanted to say thanks for all the interest, we a bit overwhelmed!! Apologies for any delayed responses, we’ve been getting all sorts of comments and requests. The website is fully working and updated with masts properly categorized now- the skinny ones are now the AX series. The new 85 and 95 are working great and both ride similar to 75. Super slippery, amazing turning. Some got shipped out to puerto rice and maui. So we will see if everyone thinks they are as great as we do!
Br,
Chris
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Can’t wait for my kit to arrive today! Dylan and F4 jumped through hoops to get mine fast shipped on my account to make it in time for an epic 6 day forecast. I may even enter a race against some wingers, windsurfers and windfoilers with my Parawing and 530 Orca. (only if I can stop hunting swells for an hour or two). Race hosted by the guy who sold those $1800 windsurf fins in the 2010s.
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First parawing session in the books with the 685 Orca w/ skinny AX 85cm mast. Wind was side shore and gusty averaging around 23 mph - gusting into the low 30s. Ran the BRM 4.5M Paia (double skin) w/ a 55L mid length (I’m 67kgs w/out kit). Somewhat worried about the small foil’s low end, I sent it and was surprised to get on foil just as easy as I would with my Armie HA880. I was immediately at home on the foil, flying upwind. A few minutes later I was at the top of the zone and sent it down a swell and packed away the PW in my belt. The foil’s low end doesn’t make sense. It’s almost like it will wait until forward progress has stoped and it will slide backwards if you wait to stall. It doesn’t ‘fall through’ - great traction. Pumping felt good, but I still need to figure out the best cadence, as times felt better than others - also need to get the mast height dialed (used to a 80cm mast)
Swells on the outside were really nice, with areas of rolling shoulder high swells around 40 yards wide – allowing some epic carving. Outside of those zones it was smaller and a bit trickier to read, so a great test of the foil and my DW swell reading skills.
Carving is really where this thing shined for me. You know how some foils will lock you in when dropping in on a swell, well this is not one of those foils. It really opens up the playing field for some fluid turns. Instead of dropping down a huge swell, its easy to crank a carve off the top and send it all the way back around and off the top the other way…fitting in multiple turns where other foils may require a bit of safety surfing and hunting for the ‘good (safe) spots’ to do a cut back. The 85cm mast really allowed for some of my hardest carves to date. I kept waiting to blow a tip and explode, but it never happened. I did dig a rail on one carve and bounced up to full height and immediately regained control, which felt great. The riding sensation is almost more like the foil isn’t there, like the board is flying and you can input / control the board easier - just very intuitive. I didn’t fall once the whole session except for some bad bump reading decisions and a blown gybe on a big swell.
Pretty blown away by the rig. It suits my riding style and conditions perfectly. Well done Chris! This thing is a keeper for sure.
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Huge thanks for the review and comments!
Ride On!
Chris
A wing’s size/volume has seemed to have become more irrelevant in assessing foil selection cross brand… I am guessing the 800, but any bigger dudes who’ve tried that can recommend what size Orca is a good all-around to start with for a 98kg/215lber on PW, maui conditions?
Check out B Level Foiler. Not sure if he’s riding 685 or 800.
I had my 3rd or 4th PW session today on the 685 and the conditions were a bit more challenging- having missed the slack to ebb, I was riding the peak ebb heading to slack, so the bumps were stacking tight and less organized. Definitely more black diamond conditions compared to the blue groomers. Took some time to adapt with the 685 and had plenty of toeside turn tip breaches at a flattish angle, which results in a slide out. Plenty of coming off foil after bad reads. Kinda felt a bit shocked after the previous sessions. Maybe a bit more mast flex felt with the lack of decision/piloting in the mixed up, tighter bay conditions, not really sure.
By the end of the session I had redemption, linking top to bottom half mile runs and felt in the groove again. Foot placement is crucial for turning and pumping. Almost feels like a shortboard when you find those pressure dents and start really ripping. Good form equals good turns. Half assed form gives less stellar results. It’s easy to mistakenly initiate turns with your feet when your shoulders aren’t quite ready, which leads to awkward open shoulder toeside turns or vice-versa on heelside. But when you really get in the steezy groove, this foil lights up.
The wind was side off and the swell was running sideshore, so my heelside tack was straight 90 degrees into some steep ass bumps in the shoulder high range, many with breaking whitewater. The 85 mast is great! I even had one wave catch the bottom of my board, sending me halfway over the handlebars with my back leg extended up the air, only to regain control at the bottom of the trough and fly over he next without a hitch. With a 75cm, I’d have to turn downwind over each bump to survive, which would kill my angles.
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I am not in Maui… but it would seem that there are enough of these out there that you could track someone down and give it a try before you buy. I’m 155 lb, not a big guy. The 800 gets it done for me with a paddle if there’s at least about 10 knots+. I will be sizing down from the 800.
If you’re a big dude, somewhat struggle to get going, and riding in Maui conditions, I would think that the 800 be a good starting point, and you will also work down from there.
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The 800 seems to be working well for larger riders on Maui. Pretty amazing guys like Alika can ride such a smallish wing!!
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appreciate it 
anxiously waiting to see if they release a surf wing… any insight on if they do what it will be?
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Supposedly Chris has some renderings that are too hot to share. 
I think we can handle it!