It’s not uncommon to see people put their knee on the board bottom when mounting the mast. About where those two compression cracks are.
The 3rd one looks like a cut typical of dragging across something, on the beach, or something under the water with a barnacle on it.
I’m sure the board is a single carbon layer on much of the bottom. It’s key to super light weight.
That looks like the foil tracks \ box are compromised. The energy of each pump wiggling must be pushing out to that hard rail line and cracking it
Totally could see that but i definitely didn’t kneel or apply pressure with my foot there on the bottom
For what it’s worth - I’ve hit reef at full speed, smashed my foil, got fully launched, and dragonfly is still rock solid - no cracks or damage at tracks.
I’ve had 2 versions of the Dragonfly now. I’ve been quite surprised at how well they hold up on the water, but I’m also quite careful handling them on the beach. The tail seems to be the most vulnerable to getting dinged or cracked with such a light construction. V2 seems a bit more robust than V1 construction. I’ve seen a photo of a good Gorge rider’s Dragonfly surf with similar spots/cracks on the step area that had tape over them; assumed they were from off-water handling bumps/knocks.
Any updates on the Appletree V2 DW? Either on the production models coming out or ride reports on the custom?
Has anyone ridden the 2024 duotone downwinder sls? It’s on sale these days and I’m looking for a board for someone with almost zero experience.
Not sure on timing - but it looks like they’ll be able to offer boards longer than 7’7" now
https://www.instagram.com/p/DI22K9eyMfl/
Kalama Gator
True to Kalama form, this new gator looks ridiculously ugly. But I am sure it will grow on us all as we find out that it works crazy well like everything he designs. He’s been so far ahead of the curve that what once looked ridiculous is now what everything else looks like.
Assuming this will sell in addition to the barracuda, I wonder where he sees each one as the better choice.
V2 barracudas are on sale right now so maybe this is a replacement?
Get yourself a seeing eye dog, you obviously have no vision!
Looks like the ‘spline’ tail/kayak style is the next big breakthrough in design. It makes sense—it provides stability and allows for a narrower shape. If Kalama and Frank Foilboard stand behind it. It must be solid!
Interesting…some Frank boards with very similar spline tail, but others with cutout…I guess depending on different use cases?
I’ve got one in the largest size I think (7’8" x 22.5"). I haven’t had much success with it catching swell with just my paddle but that’s due to balance issues. It’s been a game changer for winging though. Easy up in light wind and definitely feels shorter than it is. I’m at a low intermediate level though and don’t have experience with other DW boards. For my weight (90kg dry), I can’t imagine going narrower, although I’m told that will come with experience. Overall, I think it’s been a great board.
I think what we’re seeing here is that we have to mind the transition from displacement hull to planing hull to foiling. Ideally entirely skip the transition to planing - go direct from displacement hull to foiling. It takes a lot of power to get a boat, or a surfboard up over the transition from displacement to planing. If we get narrow enough and long enough, that transition speed goes higher and higher and we start foiling before having to push the bow up and over the wake.
Simple math says that the transition speed is “hull speed” which is square root of waterline length. The rule changes with very narrow hulls - which is why catamarans work so well.
But my point is not about the math exactly - it is that Kalama was the first to discover and make boards with the concept in mind. Go long to skip straight from displacement to foiling.
Now what we’re realizing is that the downside of going long of having a lot of swing-weight can be mitigated by making the entry and exit “more fine” = “more skinny”. AND doing so also makes getting on foil easier.
In the gator and to some extent Frank’s designs, the last 1.5ft of the board is essentially free from a swing weight standpoint, but does a ton to make getting on foil more efficient.
And this latest funny top view profile from Kalama is a way to get width in the middle of the board for stability without as much penalty of swing-weight in the tail that comes from length.
Thoughts on the new Armstrong Ocean board?
Seems to also be going more of the Frank direction than the Kalama direction, curious what people think.
Add the new Sunova Aviator Downwind too:
and we should be hearing about a new Appleskipper DW as well…(soon? Jon Mann?)
I haven’t seen a ton of good downwind board comparisons…hoping for more of that for this round of offerings…
Appletree announcement should be within the week
