Does the Camet Custom look like the one on their website? Slab sides, flat bottom. Looks like it really maximizes stability for the width compared to round. I’m sure others would compalin the lack of cutouts on the side would lead to increased touchdowns.
That shape is definitely a compromise in terms of speed (compared to rounded, more complex shapes) but the gains in stability are why it has a long and storied history in American boatbuilding.
Yesterday I rode an Axis Hybrid 6’4 x 24", 110L back to back with my home-build 8’6x18"1/2 ~100L and I agree that length/foil compensates for the lack of width and volume. I can easily balance on the 8’6 static, but the clear difference comes with paddling where the longer board just accelerates, increasing stability, where the short wide board pushes water and yaws like crazy for the same paddling effort.
With the longer board I was easily onto bumps with a few well timed paddles, and I’m keen to try a faster foil already, where the Axis 6’4 it felt pretty hopeless, or at least not worth the effort and I only got going once in good conditions. It requires far more energy and perfect bump timing.
A feature described from seabreeze is the lack weight in the nose
some of its design characteristics is in the thin and low volume nose. On paper it is close to 8’ but in the air it doesn’t feel that way at all.
Another thing I think is pretty interesting is that the Barracuda looks to have more nose rocker and flatter nose area. From some of the clips it seems to look to skim once up to speed, which is interesting as I think most other boards push water in a more displacement design.
Yeah thats the exact board- will have another shot at riding it today in better conditions and will see if my first impression still holds. 
Wish we could try the same boards with the same foils to really get a better picture.
I’m just an average joe so I’m probably out to lunch picking daises. But when I look at foil board evolution and in particular the move to DW skinny boards I see a lot of repeated practices in the below water curvature and chine angles. From my perspective a number of the brands are utilizing similar aspects which Kalama used 1-2 generations ago before the production Cuda but are now more refined. When I look at the bow curves, tail pull and transition from tear drop/elliptical to hard chine I notice them. Similarly where he has shaved volume and re-allocated I see many of the other brands not there yet. As a pilot I see some of those factors from the area-aspect as your mostly in flight not on water.
The one thing I am curious to see in the next gen or two is tail shape. Using J Rigg’s technique of having volume in the tail to help get you on foil does not align with design choices of the KT dragonfly for instance. However if we assume that foils, paddles, and technique are improving to the point we don’t need the ‘launch’ of a pintail I can see that taper becoming more adopted. If you look at float plane hulls/pontoons most have settled there.
As an engineer it’s definitely excited to watch the design choices. It’s rare to see modern sports work thru these stages of evolution. I think we’re all blessed to in the midst of it. Though I just wish we’d accelerate to the end to save my wallet abit!
Totally agree, the creativity and energy is so good.
It does feel like you can see where current boards take inspiration from the early Barracuda proto pictures, while the production Barracuda looks quite distinct.
Interesting to look at the old Barracuda thread in summary mode
I’d be interested to know how those very square rails do with tracking? I would imagine if you lean the board over they would bite and hold that direction?
Looks like it would paddle super fast.
The skinny boards certainly feel like a tradeoff as I find myself doing more bracing on these narrow boards to correct for rolls while getting positioned to launch. What felt interesting about the Camet was just how fast it felt due to its narrowness.
That being said, I have the most time on my Armstrong and am spending the least time bracing with it, partly due to it’s larger volume (120L) than other’s I’ve tried (105-110L) - but also partly due to it’s larger width. As Denton posted maybe a year ago (this forum? or a different one?) … if you can’t stand, you can’t catch — and this board has been easiest for me to stand on, likely due to time on the board.
I still don’t regret moving my tracks as I think they were placed aft of where he puts them for go foil, but this idea is good to think about. I can’t find the comment now but someone mentioned the board tipping as the water gets sucked into the wave. I’ve felt a sudden temporary tippyness too, but I wonder if it might be when the nose and tail are holding the board up so the rails aren’t helping. I’ve felt it most in short period wind chop so that would make sense. I can see how sinking the tail into the wave could keep the rails in and maybe squirt you out of the water a bit. The problem is when I was standing on the old tracks, I had miles of deck in front of me and the idea of pumping all that seemed ludicrous.
Takoon (a French direct to consumer) launched two boards
Esta tabla es mia, que sorpresa al verla por aki!
Hi guys, Im interested in using a downwind style board for proning. But knee paddling with the kalama paddles instead of prone paddling. I feel like paddling from the knees as well as the hand paddles give the rider an unfair advantage over normal prone paddling. I still love prone paddling, but just saying if you want a lot more efficiency for muscle power expended, you want either SUP or knee kalama paddles. Does anyone do this (main reason being to reduce the amount of work for your arms, in the same way you paddle more effiently on a longboard vs shortboard)? I want to know what a good size would be for the downwind board being used for knee paddling into waves. For someone who doesnt want to learn the SUP.
Got the hand paddles from hand paddle co for the goal of doing DW in open ocean on the Barracuda 7’8 production. So, practicing in small waves the knee start position atm. There is so much more power delivered with this technique and hand paddles than regular prone take offs. End goal for me, is being able to paddle as fast as I can and pop up in ocean wind swell as easy as possible, hence the 7’8 barracuda. That said, that board is so fun in the waves as well, that I find myself on it more than my submarine 4’2. Sure, you can’t turn quite like a short board but it is surprisingly very good in turns with that swing weight. Some riders rip these boards.
I guess the length comes down to a matter of preference, fitness, conditions and use. But you cannot beat a longer, narrower, with right volume board for knee prone take offs. Imo, not needing to stand up anymore, opens up a whole new door to DW board specs.
Finally got my AFS BlackBird board.
So! Wanted to share some feedback I’ve got from this beautiful board.
Specs & numbers: 6’2" x 21.5" x 90 lts - I’m 68kgs and intermediate to advanced paddler level.
Construction, is top notch, the Triaxial carbon feels light but most of all, super rigid! When you get on top of it, all feels really stiff and efficient as you paddle around. Shape, well, most of the market it’s going kalama style, I haven’t been able to test a kalama style board yet, but this board feels way better than my own designed custom board, so here are some takes on the shape… first of all, tail being really wide on the top and with the deep and hard rail cut to pin tail on the bottom stays super stable and comfortable to paddle and glides and take off SO easy with minimum energy. Nose has a nice rocker with a rounded outline, lots of volume on the nose makes going thru chop easy and comfortable, and as soon as it feels any energy from behind it wants to move forward and take off by itself. Rails nose to mid section are totally rounded and gives you a lot of glide and also great touchdown recovery ability. midsection to tail uses hard rails and this feels really nice for acceleration with minimum energy for take off. Overall I was impressed I could take off with some really small bumps on the protected bay part of my run, couldn’t keep flying them since they had no energy, but was able to take off in almost nothing of energy with the 1100HA (11AR) - 110cm span.
Been using this board for a week, also tested it on powerful and fast shoulder high waves as a sup foil, being shorter (6’2") also helps on this kind of conditions, as you can also play and draw some nice carves and pump connecting several waves without feeling it’s too long to play in some serious waves.
Been a great positive surprise all the good details of the shape how they work in so many conditions that wanted to share them. Feels like I’m gonna be finally ready for some longer 20k+ runs trusting this new gear. Here some photos.
Yes, I’m a dealer and sell them here were I live, but I buy my own stuff too and, well, It’s what I feel about this board!
By the way, I was able to take off on the small bumps after breaking my paddle by the half, even with half the paddling power I was able to take off so I could return back to land safely. 
Optic illusion or the mast track is rather back?
https://www.signatureperformancegear.com/pegasus2/
Keen to check this out, they have been making boards for ages now
So far haven’t had the need to place the mast any more forward than offered by the tracks. Could be also a perception since the board it’s very “short” in comparison to the kalama style boards.
The production ones are getting closer and closer to Europe now.
It looks like Takuma has one under development too.
Steyen also has a few models as well, at a good price. But the larger sizes seem to be sold out.
Got to finally give a proper conditions downwind ride on my AFS BlackBird 6’2" 90L paired with the PURE 1100HA (11AR)
This quiver is really delighful to ride.
Here are the highlights moments of my 8K ride - (20km/h average / 33km/h max speed)
SUP FOIL Downwind - AFS Pure 1100HA - BlackBird 6’2" - YouTube
