Stage 3 midlength testing begins:

Foils and Boards - Gear Talk
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Well, I got my new board yesterday and will be taking it for the first ride tomorrow. Assuming I don’t immediately dislike it this will kick off stage 3 of midlength testing.

Stage 1 wasn’t especially a “midlength” but it was the smallest of the Kalama e3 prone/dw boards.

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Stage 2 was a true midlength. Sunova Carver.

Stage 3 will grey the line between true midlength and mini dw board with the Sunova Aviator 18.

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The dims:
E3: 5’3"x22"x83l 11.5lbs (75 sessions) BARGF = 3.83
Carver: 5’10"x20"x85l 10.75lbs (125 sessions) BARGF = 4.49 (.66 increase)
Aviator: 6’6"x18"x90l 11.25lbs (0 sessions) BARGF = 5.38 (.89 increase)

Knowing this would be a prolonged test I tried to avoid making any drastic changes to liters and I’d argue that a 7l swing at almost neutral (I’m 86kg) is going to have a pretty minimal impact. The E3 and Carver can be compared with their performance on Cloud IX foils and wings. The Carver and Aviator will be compared with Silks and Ocean Rodeo wings.

The first transition from stage 1 to stage 2 was 100% improvement. There was nothing about the E3 that I missed or thought was better than the Carver. Everything from takeoff to carving and even carrying the board around on the beach was better.

Stage 2 to stage 3 I am quite honestly unsure how it will go. The Aviator is 8" longer which makes me confident about easy takeoffs, but how much better do I really need over the Carver which has gotten the job done for the last 2100 miles? Is this the point of diminishing returns? I was definitely worried about the extra .5lbs and length but upon measuring and weighing, 100% of the added weight is behind the foil, and only 1.5" are added in front of the foil. So, perhaps the extra length and weight won’t impact in the traditional sense? Last, is 18" too narrow? There are times when my toes hang off the deck pad on the 20" Carver. I just lost .75" of deck pad on either side of the board so I am sure that will be noticed at times.

Anyone have predictions about how this might unfold? Extra questions worth asking?

If I was predicting where stage 4 would be headed in 6 months I would expect that it would be lowering the volume on whichever length/width was decided upon as most fun.

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Think there’s a point of diminishing returns winging, especially in somewhat gusty winds that will get you on foil pretty easily with a size wing large enough to also get you through the lulls. Definitely see the benefit with light, steady coastal wind where you may not get the gusts you need.

On a solid Gorge day I wonder how much benefit there is to a 85l board for takeoffs over a 50-60l mid-length. If there’s a tradeoff in wing size it starts to get compressed in terms of surf ability with high winds. Like a 2.5m vs 3m wing would probably be the max difference in wing size needed for 85l vs 50l on a solid day.