To distract from the Fliteflab launch, I thought to share my thoughts on the next thing on the horizon, the Duotone Ab-cruncher.
My first time riding a FD felt like learning to foil again. Extremely cautious, but this no doubt you can overcome, but really got me onto the idea of what the backpack setup would feel like, as the DIY tow boogie is such a smash hit for offshore days, but lacks a bit in downwind capabilities (working on that too).
So I turned my eboog power setup into a foil assist waist belt setup. It only needed a mast pod and cable to make it work. I just threw the box into a small backpack (basically this), with a long coiled cable.
Impressions
- Having the weight on the back is way more intuitive than weight on the board.
- Interestingly enough, the frustration of the pod-dips is still there, this is crazy hard! Feels crazy. Something to get used to, like a training aid. Infuriating initially.
- The motor being a few kilos, together adds quite a lot to the setup, all makes it feel delayed and bulky, even without the battery on the board.
- Cable getting in the way is a bit of a pain, clanking around. Explains the Duotone fish tail board. I’ll be making a hole through my board to reduce cable swinging and clanging.
I think there is a future in it, but was surprised by the pod-dip and motor weight.
Compare this with the Tow boogie, which was just instantly up, zero adjustment, straight away whipping into waves and shredding on repeat.
Other misc e-thoughts
- A spinning blade near crotch is terrifying, I think FD people 100x underestimate the danger. I feel like FD remotes should have a trigger guard and some dual confirmation to prevent accidental shreddage. That prop will rip holes. Tow boogie feels MUCH safer in the surf, but staying away from propellers when launching or fiddling is it’s own thin
- If Duotone’s whizzer is at all modular, I’ll be having a close look.
- E-foiling around feels pretty lame, but is quite practical for upwind/downwinds
- E-assist chips are great and probably the best all around (30km downwind sends are a thing),
- Tow boogie is the dream setup for sure, especially seeing what people are doing with long distance stuff. The future is robotic assistants and I absolutely believe that that extends to tow partners
- DIY only if you are looking for a new hobby, same as building your own board, it is cheaper only in materials, not in time. You have to enjoy fixing things. If you want clever, buy from a retailer.
I think the future will look like
- One ergonomic, modular power setup, that can go into a tow boogie or backpack. This will be “the main investment”, hoping FD does something here.
- Big batteries in boogies. The crazy thing about the tow boogie is that it isn’t weight sensitive. I plan dropping to a cheaper larger battery format and getting a ton of them. Like why not 150kg of battery (other than fire hazards, big issue with all the water)
- A few motors on different masts (the prop is the relatively expensive part, motors are like tails, get lots!)
- Foil Drive / Amp style travel batteries will become the industry standard, and you can link them up for the various applications with adaptors. Foil drive batteries are really nice. The main issue with the entire DIY endeavour is that if the thing gets wet then it quickly wants to explode. FD have created a nice robust water compatible battery/drive package.