I’m excited to give prone a crack this winter in Oregon but am a bit hesitant to pull the trigger on such small boards. Can anyone help me understand why going so low volume makes prone foiling easier? If I can better understand the concept then I am all in!
Currently:
86kg rider.
Advanced wingfoiler that focused on surffoiling/swell riding.
Learned DW sup but didn’t love it.
Experienced SUP surfer.
Nearly zero prone surfing experience.
My current wing board is a 5’3"x22"x83l Kalama. 5.2kg
I’m considering the Casey Pilot for a first prone dedicated board and am being steered towards sizes in the 30-40l range.
I do have a foildrive that I can use for assistance in the learning process.
So, I guess my big question and struggle to understand is why people tell me that the smaller boards are so much easier to prone? It seems like catching waves should be much harder. I understand smaller can be high performance in the air, but I also don’t fully grasp how much there is to gain vs lose by dropping from my current board down to say:
4’5"x18.5"x32.2l and 3.47kg. I’m just worried that I will buy and then never be able to ride something like that. Or am I really, truly, not understanding how a prone foil setup catches waves?
Use your wing board for the time being. Wait for the hybrid boards to be fully fleshed out and get a new hybrid prone/wing board in the 5’6" x 18’ x 50L category. Example here.
Definitely clued into the upcoming board changes but I’m still wondering about the why. If things are gravitating back towards longer and more volume, is it for the same reasoning as in winging? Why so short and low volume in the first place?
Agree with Hdip, your wing board is narrow enough to paddle and will handle whitewater takeoffs well. Might be too much volume if you need to duckdive to get out. Shorter boards pump a bit better, and narrower boards carve harder before touching rail. Unless you’re a advanced surfboard paddler, i would not go less than 38litre for 86kg. 40+ and not too narrow will make takeoffs much easier
Low volume boards are so much more fun to surf but the pop up is much harder. With a small board you have much less time between when you catch the wave and when you jump to your feet. Additionally you need to stand up as the board is starting to fly.
With a big board you can go straight in the whitewash dragging in the water and then start to fly whenever you want. It’s much easier to learn on.