bajafoilguy said..Roy said..
I think a lot of porpoising is due to inconsistent sail mast foot pressure - basically you let out your back hand in a gust which drops mast foot pressure and the board lifts - then you start fighting to control it. In these cases you need to lock in and just drive it harder (although can also result in some big catapults😀)
Perhaps before buying more stuff, you try a few things.
- Bringing the mast right back with the smaller sail might help to reduce this variation in mast foot pressure (it will be a little more squirrelly at take-off).
- Moving your foot straps forward
- try using additional shims that reduce the lift
- try using a sail size that you can only just get onto foil with pumping & in a gust (i.e underpowered sail )
I agree and have noticed the effect of sheeting out in gusts which results in a change in mast foot pressure resulting in unwanted lift. I am already trying to drive through locked in. I’ve also got my foot straps all the way forward (no back straps), and have been using negative shims. I’ve tried -1.5 degrees, but found that -0.5 to work best. My fuse has -2.3 built into it. I also have been using smaller sails (undersized as you suggest), to test whether I have better control of the foil in stronger wind. As I mentioned, in lighter sub-18kt wind I actually feel good on this foil and can manage nice stable flight. It’s when it gets up into the 20+ range that things get unruly. Which leads me to believe that I maybe pushing too much foil in those conditions. I do hear the advice of don’t be too quick to blame the equipment and not do my due diligence.
Which brings me back to my original question; what wing sizes are people using for a given wind range? I understand that there will be many variables in gear, rider skill and weight, etc. But I am curious to hear if and when you change to smaller foil sizes (mostly front but stabs too) for a given wind range.
Correct me if I am wrong a - shim on a bottom mounted stab like SABFOIL or Slingshot =more lift ?
