34 posts
Thank you everybody for the replies!
I have locked in a purchase of the UCS Starboard after all.
It was before these posts... the equipment arrived already.
One thing I notice immediately however is that the finish is rather sloppy.
The surface looks used to me, there are zilions of very fine scratches that seem to be a leftover from the polishing process. In addition to that there are many random wide scratches that look like the components were dragged on a table or something.
Despite this the surface is smooth to the touch. I don't know if this is of significance or just a cosmetic problem?
One of the wings has a very slightly dented tip... less than 1mm. The other the tip is chipped off very slightly again less than 1mm on the trailing corner of the tip.
I don't know if this is a common thing with Starboard Foils?
The Alpinefoil mast I have came in perfect condition 8 years ago and I did not make a single scratch on it yet, it still looks brand new after years of use and handling!
EDIT: I contacted the seller and he says that usually competitors sand their foils with 2000 or 2500 grit. That should supposedly remove the surface blemishes while also improving the performance of the foil.
34 posts
What the hell? I just bought 2 ucs system wings, 99 fuse and the C400 mast new. The components look used compared to the new stuff I got from Alpinefoil previous years.
Reading that a mast broke just like that certainly gives me a scare! Stuff like this just makes you seriously question the production quality.
I had my Alpinefoil mast for 8 years already and there are no issues with it... even if I pump quite a lot and sometimes vigorously, crashed many times no issues (fairly low speed 20-30kmh) , even hit rocks where I did not expect them once scratched the wing hard, no problem with the mast.
The lower tier C400 masts should be stronger than C600+ in theory right?
34 posts
Hello Guys,
Ive got good advice here before so I am posting this question:
Currently I have:
Alpinefoil: 122cm fuselage, 860 frontwing, high aspect stab
2017 JP 155L Hydrofoil Pro Board
IQFoil Severne Hyperglide 9.0 v1.0
Ezzy Lion 7,5m
The trouble I am having:
1. I appear to be speed capped at around 32kmh , possibly managed 35kmh at some point but the problem is the foil wants to fly out of the water and I can't manage to keep it down.
2. The setup is unstable, change in wind suddenly causes drastic changes in ride height.
3. To be fair the wind is gusty at the main location I wind-foil but even at a better location I had the same problem.
I tried many things:
tweaking the foot-strap positions, boom height, sail tuning by down-haul and out haul.
I got extra negative shims for the stab and that did indeed smooth things down a bit but still the speed barrier is unchanged and the ride is still unstable.
I compared my foil to a local windsurfer-s latest Starboard UCS foil with the latest wings. The front part on my foil which cries the front-wing is quite similar in length to the latest starboard 99cm UCS fuselage with the longer side forward. A fellow wind-foil rider uses it in this orientation and it works great for him... super stable. I can get going easier in low wind but the stability when flying is incomparable to the starboard riders setup.
So after years of frustration with my setup I am considering buying a new foil set and hopefully finally fixing this issue.
The question I have now is what to buy? I am considering the ZFins Foil or the Starboard Foil with the latest wings?
Both turn out to be of similar price when all is summed up. I avoided Starboard before because I have found information about Starboard production being inconsistent. People getting soft masts etc... Has the production improved in recent years?
ZFins claim a production process that yields a finished surface out of the mold without additional filling and polishing. Which should help with consistency alot. However the question is since starboard has much more cash to spend on R&D can others really compete with the designs in terms of stability and ride smoothness?
Best Regards,
Marko Posavec
