The subject line says it all. Everyone is raving about the V tail, but my gold standard is KD Maui's 13 or 14" tail. It really is head and shoulders above everything else I've tried. There's room for improvement on all the stock tails I've tried so not surprising people are excited about the V-tail. How does it stack up against the current gold standard?

Well I can't profess to using the KD Maui tail but I do use the V tail and I did an interesting experiment..


I cut and shaped my boys back Konrad tail to a KD Maui shape (it wasn't an exact science though), but he is raving about it!!

note it had already been shortened from the original (as it was stupidly long) and he had ridden it a number of sessions like this . with marked improvement in turning etc as you'd expect.
so I then shaped it to the KD Maui shape . ish .
Keeping it to a very similar length and he was like "wow".

note,
he has been on a proto type High Aspect 1250 Konrad front wing (pumps unreal but as usual you lose turn ability before breachability) hence the reducing of the tail length overall was needed

put the KD Maui shaped tail on and it now turns nearly as good as his older fat small front Konrad wing and he also said it was much faster and for some reason more stable in the turn. Pumps fine - he's is doing 6-7-8 wave link ups, including access from inshore to right out back and at times, beach starts out to the break.

my conclusion from this is there is something in this KD Maui shape!!


the V tail to me is obviously much faster than the 232, pumps far better, but you can feel it losing traction on sharp turns when proning that is. Haven't noticed it as much winging - but I'm not turning as quick or as hard as on a larger board. That being said I've adjusted and almost like the loosening "slide" now. Some are also saying (these a Sup foilers) your stall speed is reduced - she falls off the foil quicker (I have not noticed this on a prone)

from what some proficient marg river crew I've spoken to have said, the KD tail removes this sliding loss of traction feel. Pumps nearly as good (not quite).


will get one eventually I think.

8000 post Eppo , what a great contributor to this forum The the Kane 13" tail on my chopped 1250 on a prone . The KD is definitely faster and better pump and turning than the 232. The V tail has a better pump & similar speed but not as nimble in the turns , you can feel the flex but if you knock the tips off it gets rid of most of the flex and turns much better. The Armstrong tail selection is really limited to the 232 design or the V . I'd like to see a flatter tail from Armstrong like the Uni or KD tails. It's a lot easier to fit foreign tails on the new Army 'A' series fuse but they are a pretty rough fit on the original fuse. Still playing around with different tails and still have settled on one.

FYI, new design available.

kdfoils.myshopify.com/products/the-blunt-11-5-tailwing

"The Blunt" 11.5" Tailwing

"High quality, high performance tailwing designed by Kane de Wilde, made on Maui by Dennis Parton at Tectonics Maui"The Blunt" is a high performance surf and wing freestyle tailwing, developed in collaboration with Elliot Leboe and Adam Bennetts. This wing offers a faster roll, tighter turning radius, and more predictable performance at low speed, in hard turns, and during re-entry. The Blunt is named after its lower aspect shape, thicker trailing edge and fat blunted tips for rider and wing safety. it is closest in feel to the 13", with better low speed "platform" and slightly more drag at high speed. Though it has more high speed drag and a lower top speed there is no compromise in control at speed. This shape has performed outstanding in waves from the smallest ripple to 15 foot PeahiBuild: CNC machined G10.Dimensions: 292mm x 75mm"

foilthegreats said..
FYI, new design available.

kdfoils.myshopify.com/products/the-blunt-11-5-tailwing

"The Blunt" 11.5" Tailwing

...

Looks sick! Love my 13.5".