felix1111 said..
hi
i am new to windfoiling, age of 53 and about 95kg.windsurfing on amd off since 86.
currently i am learning windfoiling on formula 177 board and super cruiser foil. using 8.6 to 4.8 sails.
how about the starboard foil x board? do you think it will do better in light wind (~10knots) for me ? currently i need about 15knots to takeoff. any other advice for light wind?

cheers
felix

Hey - I went with the SB 150L Freeride. I'm about 90kg. I like it a lot ... something to thing about :-)
After a couple of years of foiling I need 10-11 knots to foil with a 6.8. I have a Flyer 8.2 but I prefer a smaller sail.
I typically use a SB foil setup. 95+ fuse, 1100 freeride wing and a 330 rear wing. It's a fun setup.

Big wings have more drag so it is a trade off with lift, they also interact with swell, I have a AFS F800 wing (1120 cm2) and am getting up in 8-10 knots with a 9.0 sail and a Goya Bolt 135. Same goes for the wider boards, more drag, especially in light winds. Also bigger boards weigh more, so harder to carry. I can comfortably carry my whole rig to the water (board upside down and resting on sail/ mast, walk backwards holding boom in left hand and outside board rail in right hand with the back of my right arm pressing against the mast). That is another problem with the wide boards, I can not get my hand easily around the rail to carry them. 80 cm width is good for me at 6 feet tall and 90 kg with gear on.

As for foil specific boards, they are just for foiling above the water, but I like to drop in and surf waves and swell and then get back in the air, for that the Goya Bolt is great since it is a windsurf board first.

felix1111 said..
hi
i am new to windfoiling, age of 53 and about 95kg.windsurfing on amd off since 86.
currently i am learning windfoiling on formula 177 board and super cruiser foil. using 8.6 to 4.8 sails.
how about the starboard foil x board? do you think it will do better in light wind (~10knots) for me ? currently i need about 15knots to takeoff. any other advice for light wind?

cheers
felix

Hey Felix1111,
10knots is very light and good foiling technique/skills will help you start to foil in lighter winds. If new to foiling then it is likely you might be able to squeak out a few more knots on the low end with more practice.
If you are using the Starboard Supercruiser with the stock front foil wing 1700Wave (awesome front foil wing by the way), and you want to get foiling earlier with more ease, then you want a bigger front foil wing. The Ocean surf 2000 is my go to foil when using the Starboard Supercruiser and I am almost 30kg lighter than you. I never tried the Starboard Ocean surf 2400 front wing for wind foiling (only sup and wingfoiling) but this option very potentially could get you going even earlier. Starboard have the Stype 2000 and 2400 foil wings that are slowly being seen on the internet.

You will see the post above from Gregwho, (at 95kg) that mentioned he was initially using the Neilpyrde M wing, but it wasnt until he switched to the Slingfoil and used their 99 front wing which is like a 2400 front foil wing, did he get the light wind gains he was looking for. Had he purchased an XL front wing from NP he would have likely experienced similar lightwind performance results without the need to purchase a whole new foil setup. He also mentioned the Slightshot fuselage enables him to extend the front wing further away from the mast which also give more lift and this option as mentioned below, is available to you on the Starboard fuselage.

The bonus with the Starboard SuperCruiser fuselage is to move the front wing to the front two holes and this will provide you with more lift under that front wing and feel more front foot pressure when comparing to the fuselage setting where you push the front foil wing all the way in.

In regards to your current formula wide board, is ok for using with the Supercruiser but not the best option. A super wide board is not necessary when using the SC foil. The wide boards work best when using the Starboard Race foils ie 1000front wing, 115fuselage, 95cm mast, 255 tail wing, as you can set your footstraps on the outer rails, unlike when using the Staboard Supercruiser foil and you set the footstraps very inboard or none at all. The starboard FoilX145 would be a better choice when using the supercruiser, over your current board. Saying that it is not mandatory that you upgrade your old formula board as it can work, but carrying a lot more width than needed and possibly length if on one of the early model formula boards.

segler said..
I guess I will throw a little water on the fire here. At 95 kg, I have found that a wing area of about 1150 cm2 is the sweet spot. Anything bigger than that is not needed, even for light wind. I can foil with it with a 6.8 in 12-15 kts wind just fine. Above 15, I go to a 5.0.

Even my LP foil with a 940 cm2 wing gives me all the lift I need with a 6.4 or 5.0 sail.

My AFS F700 wing (779 cm2) requires a lot of work, but the F800 wing (1120 cm2) is a joy to ride in light winds.

All these monster wings add maybe one or two kts of earlier boat speed lift, but that's all. And then they are generally more draggy and a bit slower in flight.

(That said, I do also have a i76 (1550 cm2) that I can go to sleep on.)

You do want the really big wings for SUP and surf, but you don't need them for sail.

The challenge is that there are so many variables which can make one foil performance and feel different than another. You could very well have 10 different brands of foils all with 1500 front wings and all of them are likely to feel different and give different performances. For example, I have used a brand where a much larger front wing from brand "x" was faster and more nimble than a smaller front foil wing from brand "Y".

The type of windsurf foiling one does can be tailored by the foil type used. In the case of a beginner foiler, that might have very basic foiling skills or even someone who just wants a cruising setup, that person will benefit from a foil that offers offers easy lift, stability, control and low to moderate speeds. In Starboards case the Ocean Surf 2000 uses a very thin profile, moderate/low aspect and from my riding experience offers more lift, stability and foils earlier than the Starboard Wave 1700 front wing assuming everything else is equal (ie fuselage, mast, stab). Yeah the 2000 Ocean surf will be slightly slower than the 1700 wave, but if it means foiling earlier, or coasting through lulls without dropping off the foil or just a more fun session, then I choose to increase the size of the front wing.

felix1111 said..
thanks to all repliers
i also thought about bigger front wing. but with starboard SC there is an issue with 2000/2400 wings. the new ones are for quick lock fuselage. the SB local dealer suggest to drill a hole in the wing so it will suite the supercruiser fuselage.
any experience with this ?

concering the board, if i go from the formula to the foil x 145 i will gain in the water drag but loose in the easier uphauling and jibes, so i dont know what the preffered setup...

The Starboard Ocean Surf 2400 and 2000 front foil wings fit perfectly on the supercruiser 87 fuselage. The only small issue is that you might have to drill 2 or 3 holes and countersink them on the foil wing as the supercruiser fuselage uses two screws either side of the Sc fuselage unlike the quicklock fuselage that uses 1 or 2 screws. Starboard should have put a mark on the foil wing where a hole can be drilled if needed to make the process a little easier. My Ocean surf wing came with the 4 holes so no drilling needed. It would be interesting if a v2 supercruiser fuselage will be released at some point that uses the same features as the quicklock fuselage. This would mean that no holes would need to be drilled in the wings.

Up hauling on the more compact board will likely be slightly less stable but if sea state is not crazy then should be fine. Don't see issue on jibes. Pumping onto the foil should also be easy enough with the more compact board. The FoilX 145 shape is designed better for the supercruiser type foil. There will likely be an adjustment phase if coming off of a formula board.