How can i reduce my stab's size

3 months ago
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Lasuduna
Lasuduna
WA
35 posts
WA, 35 posts
14 Mar 2026 6:32am
Hi
I still ride an old gong v2 freestyle foil when winging, but i feel my stab is too big : its like a 200cm2 : cant get past 25 knots of max speed, its very heavy on the front foot past 20 + i'd like even more manoeuvrability.
I am not too fond of the idea of buying new parts for this old foil because its un-sellable now, and I wanted to know if some of you had ever changed the shape of their stabs, and reduced its surface : how to do it, through sanding, sawing then sanding ???

I already cut a little chunk of my old FW after smashing it on the rocks, and that thing was assymetrical af but still worked just fine. But maybe stabs will react differently ?

Interested in Your feeedbaks. Might not answer everyone but thanks all for reading and contributing on this great forum it helps me a lot in all discussions
Apoplogies for voc I'm not a native english speaker
hilly
hilly
WA
8132 posts
WA, 8132 posts
14 Mar 2026 6:45am
Lots of people have cut down stabs and foils. Piros has heaps of posts on it. Tried to upload phots but got a server error.

Check that the stab has lots of carbon not mainly foam filled Easier to cut and sand if you do not go into the foam
hilly
hilly
WA
8132 posts
WA, 8132 posts
14 Mar 2026 6:47am



hilly
hilly
WA
8132 posts
WA, 8132 posts
14 Mar 2026 6:48am
Photos one at a time hmm


jdfoils
jdfoils
456 posts
456 posts
14 Mar 2026 9:33am
Hacksaw works great...
Mark _australia
Mark _australia
WA
23695 posts
WA, 23695 posts
14 Mar 2026 9:45am
Reshaping tip. Soft backing pad, and finer paper going faster is better than roughing it out then going thru a number of grades. I do most of my foil shaping on a fin with 240 grit going about 3000rpm
Carbon sands very fast/easy

enjoy the itching afterwards
Lasuduna
Lasuduna
WA
35 posts
WA, 35 posts
15 Mar 2026 6:34am
Okay thanks.
Will destroy it monday and try it as soon as I can
I think it's full carbon but the fw I sawed was foam inside, I just put some strat and few minutes of sanding it worked.
porka
porka
WA
160 posts
WA, 160 posts
16 Mar 2026 10:18am
Try shimming first, it has a huge impact!

A larger stab which is dialed in correctly will have greater top speed potential than a smaller stab (within reason, design dependent). This is because drag due to the creation of lift (induced drag) dominates on a stabiliser toward top speed, moreso than the parasitic drag which is the bulk of the stab moving through the water. Running a larger stab means better inherent pitch stability, less angle required, lower wing loading and less drag.

Add a shim, washer, plastic bread clip, whatever to raise the leading edge of the stab a little and flatten it off.

Personally, I grab my bigger stabs when I'm winging and shim them flat. The opposite for prone foil and downwind.

I made a short video on this here:
www.instagram.com/reel/DQFxMgRE1pc/
Lasuduna
Lasuduna
WA
35 posts
WA, 35 posts
16 Mar 2026 6:25pm
Oh okay thanks for that i'll see your vid and try it out
ZeeGerman
ZeeGerman
310 posts
310 posts
17 Mar 2026 6:55pm
Gong V2 stabs can't be shimmed relative to the front wing as they are just slid onto the fuselage.
I doubt that shimming the whole foil will have the same effect.
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