Jeroensurf said..

Frankieboy said..
what is your technique for starting?

I tried knee and stinkbug, but in very short period (rather meters between the waves instead of seconds) and waisthigh chop both didnt work. Not soo supple is an understatement for me so a sitting start doesnt,t work for me.
I have put my board online for Sale, If i get a decent price for it, I change to the Longer KT, If not I keep anoying myself with the 4.9 hoping that at some point I get the grip of it.

@North Kiter, I hear what you are saying about the swingweight, and noticed the diff as well, but I rather have a bit more swingweight as swimtime

So, I'd like to retract my feedback. Let me explain.

I recently got a kalama 6'6 x 30 x 141L board and have been using in light winds (15kn) winging and the length allows me to start so easy, the board planes so fast and allows the foil to engage. I learnt toes side tacks in a day on this board and now attempting heel side tacks.

Today I was out in 15kn and did about 30 toe side tacks with some touch downs in choppy conditions, and I was able to ride out of most of them easily due to the board length in choppy sea. I have a 5'4 x 26 x 104L and no way could I have stayed foiling on this short board.

So after two years of wing foiling on shorter boards and struggling in flat choppy water, my perception has changed and I would recommend a longer, narrower board with foil tracks well forward (so the board feels smaller) for light to medium wind and lots of fun.

I don't jump and just mow the lawn, but for me now it's all about being easy getting on foil and carving waves/chop.

I'm 105kg and sketchy east coast fickle conditions, so envious of the WA boys

The french are also experimenting longer and narrower shapes to ease the take off. Not just for DW but for wingfoiling in lightwinds

110 l and 23.5 inch wide is enough for stinkbug in some chop?

Anyone know when the new Armstrong downwind boards are being released...?

Since I started this thread, I followed through when I found a used a ascend and said what the hell, lets try it.

I know to some of you, these revelations were a long time ago.

Between busy work schedules and inconsistent wind, I finally had a chance to try it. Board is 7'0 x 21" and 65 liters. Me 86kg. Foil setup was armstrong 935/1225/60/205. Wind was 13-18mph with some drops below that and knee high chop in a lagoon. Went for it with a V1 mantis 5m.

I normally ride a 6'4 foil sup because I am waiting to see what new stuff comes out next year with the new tail designs for a smaller board possibly. So this was my first time riding a board close to or below my weight. I spent about 5 minutes in the water without the wing figuring out balance and flotation on the board. What the hell... here we go.

I basically did knee starts with it and was off and flying within about 5 minutes. Wow, what a difference on the smaller board. Looking down, it seemed like I was in the middle of the board with equal amounts in front of me and behind me. Gybes were so much easier. Going upwind was just so simple. Riding toe side was effortless. I just mowed the lawn back and forth for the next hour and half with a big smile on my face. Fell very few times and getting up did take more effort but depended more on waiting for the gusts. But I could get up and flying when I wanted to. Few flubs here and there but nothing frustrating, just me getting accustomed. I have a shorter prone 5'6 60L amundson that I got ridiculously cheap on their Christmas clearance sale that i have only used behind the boat. Of course, the wind is going to die and I have a busy work schedule for the next few months so I dont know when I will be able to compare the 2. Once I do, I can see how much difference the length makes.

But this one does work really well if you can find a deal on one of these.

I'm tempted to make something like this but a 60L version somewhere around 5'2 x 21. anyone tried?

NordRoi said..

leepasty said..
I'm tempted to make something like this but a 60L version somewhere around 5'2 x 21. anyone tried?

I wonder if...a narrower board work if it doesn't sink? I wonder if width help to breach the board at the surface...so as long you are not 100kg that 60L and rather 70-75, that shape might help?

I'm 6'2 95kg so think it will sink but wondering if the extra length will allow to go narrower to make a board that turns better but still easy to get going rather than a 4'4 x 21 30L ?

Bringing this up again with the downwind boards out now.

With some people starting to ride their downwind boards in lighter winds the things people are finding out:
can get up sooner
can use smaller hand wings
can ride in lighter winds

The smaller downwind boards from appletree, armstrong, kalama, KT's, gong, sunova, and axis (their hybrid) look like they might be really good for cruising and wave riding. Probably the ONE boards in this category too. Then the omen, sunova , and FFB boards have even smaller sizes and footstraps with the DW board characteristics. I have read a lot of the safety of just riding a board equal volume to your weight for the non-pro's that could work good for cruising, wave riding, and downwinding/winging. And still have a little float in case the wind dies. Some these and this style could really tick a lot of boxes for a lot of people.

Could we see more in the smaller sizes say between 40L and 70L follow this shape trend with the straps to make the smaller boards even quicker out of the water. These would be the higher wind boards and for jumping with less weight from less volume.

Could these boards make it easier for people learning the sport. We all went through the big wing, , big foil, big board and higher winds to learn. These narrower and longer boards though a little hard to balance on initially could get speed faster and help people learn in lower winds.

The Appletree downwind boards are officially released.
Smallest versions have between 70 and 80 litres of volume (depending if you choose wide or narrow).
@ninjatuna: Would that be "low" enough for your quest?

Apple Skipper Down Wind (appletreesurfboards.com)

I find all new innovations interesting to follow.
However, in water/ wind sports - history shows the principle of basic clean shapes become best for most people.

I used to ride a Naish prone 40L. It was long and narrow. It was very easy to get up on foil once you had enough wind to get it to the surface. I think the Naish Prone 65L would work very well as a wing board. FYI I weigh 78kg and was riding a uniform Hyper 250 1500cm2.