Forums > Wing Foiling General

Mast position, do you change based on conditions?

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Created by Dcharlton > 9 months ago, 29 Jun 2022
Dcharlton
307 posts
29 Jun 2022 3:54AM
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Wondering if folks set their mast position in the same exact position each time on the tracks or if you ever adjusted for the conditions. For example, do you push the mast forward more if the conditions are marginal to improve lift and move the mast back in higher winds to improve control?

Or do you just swap out larger wings or change fuselages (does a longer fuselage help you with more lift on marginal days?)

So many variations in this sport!!!

DC

JohnnyTsunami
131 posts
29 Jun 2022 4:13AM
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I never adjust. Foil and front footstraps are in the right spot for slowest and fastest foiling I do and I know exactly what's going to happen when I switch feet or transition. Why change it? O, and it's a Tuttle, so there is no adjusting, but when I rode tracks I wouldn't change it either.

I'm all in favor of trying lots of foils and wings and boards until you get you setup dialed, no better feeling than finally getting everything to work well together.
The blue planet podcast had the unifoil owner say he moves it based in conditions, so ymmv.

UkWinger
88 posts
29 Jun 2022 4:47AM
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I don't change my foil position depending on conditions, I found it works best all the way forward and that's with different foils throughout the same brand.
A couple of the local guys are always tweaking and shimming etc

MidAtlanticFoil
672 posts
29 Jun 2022 4:54AM
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I'm plagued with too many wings so I'm always changing things up, but I do track my sessions on Waterspeed and log gear used for each session, including wing, front foil, tail wing, and mast position. With each wing I do try to keep the mast position in the same vicinity +/- a cm. I'm currently riding with out straps so I can adjust my stance to account for any discrepancies.

At first my head was swimming with all the variables, but after a few years I now have a few of those equation thought bubbles pop up an I'll come up with a setup for the day and I rarely need to go to the beach for an adjustment.

Just rode my 525 at mast position 7 on my FG board, which is the furthest forward I've gone on a wing (also got my fastest speed). Went pretty well! Going to try 8 next time to see if that's unrideable.

Jeroensurf
866 posts
29 Jun 2022 6:08AM
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I wing in a wide variety of conditions and have 7 front wings from 3 different brands so my mast position changes often, but the Centre of effort/amount of lift is always near the same. I just pick the foils that suit the conditions best.When i,m in flat water I really like my Sab W1000. (mast far to the front)Small bumps DWers the Sab1110 (mast in the middle) or ultra lightwind Sab1100, slightly a front of the middle with a 1degree shim.Most waves in the netherlands are rather slow and suit my Kujira 1210 very well (mast pretty far to the back),and the Cabrinha 1200+1000 that I demoed and now bought (mast very far to the front).In big fast waves on holidays I grab my 940, not the most glide but heaps of control and grip and sits just afront the middle.I ride strapless btw.
Of course I could play more with mastposition and ditch some wings, but some like the W1110 and W1000 are really fun to keep for the occasionally days.

mcrt
611 posts
29 Jun 2022 2:45PM
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No change.It is balanced and i know where to step when going fast or slow.

If i changed foil size then maybe i would have to but i am always on the Kujira 1210.

kvek
66 posts
29 Jun 2022 5:30PM
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I don't change it, for now. It works great as it is.

The only thing I would like to test is to move the mast forward for the lowest wind to see if it can help with getting easier on my foil. Some swear it helps and some that it doesn't help so I am undecided for now.

Gencion
71 posts
30 Jun 2022 5:25PM
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I almost all the time use the same position, i.e. mast around 1 cm from the front of the track. For very strong wind, I move around 2 cm back.
I ride Sroka and Gong foils. Board is Reeding Feather. I found that I mostly change rear foot position. I ride strapless

WhiteofHeart
762 posts
1 Jul 2022 6:06AM
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I have pretty much never moved my mast position. Only time was a few weeks ago. Normally I ride on a fresh water lake in the Netherlands, with a few outings to the north sea a long time ago. A few weeks back I was on Tenerife, and somehow the foils felt way liftier there, I think its the salt % in the water. I moved my foil back a little to compensate, for I could no longer pump efficiently with my back foot in the strap. Even after moving it back a cm or 2 the 940cm2 was as lifty as the 1280cm2 on my homespot. Huge difference. The 940cm2 was perfect for riding the swells, I anticipated to be needing the 1280 or 1480 for that. If I were riding there more often it would seriously make me consider getting a 740cm2 wing even for riding swell.

Taavi
192 posts
1 Jul 2022 3:34PM
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I never change the mast location based on the conditions, but the ideal position is definitely different for pretty much every foil setup I am using. You may not feel the need to move the mast if riding strapless, but with foot straps it's easy to feel the need to make changes.

For the setups I am using the mast location moves up to 5 cm. Basically every little change you do with the foil (change of the stabiliser, adding/removing a shim, changing the length of the fuselage, etc.) may require the change of the mast location for the whole setup to feel ideal.








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"Mast position, do you change based on conditions?" started by Dcharlton