In praise of large stabilisers ( for FD assisted SUP DWers)

Thought I would share a breakthrough from this afternoon. I've been trying to achieve sustained glide from my FD assisted DW board for ages now, esp in weaker conditions. I've really struggled with getting extended runs, the board just keeps bogging down .

Some background: I'm 60 yrs old 85kg, have been sup foiling since the first Naish foils were released , and Sup Foildriving since Gen 1 was released. I have no problems catching many waves in a session. But riding DW bumps has been a very long challenge for me.

Board is Sunova Casey 6'9 x 26 x 128L DW model - yes it's wide but it is stable. I've always found DW conditions to be messy as hell in real life and have no desire to ride a narrow toothpick and spend my sessions falling off in the middle of the ocean. Too old and unfit to kill my self doing flat water paddle up torture as well , happy to let the FD sort that for me.
have recently been wondering if the overall weight of my set up is a major factor in the lack of sustained glide- it is around 15kg overall with board around 7.5kg. My low energy / small condition foil set up has been the Axis PNG 1300v2 / silly advanced fuse / 82cm mast. But I've been copying set ups and recommendations from people on lighter set ups ( maybe 5kg lighter without the FD) , esp concerning stabilisers.

The breakthrough came today by ignoring the advice about using skinny stabs , and trusting my gut - I ended up putting on my biggest stab , a 475P , and voila ! Sustained glide achieved., with almost no bogging down and no breaches. Also tried the 460 v2 and it was also great. Previously the largest I had tried was the 425 and it just wasn't enough, and there would still be the occasional nose dive. Fastest speed was around 12.5 kts or approx 25kmh, and this was comfortable , certainly not on the edge. Turning and pumping was fine thanks to the shorter fuse.

I have found that sometimes it has felt like a small stab simply can't exert sufficient downforce to balance out a very large front wing - end result is stuffing the nose of the board. I know the prevailing theory is to minimise drag at all costs but what I have actually been after is more lift and stall resistance at slower speeds , with drag secondary. I am a believer in preserving the lever arm moment ie as you increase the front wing size you should increase the stab size to maintain the system balance and allow riding higher on the mast. The swell period today was around 5sec after a bit of a blow , so travelling at around 7.5kts. Size was around thigh to waist high , but the short period means it was relatively low energy. So I need sustained lift at this slower speed .
As I mentioned, the recent fashion has been for smaller and smaller stabs , but for my heavier set up and smaller , slower , weaker conditions this just hasn't worked for me. It has done my head in over many many sessions now !! By going back to first principles I have just figured out the solution.

Sorry for the long post but hope this helps someone in a similar situation.

I'm another FD Assist plus user and wouldn't be sup foiling otherwise. It wasn't until I saw a FD catch a wave so much further out that I knew it was legit.
I went from BSC 1060 to using Spitfire 1180 and 1100 and great difference. I got to try 375 stab and found it great for winging but on FD not so good, thought it was my dodgy back ankle.
As soon as I put a 425 on it felt so better.
I have my battery box as far forward as possible even to the point of rubbing my back foot.
Looking forward to next wave session as one of my mates told me "like back country snowboarding" away from the crowds.
Enjoy ??