Shorter vs Longer boards for DW foiling - let's hear your feedback !

Hi, just have some questions for the SUP DWer folk out there .

I have a FoilDrive Plus which I am looking to use for assisted paddle DW runs , I have already done a couple on my normal SUP foil board and was surprised how different an open ocean DWer was from catching small unbroken waves way out off my usual beach - used way more battery power than usual and less time gliding high on the mast . The conditions were pretty gutless , slowish thigh high rollers that I thought would have more oomph than they ended up having . I'm 58 and have no intention of trying DWers without the FD - I'll leave the pure paddle up DWers to those that are younger and way fitter than me !! I'll be looking to mount the battery box just behind the mast position to minimise the impact on swing weight.

My questions concern the performance of the board when up and flying - given that I have a FD let's assume I can get up nicely on either a longer more narrow board ( 7 foot something) , or a shorter board ( 6 foot something) , so potentially I have the choice of either. What are going the be the differences between the two once I am up and flying ? Pumping, glide, touchdowns, turning etc. Bearing in mind that I wont be needing the extra length for paddling up, so I am fishing for potential other benefits that are not apparent or intuitive to me.

There seems to be a split emerging in the DW board market , so it is getting pretty crowded:

- The longer more narrow camp eg Barracuda, Amos Sultan , Sunova Elite, FFB Dagger, Armstrong, Axis

- The shorter , slightly wider camp eg Kalama E3 DW , AFS Blackbird, Phantom Drift, F One , PPC

I'm used to sup foiling squarish , volume stuffed boards that are as short as possible to try and reduce swing weight but still retaining width for standing stability in the lineup. My current fav board is a 5'5 x 30" x 118L , which is a great little carver. Previously I was on a 6'1 x 30" x 130L custom ( which was basically a Kalama E2 style knockoff). So that is where I am coming from, I'm pretty happy with my current Sup foiling set up but wondering if something different will work better for DWers.

I am throwing this long vs short question out there as I have just recently been reading a few wee things that suggest the long boards might have some advantages once up and flying ( eg projection in the pump) which are somewhat counter-intuitive to me. Certainly learning to wingfoil on a 7'6 board was a crap experience compared to riding a 5 footer , and I still remember the aggravation of having the nose hit the water when I was trying to pump the foil. My wing and Sup foil experience has meant that I am naturally more predisposed towards using shorter boards ( but happy to be convinced otherwise for DW)

As a counterpoint though I've been watching a lot of the videos of the OZ East Coast crew and they certainly make those long boards look pretty manoeuvrable , hence my questions - I suspect there's things going on with these boards that I just don't know ! Eg I am assuming that the long boards have appreciable swing weight , but it may be that they actually feel shorter than their dims because an narrow pointy nose (and stern) just doesn't have that much mass ?

Also , is the " length adds stability when standing ( not flying) " a real thing, even on a super narrow board? I can't be arsed spending all day falling off a toothpick , so I'm very keen to understand if I'm actually wrong about this !! ( the 3 short DWers I've done have actually had pretty sloppy and challenging water conditions so this is actually not a hypothetical question )

Really interested to hear from folk who have some experience paddle DWing both longer and shorter boards , and their insights into how both perform ONCE FLYING - generally most of the feedback I've read about the long narrow boards is that they paddle up easier but that's not what I am asking here. I only know what I know and don't have the luxury of trying all the different iterations to find out for myself unfortunately.

Thanks very much in advance.

I went with a 7' x 24" X 120L custom for DW with a foildrive. IMO all the new performance DW boards are narrower and longer than needed if using a foildrive. I was using a sup/wing board that was ok but wanted better release and a more forward foilbox to get the box off the tail. Both for centering the weight and to keep it out of water.