A rather general question: what's your pick in minimal conditions, sup or surf foil?
I practice several foil disciplines, but haven't given sup foiling much thought. Lately there's been very little wind and waves, so I was wondering if sup foiling (with a big mid apsect foil) might be the way to make the most out of the minimal. Maybe even more so than prone surf?
if there's any recommendation for a good sup foil board or templates of a board, let me know. I've only got two blanks left in the shaping bay, so time to start planning the next project!
When it gets really really small.. I would say a high aspect that has some low end (1440 current favorite), and a short mast to be able to take off and go (75cm or less?). The problem is that you end up with something that is hard to turn and breaches on a very low banking angle. Beyond prone and sup, I see a clear problem there, maybe I am doing it wrong. With a good sup shape (kalama designs (?)) one could take off at the back in unbroken waves and thus keep a long enough mast to bank proper turns. Otherwise foildrive or beachstart?
+1 for Foildrive on a Sup foilboard. Has given me super long glides from way out the back on small days where I wouldn't usually bother. Total game changer for me, has redefined what is possible.
It certainly depends on your goals.
I weigh 95 kg and ride someplace with garbage waves, even by east coast US standards. My goals are the most agressive riding possible with no regard to the cardio costs except that I need to be able to triple..Prone for the pump, shorter mast (68cm) not for depth but to get the wing closer to the surface energy on takeoff, smallest high aspect you can pump forever, for me the RS1150. I gave away my big high aspect because I don't need it.
Speed gives you options on small waves, chase down sections, throw your turns where you can, then chase down the next. The only way to do that is with efficiency.
I moved from sup foil to surf/prone. I now sup foil mainly when it's really tiny, as you can get into some waves with very little power that are impossible to prone. [and x3 on foil drive, got a diy version going, just getting it sussed, but it catches waves that aren't sup catchable too]
I also sup foil sometimes when it's big, as you can get in a lot earlier, so can avoid the risky big drop or the difficult white water firehose.
For some spots sup foil is helpful if the paddle back is punishingly long and walking isn't an option. And finally, sometimes on those epic days where your arms are noodled but the waves are going off and you still have gas in the tank ... sup foil uses different muscles, works for session hours 4 through 6. 
If you're used to shaping prone foils, sups can be a little frustrating....so much bigger, way more foam (can be hard to find blanks thick and wide enough, may have to glue), and it uses so much cloth and resin....painful. You also have to be careful about weight, as those little things you can get away with on a 4.6 make a board 20lbs on a 6'. Also painful, to spend all that time and $ and end up with a tanker.
For template, have to decide if you want a bigger all rounder that's easy to paddle in all conditions, or smaller and more nimble but harder to paddle in chop and need to take off a little deeper. Also if you intend to double duty it with winging or not, over the past year or 2, there's been some divergence between wing and sup board (eg flat extended tails). It was sup foils you can wing, now vice versa, there really aren't many sup specific boards out there any more. I copied the Armstrong v1 6.4 for sup, nice surfboardy shape, and copied fanatic sky 5.3 for wing...a little too small for me to sup. I am thinking next board may be armstrong v2 6.0....the FG (forward geometry) set up is intriguing.
Thanks all!
I'm not that good of a a prone foiler (yet), nor a good sup'er, so I'll stick to improving prone skills for now.
also prone shaping is so much fun! It's cheaper and quicker + there's something about having a super light blank and end result. My current board is a 5'0 44l with sharply beveled rails and big tail kick. I'm not confident that that's the best shape. I'm more of the round rails and straight hull type of school. Maybe it's time for a smaller board with a touch more volume and more "natural" rails/rocker. The new Lift 5'0 looks pretty sweet.
i've got a 180x65 115l windfoil freestyle board laying around, but it is a 8.3kg tank as I wanted it to be able to handle aggressive jumps. It's a deep tuttle board and I've only got 85 and 95cm mast, but maybe it's good for a basic initiation.
if anyone knows a (diy) variant of the foildrive in EU, let me know!
I am not a big believer in board shape and details mattering much at intermediate level. Once out of the water the shape does nothing ... so mostly about paddling and catching waves? Half of which are in white water...meh. It's not like surfboards that live in the water.
For sup I'm a believer that it helps to first be able to catch and ride waves without a foil, then pretty easy to add a foil. So if your board can take a fin, give your board a try, see if you can catch some waves. Or if not put your mast on and see if you can paddle it...if yes, maybe good enough
It will work for foil drive. My buddy is using his wind foil...kind of halfway between prone and sup size. For diy, requires some fiddling around with electronics and 3d printing....search foil zone forum for info foil.zone/t/foil-drive-assist-diy/12927/226
