Track mounts are great for allowing movement of the foil mast on the board but having to install and remove the 4 sliding track nuts every session sucks.
Armstrong have solved this problem by putting open ended slots on the foil's track mounts and attaching the screws through elongated washers.It's Time for the other manufacturers to do some R & D (rip off & Duplicate) to put this common sense design on their foils.
BTW It wouldn't be too hard to buy a set of these Armstrong screws & cut any track mount's holes into slots to use them.
I just built a trailer that takes a board with foil mount attached instead.
Yeah, they copied Naish, good for them.
I dealed with 4 screws every session for 2 seasons, or 120 days.
Bought a Aba, but with 2 masts, switch all the time, no biggie, it's just 3 minutes really.
Put a bit of closed cell foam in the bottom of the tracks. This holds the plates in position and upwards. Then the screws go in easy
Looks like foiling is an old-guy sport now - four screws and putting a few nuts where they belong is asked too much 
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Select to expand quoteboardsurfr said..
Looks like foiling is an old-guy sport now - four screws and putting a few nuts where they belong is asked too much .
Maybe so but good design easily overcomes simple problems
Select to expand quoteairsail said..
Put a bit of closed cell foam in the bottom of the tracks. This holds the plates in position and upwards. Then the screws go in easy
This!
My old board came with some clear plastic tubing jammed in both tracks, which kept the t-nuts from falling out when the foil wasn't attached. Great idea by the previous owner.
Slingshot now do a quick mount plate, allows you to leave bolts and T nuts assembled in board if you wish
Coupla turns to loosen, slide them out of the plate then tighten in board so they don't slide out
That SS pic, you have to completely remove the 2 screws on the right.
So might as well remove them all.....
^^^ only if you use those holes. Use the slots and there's no need to remove the screws.
An alternative is to pack the slots with rubber or plastic spacers so the nuts inside stay in the right position. You could drop a couple of dabs of silicone in the slot to do the same job.
I've seen a plastic plate that sits on the deck under the mounting plate that has a similar function. Not sure about that one. Didn't get a close look at it.
Put a knob of surf wax in your tracks to stop your t nuts falling out the board after removing foil. I lost a few nuts before I did this. Never lost one since. I leave bolts in the board as well, slotted base plates are the way to go. It really only takes 60 seconds to put a foil on. Most people talk foil chat at the beach for longer! Don't see the need for quick release systems that only introduce more weight and wobble to the most critical connection you need.
Not bad but you still need to remove each of the screws to mount or remove the foil.
Select to expand quotegregwho said..
Not bad but you still need to remove each of the screws to mount or remove the foil.
Not with a slotted plate mount. It goes pretty quick. I have been tighten the bolts back up to keep them in place but this saves that step and speeks to my other big passion, booze!
Select to expand quoteutcminusfour said..gregwho said..
Not bad but you still need to remove each of the screws to mount or remove the foil.
Not with a slotted plate mount. It goes pretty quick. I have been tighten the bolts back up to keep them in place but this saves that step and speeks to my other big passion, booze!
Slingshot foil owners in Australia will be waiting a while to get hold of the new slotted plates. From Slingshot Australia:
At this stage the new quick mount track plate comes as standard on our FWing foil package only. The plan is to roll it out as standard across all our packages on our next cycle of foil releases and it will be available for individual purchase then.
When will that be? I'm not 100% certain, but either late may or late September.
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