I've decided to give foiling a bash. I've got hold of a 2017 Starboard Foil 147 and was thinking pairing it with an aluminium IQFoil. I weigh 75kg and am intermediate with no ambitions to become advanced (happy blasting on slalom kit but crap at gybes and no interest in tricks). Has anyone learned to foil on a similar set-up? I really like the idea of having the option of a foil for upwind/downwind and reaching.
Select to expand quotedohertpk said..
I've decided to give foiling a bash. I've got hold of a 2017 Starboard Foil 147 and was thinking pairing it with an aluminium IQFoil. I weigh 75kg and am intermediate with no ambitions to become advanced (happy blasting on slalom kit but crap at gybes and no interest in tricks). Has anyone learned to foil on a similar set-up? I really like the idea of having the option of a foil for upwind/downwind and reaching.
I think it should be fine at worst and possibly awesome. I have a mate that learned on race foiling gear (a fanatic foil I believe) and he was a very basic beginner windsurfer prior to starting to foil. Now he has switched to IQ and is fully foiling all over the place. I don't think he has mastered the full foiling gybe, but he had never tried a planning gybe until about a year ago.
The early race foils were more tricky to learn on because they hard short fuselages, so lots of dudes switched to freeride foils, but the modern race foils are much more user friendly. So I reckon you should go for it. If for some reason, you are struggling you can always pick up a cheap freeride foil to get the basics down and then progress back to your IQ.
PS: I am not familiar with the board and I have limited experience on race foil gear.
PPS: I think you get used to the gear you use, and if race foiling appeals to you I would just start with that, but on a modern foil eg IQ
I learnt on that board SB 147 with SB GT foil - instant foil addict, say no more
- now using everything from Race 115+ to Supercruiser - I reckon GT-R is a better match to 147 than IQ, tail is too narrow to handle the leverage of a full race foil especially with your lighter bodyweight - at least one guy built extenders to counteract this, SB make them now but not sure they fit on 147 ....
I learnt on the 1st Gen. SB Race foil and can't speak highly enough of it. They are super stable and suit freeriding as much as they do racing. I have since switched out the fuse to a 95cm and added a larger stab (which is now effectively a GTR+ foil) and paired it with a (85cm wide) JP 135. The GTR won't point as high but is much happier reaching than the full race set up(115 fuse). The race foil will work with the 147 but I would suggest adding the 95 fuse as it would make it a perfect match for this board. Good luck!
