I am seeking assistance from those who have the gear and experience for their recommendations. I have only tried 2 brands of free ride foils both relatively early generations. I am interested in light wind foiling and a low drag foil that will lift my 94 kegs in light winds. Are racefoils an option and if so what ones and sizes? If not, what are some alternatives?
nice and stable would also be a bonus.
thanks in advance.
Yes, but.....
Racefoils normally get paired with huge slalom type multi cam sails.
When using smaller freeride sails, they will always take a couple to 4 more pumps to get up to their higher speeds, so ACTIVE sailor is needed.
Passive sailors gain little.
AFS with the F800 wing, new name is F1080, can only order from their website with the 85 cm mast/T-bar, but it will fit the new 95 cm mast/T-bar. With gear on I am close to 90 kilos and the old F800 at 1120 cm2 ( not sure if they miss reported the cm2 on the old F800 or made a slightly smaller wing and called it F1080) gets me up in 8-10 knots with an Aerotech Freespeed 9.0 sail, no cams and light.
Also heard you should match the width of your board to the width of the wing, I found out after I bought my board and foil, got lucky board is 80.1 cm wide and F800 wing is 80 cm. Matching widths helps with controlling the wing in a linear fashion. Too wide of a board and it over controls a narrower wing, too wide of a wing and it is hard to control with a narrower board.
I guess everything is a compromise
I was hoping that a low drag foil with a large high aspect wing would still give enough lift without needing a huge sail
Select to expand quoteMrA said..
I guess everything is a compromise
I was hoping that a low drag foil with a large high aspect wing would still give enough lift without needing a huge sail
Well, ofcourse that will work, but I dont know what your conception of a small sail or light wind is? I have very comfortable sessions in 7-10 knots with my 7.0, 882cm2 racefoil and 94Kgs. 10 knots its very easy to get the kit going, I think with a lot of pumping 8 knots is the lower limit to get it flying. It keeps flying through 7 knot lulls without having to pump, below that is too little power for the sailsize, so pumping is required, and eventually you'd drop.
LeeD is right, if you have an active technique a racefoil will greatly improve your range, its very efficient to pump, but it needs efficient pumping technique to really unlock the low end of the range. If you dont pump you might be better off with a bigger wing, but in the end nothing is going to get you flying earlier. Racefoils have a huge amount of power and get you flying very very easily if you manage to push the right buttons.
Simple answer is yes - Race foils are an option.
Whether it is the the correct option depends on you.
I have spent the last two years on a Freeride Moses foil. I nearly always use a 5.5m sail. I can fly in similar winds to friends who are on Starboard Racefoils with 8.0m sails. They are of course faster once flying. Who has the most fun? Hard to say as we all come in happy ( there is no such thing as a bad foil session).
I have recently bought a Starboard Race foil, multiple wings and a race board. So now I can see both sides of the argument. It is harder to get the race wings going, but once going they are super efficient and stay up.
I think the most important point is that you should buy a similar set up to what your mates have. If you want to foil with guys who are on race kit then buy race kit. On freeride foils you will never be able to stay with them. The same is true if your mates are having fun on Freeride gear then it is near impossible to stay with them on race kit, they will be able to reach so much more comfortably, turn so much quicker and play around on small swell.
The Starboard system does in away allow you to have the best of both worlds. As you can buy an 1100 Freeride wing that fits the same fuselage system as the race wings.
Select to expand quoteMrA said..
I guess everything is a compromise
I was hoping that a low drag foil with a large high aspect wing would still give enough lift without needing a huge sail
Sure that can work but then you have some of the trade offs of a large high aspect design: pitch sensitive and excess roll stability.
Not a big deal if the goal is foiling fairly straight in light winds with minimal sail.
A lightweight friend of mine loves his Starboard Supercruiser with the Oceansurf 2000 wing. He also owns race gear from Starboard but enjoys the sensation of the big wing.
A heavier friend has the Moses 1100 and thinks its fantastic. He usually rigs big with a fin and enjoys going fast, apparently that wing does it all.
Select to expand quoteGrantmac said..MrA said..
I guess everything is a compromise
I was hoping that a low drag foil with a large high aspect wing would still give enough lift without needing a huge sail
Sure that can work but then you have some of the trade offs of a large high aspect design: pitch sensitive and excess roll stability.
Not a big deal if the goal is foiling fairly straight in light winds with minimal sail.
A lightweight friend of mine loves his Starboard Supercruiser with the Oceansurf 2000 wing. He also owns race gear from Starboard but enjoys the sensation of the big wing.
A heavier friend has the Moses 1100 and thinks its fantastic. He usually rigs big with a fin and enjoys going fast, apparently that wing does it all.
I find long fuse foils (ie race/freerace) more pitch stable. My 107 fuse with a 1000cm2 wing is more stable than a SS i76. The AFS foils are almost pitch stable to a fault.
The Moses 1100 is, indeed, a special wing. Area plus higher aspect. It can be pushed to surprising speeds for such a big wing. For the 90+kg freeride crowd, it's an eye opener.
Absolutely agree with the points above of getting a foil that matches your style. If you like to windsurf locked and loaded, race foils deliver. If you like making curves, look at freeride. Better foilers (e.g. WoH,WA enthusiasts of the SS TC68) can easily cross over and will use a higher aspect, small foil in windier conditions.
For my 70kg, the AFS F800 (110cm2) strikes a good balance between area and lower drag.
Select to expand quotePaducah said..Grantmac said..MrA said..
I guess everything is a compromise
I was hoping that a low drag foil with a large high aspect wing would still give enough lift without needing a huge sail
Sure that can work but then you have some of the trade offs of a large high aspect design: pitch sensitive and excess roll stability.
Not a big deal if the goal is foiling fairly straight in light winds with minimal sail.
A lightweight friend of mine loves his Starboard Supercruiser with the Oceansurf 2000 wing. He also owns race gear from Starboard but enjoys the sensation of the big wing.
A heavier friend has the Moses 1100 and thinks its fantastic. He usually rigs big with a fin and enjoys going fast, apparently that wing does it all.
I find long fuse foils (ie race/freerace) more pitch stable. My 107 fuse with a 1000cm2 wing is more stable than a SS i76. The AFS foils are almost pitch stable to a fault.
The Moses 1100 is, indeed, a special wing. Area plus higher aspect. It can be pushed to surprising speeds for such a big wing. For the 90+kg freeride crowd, it's an eye opener.
Absolutely agree with the points above of getting a foil that matches your style. If you like to windsurf locked and loaded, race foils deliver. If you like making curves, look at freeride. Better foilers (e.g. WoH,WA enthusiasts of the SS TC68) can easily cross over and will use a higher aspect, small foil in windier conditions.
For my 70kg, the AFS F800 (110cm2) strikes a good balance between area and lower drag.
think you meant AFS F800 (1120 cm2)!
Select to expand quotePaducah said..Grantmac said..MrA said..
I guess everything is a compromise
I was hoping that a low drag foil with a large high aspect wing would still give enough lift without needing a huge sail
Sure that can work but then you have some of the trade offs of a large high aspect design: pitch sensitive and excess roll stability.
Not a big deal if the goal is foiling fairly straight in light winds with minimal sail.
A lightweight friend of mine loves his Starboard Supercruiser with the Oceansurf 2000 wing. He also owns race gear from Starboard but enjoys the sensation of the big wing.
A heavier friend has the Moses 1100 and thinks its fantastic. He usually rigs big with a fin and enjoys going fast, apparently that wing does it all.
I find long fuse foils (ie race/freerace) more pitch stable. My 107 fuse with a 1000cm2 wing is more stable than a SS i76. The AFS foils are almost pitch stable to a fault.
The Moses 1100 is, indeed, a special wing. Area plus higher aspect. It can be pushed to surprising speeds for such a big wing. For the 90+kg freeride crowd, it's an eye opener.
Absolutely agree with the points above of getting a foil that matches your style. If you like to windsurf locked and loaded, race foils deliver. If you like making curves, look at freeride. Better foilers (e.g. WoH,WA enthusiasts of the SS TC68) can easily cross over and will use a higher aspect, small foil in windier conditions.
For my 70kg, the AFS F800 (110cm2) strikes a good balance between area and lower drag.
The longer fuselages are very pitch stable. They tend to lock in the yaw as well which makes for a much more straight line setup as opposed to a surfy one.
Usually you'd need a longer mast with a foil that locked since they aren't reactive enough to follow larger chop, they need the height to just bypass it.
Definitely horses for courses.
