Check out guys... They say no foil box needed... What do you guys think?
www.robertoriccidesigns.com/equipment/wh-flight-alu-hydrofoil-85/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=rrd_windsurfing_year_2018_week_14&utm_term=2018-04-08
If your board has not been designed to withstand the sheering forces of a foil, it will eventually fail. The plate will help, and likely substantially longer than without a plate, but there is so much force right at the front edge of the plate (Foil lifting up vs. board, sailor and mastfoot pressure pushing down) that any board not re-enforced would have a limited life span.
^^^ while that may be true...
I would like to do some foil-windsurfing... but the ~~ $5000 upfront cost is somewhat absurd for some aspect of the sport which I dont know whether I will even enjoy. vs... $1500 for a cheap foil which plugs into an existing board.
Here is what people with limited money do:
- buy foil and use it in existing board... board may work fine! ... Another happy customer and a retailer got some money.
- fin-box collapses... The box is rebuilt stronger than before. Same happy customer / retailer... now there someone else made some money too.
- customer decides foiling is worth spending more money on that aspect of the sport (irrespective of whether the fin-box has gone to board-heaven), so a foil-ready board is purchased.
I'd be also interested in the quality of the foil, though the 120 cm fuselage seems quite extreme !!
The 115 starboard is already a handful as soon as the wind gets over 12/14 knts !
Plate is a good idea, seen the new manta and alloy starboard with them locally and yet to see a cracked board
Select to expand quotemathew said..- fin-box collapses... The box is rebuilt stronger than before. Same happy customer / retailer... now there someone else made some money too.
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Love that part 
I had one of these WH flight foils for 9 months or so, and thought it was a great foil. A major improvement on my previous foil the pink ally NP. The RRD lifts off early, is reasonable stable and has a clever adaptable board connection. Fits any standard tuttle box. I used it most on a 2016 iconic 124lt, without a reinforced foil box no problems. Sold it to a guy who is using the twin US box fitting plate option on a 122 Naish Hover. I bought a starboard race foil so the RRD was sold. The RRD WH flight points as high into the wind as the SB race, just a bit slower. Probably not fair to compare with the more costly SB foil though.
Select to expand quotemathew said..
^^^ while that may be true...
I would like to do some foil-windsurfing... but the ~~ $5000 upfront cost is somewhat absurd for some aspect of the sport which I dont know whether I will even enjoy. vs... $1500 for a cheap foil which plugs into an existing board.
Here is what people with limited money do:
- buy foil and use it in existing board... board may work fine! ... Another happy customer and a retailer got some money.
- fin-box collapses... The box is rebuilt stronger than before. Same happy customer / retailer... now there someone else made some money too.
- customer decides foiling is worth spending more money on that aspect of the sport (irrespective of whether the fin-box has gone to board-heaven), so a foil-ready board is purchased.
Hi Mathew
See my earlier post about connecting foil to Tuttle boards - e.g. 2010 RRD X-Fire V2 122L - using a home made adapter kit.
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Foiling/Old-meets-new
Having the plate, or similar load spread thing, can take about 70% of the load off the Fin box.
A guy over here in Germany reported a massive damage using it in a powerbox of his RRD Fireride, the box ripped out of the board completely.
Lucky for him, a diver found it 10 meters deep in the med.
Now he only uses foil ready boards.
Alex
I'm using a PowerPlate adapter in a regular unreinforced Tuttle box with what is basically a Slingshot Fwind1 clone and it's been perfectly fine over the 20+ sessions I've had on it. There are no signs of stress on the box. The board I'm using it on is a old Starboard that cost me $450. I think the success of the setup is contingent on the board's construction. If it weren't for this system I definitely wouldn't be foiling. The PowerPlate has a huge collar for distributing load, It's probably at least 200cm squared. I have the setup leashed to a footstrap bolt hole so if it fails I'll still have the foil and will move it to a proper foil board. I see the collar on some deep Tuttle boxes like the one in Ral Inn's picture above and I wouldn't let it near an unreinforced box.
I use a Power Plate with a Slingshot hybrid foil on an unmodified unreinforced formula board deep tuttle box.
Note only does the huge flange of the Power Plate spread the load widely, but it also allows a large adjustment range to locate the front wing to the mid point between the footstraps. My stock formula board has the finbox too far aft for balance. The Plate lets me move the foil forward. It is now nicely balanced.
The one downside to the Power Plate is that it adds significant weight to the whole system. However, you get accustomed to that, and you don't notice the weight when out foiling.
After a couple dozen sessions, it has been fine. No problems with the board or its finbox.
I use a formula board/ 2018 pryde Alu foil. For owners of Neil pryde foils or foils without a flange you should make a spacer block (especially if your box is not reinforced like mine) unless your foil head fits perfectly into your foil ready deep tuttle box.
See page 2-4, they talk about the spacer block.
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Foiling/Foiling-4?page=3
I think pryde really dropped the ball here by not putting a flange on and/or being able to use a power plate on there pre-2019 foils. I will say The new foils are similar to other brands letting you choice which head style to use.
www.neilpryde.com/pages/product-compatibility
I used a pink NP AL Flight foil in my JP 85 wide Slalom board for months before I bought a proper foil board. I didn't have any issues but I only weigh 71 kilos. I think the heavier guys are the ones that have more issues with the non foil ready boards.
Have to say, broke a lot of foilgear, but never a board, and 2 of my boards are not reinforced. (My formulaboard which I use for racing is not reinforced, and I think it takes one of the heaviest loads of all, my jumping excluded) Broken / bent fuselages, bent masts, broken wings etc. Been there, done that..., but never a broken box. Did break a JP Hydrofoil 135 in two, but that board was just past its years (months tbh), partly from the learning process and the way too radical **** I did with it. Entirely my own doing.
Select to expand quoteWhiteofHeart said..
Did break a JP Hydrofoil 135 in two
Wow
Don't put that in the promo vid for jp
Select to expand quoteMaddlad said..
I used a pink NP AL Flight foil in my JP 85 wide Slalom board for months before I bought a proper foil board. I didn't have any issues but I only weigh 71 kilos. I think the heavier guys are the ones that have more issues with the non foil ready boards.
I use the same foil on a Starboard which is I think 78. Had my finbox reinforced. Full foil board and carbon foil next season.
Select to expand quoteZoltanL said..mathew said..
^^^ while that may be true...
I would like to do some foil-windsurfing... but the ~~ $5000 upfront cost is somewhat absurd for some aspect of the sport which I dont know whether I will even enjoy. vs... $1500 for a cheap foil which plugs into an existing board.
Here is what people with limited money do:
- buy foil and use it in existing board... board may work fine! ... Another happy customer and a retailer got some money.
- fin-box collapses... The box is rebuilt stronger than before. Same happy customer / retailer... now there someone else made some money too.
- customer decides foiling is worth spending more money on that aspect of the sport (irrespective of whether the fin-box has gone to board-heaven), so a foil-ready board is purchased.
Hi Mathew
See my earlier post about connecting foil to Tuttle boards - e.g. 2010 RRD X-Fire V2 122L - using a home made adapter kit.
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Foiling/Old-meets-new
I made myself something very basic to spread the load on the deck too. I think it's a good idea.
Select to expand quoteCAN17 said..WhiteofHeart said..
Did break a JP Hydrofoil 135 in two
Wow
Don't put that in the promo vid for jp
Well like I said, I abused it... cracks in the nose I didn't repair right away in combination with a rough 175 sessions of really above average pumping turned it soft, and a backloop I landed on the nose broke it. The JP is a really great board, and I'd recommend it to anyone ;)
The jp135, particularly the pro edition, is a super light board, as a result it won't take a pounding....but I've raced mine hard for over a year and it's still fine, although there are some dents in the nose :D
Can17 mentioned above about spacers above the foil in the box. I think I've mentioned it before but be very careful doing this. Adding a spacer that is not glued into the sides/top (deck) of the box is a sure fire way to delaminate the deck of your board. If your foil doesn't seat in the box and you're relying on that for location you transfer all the vertical load to the deck....it's not designed to be loaded like that, regardless of whether it's a foil box or not.
