Hey Grant, I think you have something there. But I got confused by a couple things you say above.
Do the racers increase or decrease the stab down angle? If they increase it (more down angle relative to the fuse and wing), I would think the wing will want to breach even more easily.
If they decrease the down angle, I would think it would make the foil stay down as speed increases. This might require more back foot pressure to get flying. This might have the same effect as moving the wing further back. This is exactly what I want.
So, if I decrease the down angle on my Moses Race, I might be able to use it in freeride mode with smaller (5.0 to 7.0) sails without having to completely re-balance the whole setup. Does this make sense?
Bad foiler here.
But I have the adjustable Naish rear wing.
Seems, stab set downward, stable at lower foil speeds and excess lift at higher speeds.
Set flatter almost aligned with front wing, foil is very sensitive to weight, very unstable, but stays that way thru the whole wind range.
More consistent, but very sensitive.
Stab running at an angle closer to the main wing rather than with a positive angle of incidence which is how most run.
I'm paraphrasing something mentioned in a winging thread:
If the foil has too much front foot pressure at all speeds then shift it to the rear (or vice versa).
The the foil builds too much front foot pressure as speed increases then shim the stab to a lower angle relative to the wing.
Obviously there is a balance here and each change effects the other to some degree.
Race foilers use the long fuselage for stability in order to run the lower stab angle. It's more efficient and requires less change in foot pressure as you run higher or lower angles and speeds.
The 115++ has the wing just behind the front foot.
Select to expand quoteSandman1221 said..
First, you need to make sure you are balanced on the board in flight, that means your front and rear foot pressure is equal when in level flight. Imagine you are straddling a seesaw with the left seat level with the right seat when you have equal pressure on both feet, that is being balanced. So once you have the board setup for that, which involves the sail mast base position, then all you do to maintain a level flight is to gently rock back and forth as needed while sheeting the sail in and out. It takes a lot of balance and coordination. Right now you are probably shifting your weight back and forth without realizing it, and that is causing you to porpoise. If you have access to an Indo Board, that will help train you to balance your foot pressure while in flight since it replicates half of what is needed, the other half is sheeting in and out rapidly while in flight, and responding to gusts by sheeting in/out takes practice. I have very gusty conditions, and I can maintain a level flight, but it does take a lot of focus and very quick reflexes, and I do that without looking for the gusts, I just respond to the pressure on the sail. Sometimes I cannot respond fast enough and either go airborne (rarely) if I am too high to begin with, or drop straight down and land on the water with a bang in the case of a negative gust (very hard to respond to).
The kite foilers are using wind that is 90 feet up, and that wind is more stable since it has an unobstructed path. You are on the whitewater rapids of a narrow river, they are on a broad river that does not have major whitewater or rapids "most of the time".
Actually, I take back the part about not looking for the gusts when on a flight, if it is really gusty I will look every 1/4 mile or so to see what is coming, and then keep that in mind as I continue on.
