In the vein of the rear-entry US Box, Gong new solution is quite simple:
Just have two holes for inserting the nuts, with small rods to keep them aligned.
Half a turn on each screw, and you can secure or remove the foil. Plus not lose the screws or nuts!
In action:
Shame they still haven't put a sharp rail on the back of that board, otherwise looking quite good.
They say that it is not needed, as you take off by "pump rocking" the board on such compact shapes. Rear sharp rails are useful for boards that must get onto a plane the "traditional" way.
For instance, a lot of rigid Wing boards do not have hard rail edges in the tail.
North has that setup for a year now on their wingboards.
Ah, yes:
The one down side is it reduces the useable length of your boxes .
Exactly. And if anything, they should've placed the second entry hole at the back of the box, not the front. I've never seen anyone ride their foil all the way back in the boxes, but I've definitely seen people wishing they could place their mast more forward.
I've never seen anyone ride their foil all the way back in the boxes,
I guess it depends on where the boxes are placed, and their length :-)
Note that the Hipe does not have 3rd party added boxes, they are cut in the carbon plate, so they can be as long as needed. They are also shallower, for a better strength to weight ratio.
Holes at the front avoids losing the foil if screws get a bit undone. Note that North has the same placement.
I've never seen anyone ride their foil all the way back in the boxes, but I've definitely seen people wishing they could place their mast more forward.
With mixed brand setups anything goes.
My Kujira goes all the way in the back of a Gong Matata 5.0.
It is where it is balanced.
Shame they still haven't put a sharp rail on the back of that board, otherwise looking quite good.
They say that it is not needed, as you take off by "pump rocking" the board on such compact shapes. Rear sharp rails are useful for boards that must get onto a plane the "traditional" way.
For instance, a lot of rigid Wing boards do not have hard rail edges in the tail.
Only for lower performance foils. Anything HA needs board speed. Would have been an easy addition with no downsides.
Likewise I'd rather not have a dual entry box because it offers less adjustment but I do like the rod idea.
Would have been an easy addition with no downsides.
Well, there is no free lunch. There are always downsides to everything, if only the price and weight.
I guess this is why they have sharp rails addons on some inflatables but not the others.
For instance, last week on the Gong forum, there was a customer who was ranting on how he felt the added hard rails on his 14' inflatable were slowing it down... Was he right or wrong? ... Nothing is obvious until objectively tested in real life.