Looking for next foil board (analysis paralises: sinker or midlength)

I have tried a multitude of different boards (mostly Armstrong and Appletree) from bodyweight minus 30 to plus 20 litres.
Soap bar sinkers are not much fun when the wind isn't steady and will hinder learning progress to some degree - mainly due to the fact that falling off and restarting is a pain, so the learning curve flattens somewhat in order to avoid having to restart in less than ideal conditions.

I now have a mid length at bodyweight minus 15 liters and really enjoy it. As soon as there is enough wind to get power in the wing, it surfaces and can easily be pumped on to foil. It takes a little bit to get used to as they are still reasonably compact, especially in width. Any smaller than bodyweight minus 15 and I believe the ease of getting started in marginal conditions will become problematic.

The downside of an ML is a slight increase in swing weight (marginally noticeable), they're not for jumping, not as convenient for travel, and more unstable in roll whilst in displacement mode due to its narrow width.

Every board has a compromise, but so far the ML has the least drawbacks.

Pretty sound advice in here, my perspective as someone who switched from a midlength (80L) to a sinker (48L and 42L) Armstrong surfs so not wide soap bar boards but also not ML

I much prefer riding the sinker to the point I'll take it out in marginal conditions where I probably shouldn't but also agree if there's not enough wind no amount of effort or technique is going to save you a paddle in. There are also times where I play it conservative and will take out a larger wing than the rest of the crew (I prefer the smaller board/foil with slightly bigger wing combo)

Having said that if I do have wind (and it doesn't have to be much just enough to fill the sail and give me something to pump against) I'd almost say my sinker is "easier" to start. As soon as I can get it anywhere near the surface a couple of well timed pumps of the wing and of the board and I'm usually up and going due to the boards lightness it barely spends any time planing on the surface, it's either sunk or foiling if that makes sense.

Advantage wise I mostly feel it surfing waves (which is our primary form of winging here) the board disappears but having said that a ML in the same volume may provide the same feeling I haven't tested one but they do get pretty narrow at that volume. There's also been times the wind has died I've paddled in, ditched the wing on the beach and paddled back out for a prone on the same board which is a fun novelty.

Disadvantage wise, it can start to feel pretty sketchy if you come down in a lull way offshore and you're sitting half submerged with big fish in the area.

Final thoughts, a modern design of either style board will probably be great but I'd recommend demo'ing a variety of volume before you commit as I did find there was a couple of volumes which felt a bit of a mix between sink and corky resulting them on being less stable than something slightly lower volume again.

So you guys that ride sinkers, what exactly do you like about them? Have you guys ridden a reasonably modern narrow board around 100l since getting one ? The reason I ask is that I love my DW board, & do pretty much the same things on it as the others around me do on sinkers (admittedly they are much better foilers) however I'll get a couple of laps in before some of them get up on foil again.
I see vids of some top guys shredding on bigger boards so wondering if there's actually that much difference or it's more that you get to a level where you don't want to be seen with training wheels on?
I downsized to a neutral board & it was such a pain to get going again that I went up in litreage & don't feel that I lost anything in handling. I'll probably get a small board soon simply cos of FOMO but just wondering if there's much in it.

Ok good info. I'd take from that that you kinda have a goal of foiling the smallest board you can when conditions suit. I guess I don't know what I'm missing out on so might be good to have a session on a sinker to see if I prefer it.

i bought my appletree 57L (a sinker for me at 90 kgs) to use specifically with foil assist, but i couldn't get any connectivity with the thing, so i ended up trying it for winging. i was amazed at how easily i could get up on it (with the right amount of wind) but more so, i felt my winging instantly improved. of course it didn't really, but the small board made everything i did feel better, more reactive. i'm not a great winger, but the sinker made me realize that the bigger boards were actually holding me back; i think i fell less on the sinker because what i wanted to do translated better thru the board. so yeah, a sinker is worth a go.

I've found ML boards are a good way to hide volume. With traditional boards at 87kg, I was riding 60/65l to keep things fun, with a good ML board I'm stepping up my everyday board to 70-75l and happily going on 90l when it's light. I used to dread riding a traditional 85l board. If you're falling frequently and don't want to struggle, going a little bigger on volume can make things easier.... also I like to ride a small wing and a medium small foil (620 or 850cm) and a 3.5 or 3.0 wing all the time, so a little extra volume and glide helps. I find the trim for riding swell/wakes and pumping is very balanced, but dialing in your setup is also crucial... it's amazing when you get on someone else's setup despite having same/similar equipment and feeling the difference.

Board size will also depend on your local conditions: wind, gust, current, wind line, volatility, etc... This time of year (offseason) I just take the 90l most of the time... I've had 20min slogs out to the wind line... not happening happily on my 75l

I just had a very long paddle after an offshore foil versus wing incident. I'll be sticking with a body weight board thanks

Thanks to everyone for the valuable input. What do you think about the older models of the armstrong downwind board from 2 years ago 85L: 6'3 x 18 ?" x 5 ? It looks like it shaped like a current style midlength boards but not sure if the volume distribution is good for winging and maybe even parawinging.
www.undergroundsurf.co.nz/product/32806/armstrong-foils-downwind-cheap-mid-length-for-winging-sup-foil-board

Dropping from 25" to 18" will be rough and I think you lose in flight performance when you're that narrow.

I would advice against an 85L for your weight though but go a little below. My current board is a 75L for my 97-100kg weight, which I'd not really classify as a sinker but as a medium board: above +10L=large/lw, between -10 and -30 = medium/allround and below -30L would be a sinker. Between +10 and -10 is a little bit of a size range I find really uncomfortable because it kinda tends to bounce around in chop or waves more.

I did buy a 5'0 54L which for me is at -45L, but its too much work to get up with a small foil in reasonable wind so I end up not really using it.

I think at your weight a 74L (-8L) / 5'6 (or even 65L (-17L) / 5'4) F-One Crossover or similar sized Duotone Skybrid is the golden ticket as a one board quiver. Will feel way smaller than you have and be as easy if not easier to get up than your current board. I have an 83L (-17L for me) crossover on order for my 97-100 kgs as one board quiver. Went for the 83 because when I tried it it was faster to get up by a big margin than my current 75L 5'4 older F-One board, but also felt smaller in the air.

Where abouts in Sydney are you? My mate works at Kitepower (I have zero affiliation with them) but they have a pretty decent range of boards they'll let you demo if you're seriously interested. It's how I ended up on the Surf 48 (but also really liked the appletree)

I also looked at the Sunova Coaster 85L as my potential SUP surf board it looks to be a nice board but I actually ended up ordering a Amos Cypher Wing/Parawing as I really wanted to keep weight down and it will be built with there very new carbon/kevlar construction so figured I'd give it a shot. It will be a SUP and Parawing board for me but i will wing it to test it out but unfortunately won't be able to provide feedback until late January I suspect. I still think if you're at the level where you're getting every gybe and can kind of tack you can go for less volume than 85L personally.

To add to the votes, I would go the ML. I went from a short and wide wind wing board to the ML and it was gamechanging.

I went from a 4'6 to a 5'10 and it did not feel any longer and felt more maneuverable. (Amos Sultan 5'10 x 18 x 85L).

Narrow boards are not as bad as you think, and in my case I found it was better because what I lost in roll stability I picked up in pitch stability (the 4'6 was not great in short period large swell as you'd get thrown off the front or back), and it feels more responsive for the same volume as it kind of rolls on axis with your feet more than just turning with your weight. Its also super easy to get going in marginal conditions, and if you intend to shift to parawinging then its a perfect board to transition into that.

With newer board shapes I suspect 19-20 is probably the sweet spot but if you have a board with similar dims to mine and you get it at a good price, the first session will be a bit of a learning curve but after that you'll be absolutely having a great time and you'll get it back in being able to get up in some marginal conditions.

For me at 82kg I think my perfect dims would probably be 5'8 x 19.5 x 70L