I'm asking this here because I come at this from a winging viewpoint and I have mostly winging gear.
If I want to use a foil for prone surfing how do I choose? I have all Naish 1800 HA, 1640 Jet, and 1250 Jet. I have a Carbon 95L (that I use for winging) and a 7 ft foil surf board (that I haven't used yet). I weigh 70kg and I've surfed for years and I'm an intermediate Winger.
What's the best foil to prone surf? I've been leaning to the 1800 HA cause I use it all the time, but I really don't know anything about prone foiling and thought you guys might be able to help me. Thanks!
If you know how to surf, then it should be fairly easy for you to pick it up. The hardest thing to learn for non-surfer foilers is the pop-up, which you should have dialed if you've been surfing for years.
re foils, it all depends on power in the wave, and what you want to do. Generally, waves have enough power to get you up to speed and going on small(er) ha foils, but once out of the power zone you'll start losing speed and that's why a larger foil will be nicer in the beginning so that you don't drop off foil if you don't pick the best line on the wave or make a pumping mistake. Waves shoulder high: I'd go with the 1250. Smaller waves: go with the bigger ones you have. Bigger ones will also be easier to pump, which I assume is a goal most people have when learning to prone foil in the waves.
A 7ft foil board sounds VERY big. You should be able to get going in something slightly under 5ft, 35-40L ish.
I learned on a 35L 4'6, Armstrong 1850, in waves no more than 3ft. I'm 78kg+ wetsuit.
I prone my 95 litre Sky wing but I can't duck dive it. What size board in litres can you duck dive? I'm 75 kg.
Never really surfed myself but the engineer in me say to duck dive you need the volume low enough that a bit of arm force can mostly sink the board. At 75kg's I'd guess 75L is max?
Thanks for the reassurance! My feeling was something about 40 l for prone foil was right for me.
I got the 7 so that I could catch waves super early or catch super crappy waves. I went out this weekend in stomach high waves with the 1650 and it was perfect. Given that experience I think you're right I would have been overpowered w/ any bigger waves and would have needed to use the 1250. With the really small waves like below waist high, I will likely need the 1800.
Another thing I learned is that I'm terrified of a late take off. Normal surfing you can take off as late as you can pull off. The thought of going over the falls with that giant scythe on the loose is nightmarish. Not wearing a helmet felt kind of reckless.
Looking forward to doing the same thing with a Wing.
