longest foil board

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just out of curiosity what is the longest foil board you have seen? i am sure i hold some sort of world record at 3.8 metres 
yes, its an absolute prick to fly

[PonoBill]

pretty sure it's Jeremy Riggs with his goofy converted paddleboard.  That thing looks like it's at least 14' maybe 16'.

[blueplanetsurf]

I have a 12'6" x 28 Bump Surfer foil board.  It catches waves easily and works ok but the shorter the better when you are flying the foil.  I'm thinking about cutting 24" off the tail of this board.

Evan Leong of www.standuppaddlesurf.net put together this series of videos where we talk about foiling:

[Beasho]

I'm thinking about cutting 24" off the tail of this board.

Robert - Rather than cutting off the tail, what if the foil were installed further back?

The theory is that the waterline and float gets you in early, so keep all of that, and then fly.  Alternately you are just using a 10' 6"

I was chasing some bigger waves at a deep water spot and IT WAS A WORKOUT trying to get into 8+ foot faster waves that were just barely feathering.  I was on my 8' X 32" L41.  I imagine a 12'er would have gotten in better but then you have a lot of board . . . .

Otherwise I toughen up like Austin Kalama and figure out how to get up on flat water then the world is my oyster.

[blueplanetsurf]

Hi Beasho,
I installed the Tuttle box 40" from the tail on this board so I would not have to step far back to get it to foil.  If it was mounted closer to the tail I would have to take several steps back from the center trim positon to get it to foil.  Cutting the tail off would reduce the waterline and speed but you do get extra lift from the foil so I think it will not be much harder to catch a bump.  The reason it's harder to get it up to speed is not just the length of the board but also the extra drag from the foil at low speeds.  Once you hit a certain speed, the foil starts to lift which makes it feel like you are on a bigger board.  The guys on Maui are using short boards even on downwinders now as it's easier to fly a shorter board and to keep it going by pumping the foil once you are up.  I'm not sure I'm ready but once I get the hang of getting it to foil consistently on a downwinder with the 12'6 length, I think cutting 2' off and making it a 10'6 should work well.  In the surf I'm down to a 6'8 and feel like I could use an even shorter board.  I would never use boards that short when regular SUP surfing as I like more rail and drive in turns but on a foil boards you just need the board to catch the wave and paddle back out, so the handling in turns is irrelevant.

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I hope you know a good knee surgeon after trying to pump a 12ft+ board!! I'm wondering if even my new 9fter under construction is too long, blueplanet what do you reckon just whack a slab of 50mm polystyrene on the bottom of this 5'4 shorty? foil is also all foam core and adds a surprising amount of static bouyancy

[blueplanetsurf]

After using a super heavy foil for a while, my new theory is that foil wings that floats can actually make the board less stable as the floatation under the board wants to lift up and tip the board sideways. 

Regarding adding float to the 5'4 board to use for SUP, I say go for it!

[headmount]

pretty sure it's Jeremy Riggs with his goofy converted paddleboard.  That thing looks like it's at least 14' maybe 16'.

No it was 12.  But I think he's done with that.

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i'll claim that then, the record stands at 13ft
blueplanet stability isnt really an issue when you slack line and one legged sup for a hobby haha, i'll take the bouyancy

[blackeye]

blueplanet stability isnt really an issue when you slack line and one legged sup for a hobby haha, i'll take the bouyancy

Con, your main foil is the ONLY one I have seen with dihedral rather than anhedral shape. Why'd you choose that? Or, why do almost everyone else do the opposite? I would think yours would be more stable and easier to learn, but it doesn't sound like you need stability or easier to learn.

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with the rest of the foil shaped around a whale tail my computational fluid dynamics program (read eyeballs) thought it looked wrong having anhedral, its not bad but the tips always break the surface when catching waves so my new one is a full seagull wing 'M' shape.  someones gotta try these things eh!

[surfcowboy]

I love that you're just winging it (yeah I know it's a pun.)

Did I see that your wings mount to a common fuselage and mast so you can change them? Is that done with carbon tubing?

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it used to, the fuse is square carbon tube i made with slightly tapered foil sockets moulded over it. the fairing round the end of the rear foil socket was mostly a solid block of volvo 70 mast carbon with a nut set in it, there was a long 4mm threaded rod with a dome nut suck on the end that went through a hole in the leading edge of the main wing, down the length of the fuselage inside a tube and into the afore mentioned nut in the back ... couldnt be bothered spending that much time in a paper suit again so i glued the new wing on and called it a day