Standup Zone Forum
The Foil Zone => Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP => Topic started by: VB_Foil on April 10, 2020, 07:41:35 AM
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I had been winging on a 72 cm (28.5") Mast and just had my first session on an 85 cm (33") Mast and it was amazing!
What is everyone else riding?
My local river spot is onshore often and when it's high tide, wind waves smash into bulkheads and rebound back out in one area, causing horrific backwash wave action. I hated going into that zone with the 72cm mast as I would breach often.
Where I'm noticing the most benefit of the 85cm mast is self-towing into wind waves and going into neutral and basically downwinding. I had my best session to date, linking multiple bumps. The extra few inches really keeps the number of breaches down. Plus its fun to be extra elevated!
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I was just looking at that 85cm mast and thinking that extra length would probably work really good where I am. I am sometimes dealing with 1-2 foot chop when its blowing and a lot of my falls are from breaching when not paying complete attention to the chop. I am riding in a deep area anyway so I could get away with the longer mast. That 85 is definitely in future plans.
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I also switched from 72 aluminium slingshot mast to 82 carbon Moses mast and I found it amazing
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I found exactly the same as you VB. Swapped in the 85 pretty much the second session on a wing from the 75 I learnt to foil on in flat water. Big difference. I took a little while to adjust my balance on it - wasn't a trivial change.
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is a longer mast easier or harder to pump on? I guess its easiest to pump when the wing is high in the water (near the surface) and that might be harder on a long mast - but on the flip side you get more elevation to bleed off before the board touches down so perhaps a longer mast is more forgiving
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I like a 72 cm vs 90 cm because with the 72 cm my wing is not as deep and I can feel more of the swell energy.
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is a longer mast easier or harder to pump on?
Harder.
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I've discovered breaching is a matter of how used to a given length you are. When I was using a 24" (61CM) GoFoil mast I was breaching a lot. I switched to the 29" (73CM) and the breaching went away for about a month, then I started breaching on the 29 and the 24" was almost impossible to ride. I currently use a 75CM Axis mast and I don't breach very often. I thought managing foil height was mostly feel, but I've discovered that I can do it visually. If I come over the top of a swell in the wrong place--like where it's really steep--I can look at the backside and control the height. If I look too far ahead I'll find myself up on tiptoes and probably crash.
I tried the 90 a few times and managed to crash that--from the top of a wave. I don't recommend that. It felt like I fell off a ladder.
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65cm Gong and 71cm Moses for shallow water, 80cm Gong and 82cm Moses for deeper water. Like em both for their intended locations
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76 seems like a nice medium. Breaching for me means my stabilizer / rear wing is too large or it is time to switch to a smaller foil. I like the idea of less drag. Most importantly, I can fit two boards mounted with 76's inside my hatchback. :)