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« Last post by PonoBill on Today at 10:27:29 AM »
I'm not a fan of domed decks, they make my ankles ache, but I like thinned out rails, so stepped is good. On my L41 it made the board challenging to stand on, the sweet spot for balance, both in pitch and yaw, is tiny. But it carves turns with a feel that's hard to express--I aim to be able to feel that locked-in sensation on a foil once I get past the "whee, I'm flying" stage. Which is taking much longer than expected.
The Foote Triton has stepped rails too, though its of a style that's also hard to explain and it gives the board tight turning ability that a 10'4" board shouldn't have. The rail looks full at the nose and tail because it tapers upward as the rocker increases. I think it makes the arc of the board tighter than the rocker line and let's it snap turns even with my weight somewhat forward. The King board above has similar rails, though not as pronounced and the effect is probably minimized with the blunt nose and tail. The Foote certainly doesn't carve like my 8'8" L41, but it does turn like something in the mid 9' range rather than a 10+ board. And of course with all that length and width stability isn't an issue.
I've certainly noticed the stability effect of having the board under water. My 6'11" foil board hasn't got a lot of volume in the nose, so if I'm not paying attention it sinks under water a few inches. It's stable like that, and I only fall off the board when I look down, see it's buried, and try to get it up to the surface. I'm learning to ignore the "problem" and just focus on getting into position to catch a wave. I discovered if I catch a wave with the nose buried that it makes no difference. The board still planes along even if the deck is awash and a quick pump outs me on the foil just fine. Most of the challenges of foiling have to do with learning what matters and what habits to break. This is a tough one, but watching Junya get onto an well-overhead wave with his board completely underwater helped me understand that a sunken board works fine--it's the frantic efforts to unsink it that toss me off.
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