Mast length?!

[oldfartsuperdad]

Fellow foilers....interested to hear a discussion about optimum mast length for stand up surfing with a foil.  Understand that a shorter mast makes it easier to learn and balance and probably easier when falling.  How limiting is a shorter mast overall....definitely limits the ability to pump and possibly catch another swell etc.  If just planning to surf and Not get too energetic can one  get away with a shorter mast height?  Mine is currently cut to 24in which seems to match some of the commercial foils out there....thoughts?

[SURFFOILS]

I went Down to 5 inches but currently 8.
 No Huntingtoon Hopping possible.

[supuk]

I started with about 800mm last year on my diy foil and it was scary how high you felt when you got up, since I got my new foil I have been using the 400mm mast ( yet to try the 600). As mentioned in the post on my diy thread when you pump with the short mast with a flat board soon as you touch the water the board sticks and can kill your speed but with the specific foil board I have built that uses more of a hull this is not a problem. The benefit I can see of the longer foil is it will give you a longer glide down if you were not to pump or paddle or have any wave energy.

It would be a interesting to test glide ratio and see how far the extra height would give you in distance.

[SURFFOILS]

Supuk, I'm thinking maybe old school Vee would work on a purpose built foilboard.
 Nose rocker and then flat all the way to the tail but use Vee so it's thickest in the centre for the Tuttle but it would stop that Stick effect when landing and lifting from a flat bottom.

[supuk]

there is all sorts of ideas I want to build and try is just a matter of $$$

[container]

longer is definitely easier for pumping/gliding. its just a question of how much drag you want, personally i wouldnt go over 600mm for surfing

[Beasho]

Standard GoFoil is 24"

I have found that the learning cycle is FAST.  In other words you will likely be comfortably flying in 10 sessions.

What this means is DO NOT OVERINVEST Mentally or Financially in the beginner phase.

Just go out and surf.

[PonoBill]

I'm using 33" for my standard SUP foil and 19" for the Geezer Foil.

[supuk]

My first few sessions were on a 800mm mast and I took some horrific crashes and didn't learn much, I then went to the 400 after 6 mths of no foiling and learnt to cruze around comfortably in about 3 hours of practice. The small cost of the second mast was well worth it for me just in the safety aspect of basically removing the bad crashes I was taking.