Author Topic: Getting some new gofoils, what to get?  (Read 7256 times)

sharksupper

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Re: Getting some new gofoils, what to get?
« Reply #15 on: April 03, 2018, 08:12:09 PM »
So which board will you pick?
Following this!

Yes, that is the question!  I'm not familiar at all with how the latest foil boards paddle into waves, back out to the lineup, or handle flying.  I have no idea!  I do know I want a light board 15lbs or less, and short, under 8ft.  It would be nice to have track mount and deep tuttle, but if I had to pick one it's going to be track mount.  I guess right now the carbon hypernut looks nice to me, but a bit pricey!  I wish I could try an up to date foil board... time to head to Hawaii maybe!  :D

PonoBill

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Re: Getting some new gofoils, what to get?
« Reply #16 on: April 03, 2018, 08:34:11 PM »
So here's the thing about boards, Thank god I have a nice Manhattan next to me because this is going to be long.

What you need when you start is not what you need twenty sessions later. Sorry. It just isn't. What you need at first is a board that gives you enough stability to stand in a whacky position. Unless you're very skilled or flat out talented you won't be able to take off from a stable position and then shift into the nonsense you need when you're foiling. That is: Front foot exactly the right distance (within half an inch, honest, really, no shit) forward, arch of your foot over the centerline of the board. Back foot on the centerline, or close, ready to move back over the mast. Shoulders and core twisted to face the nose, head up, hips over your front foot, paddling with very short strokes and thrusting forward and down with your hips. That's the position you want to be in when you paddle for a wave as a beginner.

Does that sound anything like what you do to surf? I didn't think so.

So if it sounds to you like that could be your performance foil board, then have at it. I tried with my L41 and then ran to Hi Tech and bought the biggest foil board Jimmy Lewis makes. Twenty six sessions later it feels much too big, but it still works, and I have a little thing that will look like a bar of soap that's been in the shower too long on order from Mr. Kalama. When it's ready I might be ready for it.

The board that works for you today won't pump. It will have too much volume behind the mast. You won't be able to bank it--it will have too much board in front of the mast. But it will work and you can foil it after your tenth session, and turn it at 15, and think you are a golden god of foiling by 25.

That means big, and big for foiling is 8 feet or so X 33" if you're 200+ or 7'5 X 31 if you're under. It's better to have a board designed for foiling because they try to minimize the bad stuff. Jimmy Lewis is a master of that,  everyone else is more performance oriented. Jimmy seems willing to build a board that is going to suck a little later so it will be good at first. I think that's fucking genius. We're all kooks.

Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

sharksupper

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Re: Getting some new gofoils, what to get?
« Reply #17 on: April 03, 2018, 08:48:58 PM »
LOL, awesome!

I'm 175lbs ish.  I've been on a 2011 Naish Hokua GT 8'5x28" @ 115L learning and getting better, but feeling like I want to pump now and getting annoyed by nose and tail dipping (and I was on a 28" mast).  I've probably foiled about 2-3 dozen sessions so far.

I see those tiny foil boards, but can't imagine catching slow waves with them, but people seem to do it somehow.  I'm just barely able to catch non-breaking waves with my current board, I can't imagine smaller, but that seems like where I need to go.  Maybe the shape is really the difference.  My regular surfing SUP is a Naish Hokua LE 7'8x27.75" @ 96L  I float on this board, but not by much. 

I hear ya about Jimmy!  My favorite guy in the world, been riding his boards (or designed by him) for 20yrs+

PonoBill

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Re: Getting some new gofoils, what to get?
« Reply #18 on: April 03, 2018, 09:57:18 PM »
Everyone that is good in Maui, other than Mark Raaphorst, who is very good but makes his own flying Dutchman boards, is on a Kalama board. When you look at one of them, from the 5'5" to something over 8 feet, every little feature makes sense. It's such a mechanical thing, so divorced from the elegance of surfboards. I think a lot of board shapers can't quite wrap their minds around that yet. The board has to do A and B when it's in the water and C and D in the air. The boards look like shit, and they do ABCD.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

cnski

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Re: Getting some new gofoils, what to get?
« Reply #19 on: April 03, 2018, 10:25:40 PM »
Pono- What are the dimensions on your Kalama board you ordered if you don't mind sharing? Do you happen to know the dimensions of Brett Lickle"s red 6'10" Jimmy I've seen pics of online? Now that thing looks chunky.

PonoBill

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Re: Getting some new gofoils, what to get?
« Reply #20 on: April 03, 2018, 10:41:28 PM »
7'6" X33" and whatever Dave thinks is good. That's still big, but so am I. Folks are on 5 foot Kalama boards. I mean, really, five foot?
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

 


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