Foil AOA Setup and Foot Placement - How to Video

[clay]

Aloha,

I made a how to video of the setup and adjustments that have really really helped me fly much better and easier.

I hope this helps.

[Evan Lloyd]

are you positioning the foil so the nose is closer to the board or further away?  I've been foiling with a bunch of different guys in SoCal and I've never seen a foil breach as often as yours was in the video.  I'm glad you got it dialed in. 

[sharksupper]

I put a track foil box in my regular surf SUP so the default AOA of the foil was off due to the rocker in the surf SUP.  What I did was build a shim plate about 3/16" thick in the back and paper thin on the front and that goes between my foil pedestal and the track box to lean it forward a bit.  I'm real close to 0deg AOA with the GoFoils and Naish, so I'm not riding nose high all the time.  My old Lift foil had this angle built into the mast already, which was nice!

I no longer have marks on my pad to show me foot placement, nor any other foot pads or straps.  I get it right 90% of time now.  I think it's just something that comes with lots of time on the foil.  Certainly having something to see or feel the right position is a huge benefit!

Good foiling with you guys at Tomales last week Clay, hope to see you guys up again sometime when the waves are better!

[SUPladomi]

What I did was build a shim plate about 3/16" thick in the back and paper thin on the front and that goes between my foil pedestal and the track box to lean it forward a bit.  I'm real close to 0deg AOA with the GoFoils and Naish, so I'm not riding nose high all the time.

Curious how you made your shim and what material you used? Also how are you measuring AOA?

[clay]

Good foiling with you guys at Tomales last week Clay, hope to see you guys up again sometime when the waves are better!

Hi Avery (I hope that is correct spelling?),
Stoked to put a face with the handle, your zone name makes perfect sense now.
Your technique for getting into those microwaves is awesome, very impressed!  We are most likely headed your way if this swell fills in Thursday.
See you soon!

[sharksupper]

What I did was build a shim plate about 3/16" thick in the back and paper thin on the front and that goes between my foil pedestal and the track box to lean it forward a bit.  I'm real close to 0deg AOA with the GoFoils and Naish, so I'm not riding nose high all the time.

Curious how you made your shim and what material you used? Also how are you measuring AOA?

Here are some pics of the shim and angle of the foil relative to the board (sort of, hard to photo).  To make the shim, first I wedged material between the foil and board while assembled together until I got the fuselage of the foil to be about parallel with the deck of the board between where my feet are when foiling, and then measured how much I needed to shim it in the rear of the foil.  I needed between 1/8" and 3/16".   Then I laid up some carbon fiber in a stack to make the shim.  The 5.8oz carbon I have is .01" thick so I multiplied out to get just under 3/16".  I took the number of layers of carbon needed for the thickness and divided the length of the shim so I could have evenly graduated carbon sizes.  I think it was something like 1/2" difference between each layer of carbon to get a smooth wedge angle.  I wet those all out and squeezed them between Mylar and granite tiles, you could use glass too though.  After that just shaped the outline and drilled holes for the pedestal holes of my foils/adapters.  Took about 30min of work not counting cure time.  I felt like I had left just a little tiny bit of nose up on the AOA, but I tend to dip the nose in the water when pitching down on drop-ins so it's perfect.  I think Blue Planet makes some sort of shims as well.

[sharksupper]

Good foiling with you guys at Tomales last week Clay, hope to see you guys up again sometime when the waves are better!

Hi Avery (I hope that is correct spelling?),
Stoked to put a face with the handle, your zone name makes perfect sense now.
Your technique for getting into those microwaves is awesome, very impressed!  We are most likely headed your way if this swell fills in Thursday.
See you soon!

Yep, you got it!  Looks like it might be decent the next few days out there.  The period is a bit short, so might be a little more of crunchy surf.  PM me when you'll be there and I'll come surf with you guys again.

[clay]

are you positioning the foil so the nose is closer to the board or further away? 

Hi Evan,

Depends on the conditions.  On really small gutless days or flatwater I would have it more neutral (fuse closer to level with top of board), my understanding is easier to get the board up to flight speed and get the foil to lift.  In chest high plus or steeper more powerful takeoffs I adjust he fuse down (away from the nose), the idea being helps to keep the wing in the water and not pearl the nose of the board.

[Evan Lloyd]

That is awesome and makes perfect sense. When the waves get above chest high, my Maliko wants to take off like a rocket. It’s terrifying. I’ll have to explore the shimming options.

are you positioning the foil so the nose is closer to the board or further away? 

Hi Evan,

Depends on the conditions.  On really small gutless days or flatwater I would have it more neutral (fuse closer to level with top of board), my understanding is easier to get the board up to flight speed and get the foil to lift.  In chest high plus or steeper more powerful takeoffs I adjust he fuse down (away from the nose), the idea being helps to keep the wing in the water and not pearl the nose of the board.