Largest foil board sup for large beginner

[bstein]

Hi,
I am looking for a foil SUP to go with a duotone 5m foil wing and an 84cm sling wing foil I bought. I am 6'2', 205 pounds. I have no foiling experience, just 10 years of SUP experience. I would like to start with wingfoiling before venturing into the surf.

After speaking to a few knowledgable people about foiling, it sounds like I should buy a longer (7'6"+) and higher volume (160+) board to shorten the learning curve. Besides the Jimmy Lewis Flying V (7'11" 180L), what other boards fit this spec and have a plate mount for the foil?

[Dwight (DW)]

You have conflicting issues. The easiest winging board, is the shortest board. It will pump onto foil way easier, and be a lot more fun winging.

Paddling into a wave, and getting on foil is a different ball game. A short SUP will require board pumping skills while paddling. So longer SUPs are easier when you lack this skill.

[supkailua]

Blueplanet has this big one https://www.blueplanetsurf.com/blue-planet-80-x-31-easy-foiler-2018.html.

They also have a bigger one but you have to ask if that has a track for the plate mount.

Also the Slingshot mast easily adapts to a tuttle box. I just broke my board, switched my foil to a tuttle mount to use a temporary board, and I am now back to a plate mount, and it was easy, just two screws.

What Dwight said is right, but that is once you get more comfortable with the wing. Initially the bigger the board the better as you will fall off a lot less and get the feel for the wing and how to control it without continually being pulled into the water.

I have already seen those who try the Wing on a small board, can't do anything, and give up, and then keep foil surfing only. The same has happened with wind surfing for many years, people start on a small board, can't even get on the board, and assume this sport is not for them, when it was the board size that sabotaged their chances of succeeding.

When I broke my board I used an 8 ft Starboard surfboard that had a tuttle box thrown into it. The board was not even meant for foiling. It was a bit more sticky in the lightest wind, but with enough wind it had no problem lifting off. Also the length meant I could catch a bump easier. From your SUP experience you know that long boards and SUPs catch swells that short boards will not catch. So I would time it, point the front of the board down even a very tiny bump, and all that extra weight going down that bump helped me get up to speed and  that made take off easy, even on an 8 ft board meant for surfing only.

Once you are up and foiling, air jibing, riding switch stance, changing you foot position during the air jibe, etc., then you will think about a smaller board which will pump easier and be more fun at that stage.

As you are just getting started I suggest spending a hour or so on the beach becoming 100% comfortable with wing control before you even step onto a board. If you find the wing pulling you around on the land, it is only going to get more difficult on the water. Learn how to power and depower, jibe, etc. all on land. Once you have that down you can move to the big board and foil, and don't worry about getting up on the foil right away, just cruise around with the foil and stay on the water by keeping your weight forward. Then once all that is working and you really have good wing control you can start to come up on the foil.

[PonoBill]

The BluePlanet board looks great, but the Jimmy lewis boards are stable, foil well, and are bombproof. I have a custom board on order with Mark Raaphorst, but I think I might pick up a big stable JL board for the interim. I'm struggling more than I should Foil surfing on Little Fugly. It's great for wing surfing, but paddling out at Ka'a I'm gassed by the time I get to the reef and turning for a wave is marginal. I thought I'd get used to it, but I keep burying the nose and falling. It's great once I catch a wave and get on the foil, but everything else just kind of sucks.

[exiled]

The auction page on Blue Planet has a couple of those 8'0s going for cheap. A 7'6 I think.

[Admin]

If you have access to a huge foilboard I would borrow it, rent if available or search for used.  You will likely outgrow that board in a few weeks but it is a step that cannot be skipped if you are coming in cold.  If you are going to be in light wind or flat water the board can be a little smaller but width and volume are your friend at first. 

[maxsonic]

Hi,
I am looking for a foil SUP to go with a duotone 5m foil wing and an 84cm sling wing foil I bought. I am 6'2', 205 pounds. I have no foiling experience, just 10 years of SUP experience. I would like to start with wingfoiling before venturing into the surf.

After speaking to a few knowledgable people about foiling, it sounds like I should buy a longer (7'6"+) and higher volume (160+) board to shorten the learning curve. Besides the Jimmy Lewis Flying V (7'11" 180L), what other boards fit this spec and have a plate mount for the foil?

I am a 250+ lb XXL heavyweight windsurfer/SUP surfer who is also just getting into the foil game here in light wind San Diego.  I opted to go with the RRD Hi-Flight Windsurf/SUP Foilboard, a 7'10" crossover that will enable me to windsurf/foil, wingsurf/foil, and SUPSurf/Foil.  It has two US box slots for foil plate, and a Tuttle box for windsurf foiling. Its 150L of volume makes it plenty easy for even an XXL to paddle or slog.

The JL Flying V looks great also...JL boards are hard to beat!

MAX

[GL]

I have a 7'10" by 138 litre board and weigh 174 pounds. I like it. I keep reading that I will need a smaller board. In my case I think that is unlikely. I think it depends on your expectations and the conditions you use it in. I do not want to struggle and do not care about high performance. I frequently go out in gusty conditions where I am off the foil quite a bit. The larger board makes these conditions still easy and I still go upwind off the foil. Once a gust comes through I am back up on the foil and having fun. I am not a high performance guy and just enjoy cruising on the foil. The large board can also be taken for a paddle in no wind and I can put a sail on it and windfoil. I am sure I would get more performance out of a smaller board but i would give up the ease of use and multi discipline usage. So for now quite happy with the larger board.

[blueplanetsurf]

We have the 8'6 x 32 x 195L Easy Foiler.  It's designed to make learning to foil as easy as possible.
The photo on our website shows the V1 version with only a Tuttle box but the boards we have in stock are the Easy Foiler V2's with both Tuttle and Plate mount tracks:
https://www.blueplanetsurf.com/86-x-325-easy-foiler-2018.html

[bstein]

Thanks everyone for the the helpful advice! This is such a great forum!

Like GL mentioned, I don't want to struggle with the board either. My regular sup board is a 10' x30" x 4" Naish Hokua which is great in all conditions for my height and weight. From what I have read below, it seems the blue planet 8' or the Jimmy Lewis 7'11 would be a good fit. The board Max mentioned sounds interesting as well. Will need to look into that one too.

Thanks Supkailua for all the tips. I will definitely take it slow, start on the beach and then move to working on going upwind without the foil and then gradually work to get up on it.

[SanoSlatchSup]

bstein, where are you located? I have a 7'3"x28.5" 120 liter Chuck Glenn board that I learned to foil on a year and a half ago (at your same size) that I'd make you a silly crazy deal on...if you can pick in SoCal...and are interested.



https://i.imgur.com/qJ8fGx3.gifv

[bstein]

Thanks for sharing. I am up in the bay area. From the description and from what I have learned on this thread, I think I need a wider board with more volume. Thanks!

[cnski]

You can get volume in a board without alot of length. I'm using a 6'8" x 31" x 4.9" 150 L board for wingfoiling currently. I'm over 250 lbs now with my 5/4 suit on. Super easy board to learn on. Dwight knows what he is talking about. Length is not good for a wingfoil board IMO. You want to reduce the weight/leverage from a long nose. Keep the mass of the board as close to the foil as possible and reduce swing weight to have a more balanced flight. My board feels too long already. Kind of nose heavy to put it another way. And my board is light. I plan to drop down to a 6'0" or 5'10". But yes to learn you want something you can stand on comfortably when the wind is marginal or drops. At 205 lbs. I think you would be fine on a 130L- 140L board.

[river]

Thanks for sharing. I am up in the bay area. From the description and from what I have learned on this thread, I think I need a wider board with more volume. Thanks!

Have you considered the 6.11 Fanatic Sky SUP?  142l with a larger foil this setup should work well for you. LMK if you need any other info.