Author Topic: Longer masts  (Read 4462 times)

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Longer masts
« on: May 14, 2020, 01:12:48 AM »
Who is winging on longer masts?  Lets say 85 plus.  I have never used anything over 76 but I could see it being nice for chop and swell.  What did you notice when you went longer?

Dwight (DW)

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Re: Longer masts
« Reply #1 on: May 14, 2020, 03:49:39 AM »
When I go longer, I adapt so well, I cannot go back to shorter because I crash constantly. THAT is the problem. Also pumping is harder on longer.

So I go longer in smaller increments. I have a custom cut 82cm Axis mast. I can swap between 75 and 82 no issue, with 82 just giving me a safety margin without screwing with my instincts. I ride 82 in the ocean and 75 in the river. 82 in the river hits bottom too often.

I wish Axis made that more lengths.

Oh BTW, crashing on a 90cm sucks big time. You want to ride wing near the surface for speed, so you do have to ride high and crash from high.
« Last Edit: May 14, 2020, 04:04:50 AM by Dwight (DW) »

DavidJohn

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Re: Longer masts
« Reply #2 on: May 14, 2020, 04:28:26 AM »
I love 80cm right now.. I found 90 a bit hard to recover from a breach crash and 75cm feels a bit short.. It’s amazing that just a few cm can be so noticeable.

I just cut my old 90 down to 85 today because I’ve heard that that’s the magic length that works best for wind-foiling. (says my friend JB from Naish).

I’ve ordered the new wider/lighter/stiffer Naish mast in an 85 length and thought I should start getting used to that length.

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Re: Longer masts
« Reply #3 on: May 14, 2020, 05:31:17 AM »
Yes, a little more seems like it would be nice.  The next size up in the carbon is 96 right now.  That seems a little long.  Anyone riding mid 90's?  Axis is doing a Carbon 86 (which I will get for sure when it comes) but they are saying fall for those. 

Solent Foiler

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Re: Longer masts
« Reply #4 on: May 14, 2020, 06:12:20 AM »
I ride an 85 out of necessity. Wind against tide kicks up brutal chop so need to stay above it. Was riding a 65 before that and moving longer I definitely felt the separation from the foil. It's got so much leverage over the board that you need to stay on top of it. Can't be a bit lazy and recover after - need to keep that control, particularly when pumping to get up and foiling.

I'm curious about going longer but I've got several other things to try out first!
I'm 5'10", 66kg riding:
Swift Foil Boards custom 4'10 x 19.5" 35L
Gong Lethal 4'6 65L
Axis ART 799, 899, 1099, HPS 880 US & CS Adv fuse, 85cm mast
Gong Fluid L-S, XXL-S on 85cm and 65cm mast
Takuma RS 5.1, 4.3, 3.5

VB_Foil

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Re: Longer masts
« Reply #5 on: May 14, 2020, 07:04:38 AM »
I learned on 72CM, but basically only ride the 85CM now (even if it means wading 300 yards out into the river for adequate depth at lower tide).   The biggest plus for me is being able to be flying upwind, spot a good 'set' of river waves and crank a gybe and start riding de-powered.   With the 72CM, I would breach quite often, but I go entire sessions without breaching on the 85. 

It is a long way down when cruising in to shore and jumping off to land in the knee deep water beside the board.  Anyone have good dismount techniques? haha. 
I’m a 5’9” 65kg rider:

Boards:
   4' 27L Armstrong FG Wing/Surf
   4’5” 34L Armstrong FG Wing/Surf
   4'11" 60L Armstrong Wing/Sup
  
  

Foils: Armstrong HA525, HS625, HA725, HA925, HS1050, HA1125, HS1250, HA1325
Wings: BRM 2M & 3M, FreeWing Nitro 4M, OR 5M & 7M Glide

Fishman

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Re: Longer masts
« Reply #6 on: May 14, 2020, 08:29:26 AM »
I love 80cm right now.. I found 90 a bit hard to recover from a breach crash and 75cm feels a bit short.. It’s amazing that just a few cm can be so noticeable.

I just cut my old 90 down to 85 today because I’ve heard that that’s the magic length that works best for wind-foiling. (says my friend JB from Naish).

I’ve ordered the new wider/lighter/stiffer Naish mast in an 85 length and thought I should start getting used to that length.
Hey David do you have any more info on that stuffer new wider mast from Niash? If it will fit the older fusalge & plate... I couldn't find anything on Google.
SupSurfMachine 9'9" longboard
SupSurfMachine  8'2" funboard

PonoBill

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Re: Longer masts
« Reply #7 on: May 14, 2020, 09:29:47 AM »
I've used my 90 surf foiling, not winging. When you're way up on top of a wave on a 90 it feels like you're standing on a step ladder, and if you breach or otherwise fall it's like you fell off one. I hit so hard my right arm went numb for a few minutes. That was kind of scary. You wouldn't think 15 cm (6 inches) would make that much difference, but it's a damned big six inches (no sexual content implied).
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.

Thatspec

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Re: Longer masts
« Reply #8 on: May 14, 2020, 10:52:32 AM »
Axis 90 worked great yesterday for my first winging adventure :)
That said I'm used to to 80-100cm from kitefoiling and wouldn't consider shorter than 90 anymore unless shallow conditions demanded it.

DavidJohn

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Re: Longer masts
« Reply #9 on: May 14, 2020, 12:56:06 PM »
I love 80cm right now.. I found 90 a bit hard to recover from a breach crash and 75cm feels a bit short.. It’s amazing that just a few cm can be so noticeable.

I just cut my old 90 down to 85 today because I’ve heard that that’s the magic length that works best for wind-foiling. (says my friend JB from Naish).

I’ve ordered the new wider/lighter/stiffer Naish mast in an 85 length and thought I should start getting used to that length.
Hey David do you have any more info on that stuffer new wider mast from Niash? If it will fit the older fusalge & plate... I couldn't find anything on Google.

I’ve been told.. yes it will fit the old fuselage.. and the only difference is the base plate is now bonded to the mast and does not come apart there.. I saw a team rider using one back in November, last year.

Fishman

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Re: Longer masts
« Reply #10 on: May 14, 2020, 01:09:00 PM »
Nice, I'll keep an eye out for that.
SupSurfMachine 9'9" longboard
SupSurfMachine  8'2" funboard

unclesaltdog

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Re: Longer masts
« Reply #11 on: May 14, 2020, 05:46:17 PM »
I normally use the 75 Axis mast but occasionally use a 90 when downwinding or in really choppy conditions.

We had a 24kms Ocean downwind race here in Western Australia (King of the Cut, stand up paddle board race that allowed wings last year) and I decided to use the 90 to reduce the number of breaches/crashes, I was expecting the wind to pick up but it was still very light at the start.
 
I’m sure the extra drag of the long mast was the reason I had trouble getting up and going for a while.
It was good once up and going and as the wind and swell slowly increased but you do have to ride them high to reduce drag and go faster, so yep the crashes are harder.

I managed to finish though which was my main aim.

I have gone back to the 75 mainly nowadays but I do think something in the 80-85 range would be great.
« Last Edit: May 14, 2020, 05:51:01 PM by wrighty »

obxDave

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Re: Longer masts
« Reply #12 on: May 14, 2020, 11:32:12 PM »
  What did you notice when you went longer?
Good for chop and swell. Harder to learn new moves on. Amplified any spongy mast issues. Axis 90 and Moses 82 longest

Learned jibes, flying foot switches, toe-to-heelside tacks, heel-to-toeside tacks and 360’s (disclaimer: still at 25% success rate on 360’s) mostly on a 65cm mast in ~ 48” of water first. Much less intimidating and painful doing these transitions on a long mast in messy chop........after learning them in the kiddy pool ......(same deal with kite foiling)
« Last Edit: May 14, 2020, 11:38:54 PM by obxDave »

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Re: Longer masts
« Reply #13 on: June 13, 2020, 03:46:30 AM »
Curiosity got the better of me and I picked up an Axis 96 carbon :).  I took it out yesterday for the first time.  It was a great day to check it our because the conditions were really bad.  I couldn't convince anyone to go with me and I probably would have taken a pass myself except...new toy.  It was 20-30 with 10 mph lulls.  I tried a 5.0 for a few runs but switched straight down to 3.5 which was much better.  In really stripey conditions I am usually having to be super careful not to overfoil when gusts hit but that never happened with this longer mast and I liked that a lot.  It also felt great to reach or point over chop and swell without any concern for tapping.  Also, it felt really cool turning downwind and following swell from higher up.  Easier to weight the front foot with more time to adjust for too much.  The last big positive was that it added noticeable stability when I was getting started.  That is nice!

On the other side I did notice that pumping was going to require a very different motion which I didn't quite lock into yesterday.  I always felt like I was off by a beat.   Same is true of initiating a turn.  I felt like I needed to make an adjustment that I wasn't quite finding yet.  Slower, more, I am not sure.  I had a similar experience changing fuselage length before and it worked itself out over a week and I imagine this will be the same. 

Anyhow, lots of cool sensations here.  Can't wait to try it on a smoother, more swell oriented day.

 
« Last Edit: June 13, 2020, 03:51:30 AM by Admin »

Thatspec

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Re: Longer masts
« Reply #14 on: June 13, 2020, 09:38:48 AM »


Anyhow, lots of cool sensations here.  Can't wait to try it on a smoother, more swell oriented day.

That 96 sounds like a very nice addition to the quiver!
Having only used the Axis 90 so far I'm pretty happy at that length from flat water to the big rollers in the Gorge.
I wonder where the limit might be (they do make a 105). I've heard that there might be less push from a swell if the wing is deeper under the water. In practice though, there seems to be plenty of push ;D Won't take long to get used to that and then you'll never go back.

Ended up launching at Rowena yesterday and doing a bunch of mini downwinders to Dougs. That's what I had envisioned for the sport, being able to go back upwind and re-doing the biggest wave sections multiple times. The downwinds were awesome, the upwinds were a bit more of a struggle than I expected. That's the first time I've had the board blown out from underneath me  :o My 6'11 does have a fair bit of surface area and there is no way to stay much closer to the water in those swells.

 


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