Short or long fuselage? Differences

[winged surfer]

They say longer fuselage (70 cm) give more stability but downside is stiffer in turns,
Shorter fuselage (60 cm) is more loose but i don’t understand if gives you that wobbly feeling that i personally don’t like.
I’ve also been told that 70 fuselage is more stable but to buy a 60 cm fuselage because is better (but no explainations).
I’m an intermediate foiler gybing and tacking with no problems with a Moses 70cm fuselage, i want to switch to Armstrong kit but i don’t really know which fuselage to take : tc 60 or tc70? Please advice
Thank you!

[Admin]

Hi Winged,

All of this stuff is relative to your start point.  Fuselage length in general will broaden your dance floor on the board for a given foil set.  That can make a setup with a large, lifty front wing and a large stabilzer (for instance) feel overly stable, stiff and unwieldy.  The same fuselage change on a minimal front foil and tail that is super quick and agile but where foot position has become too critical for positive pumping may be just the thing.  One thing that I am learning is that cookie cutter changes in foiling often take you in the wrong direction.  You will see a lot of riders who are liking smaller foils going with longer fuselages.  That can be a really cool, low drag feeling and it can stay super loose despite the longer fuselage.

[winged surfer]

Hi Admin,
Finally someone that give me an explaination that makes sense!
Thank you so much!
At this point i may choose the new upcoming 1250 hs Armstrong front wing with longer fuse (i’m 60 kg and i feel now my 790 Moses front wing a bit big and slow)

[Admin]

Hi Winged,

Here are two vids of interest.

Both of these guys (sick riders) talk about using longer fuselages with smaller foils.  I just went from the Short to the Standard Fuselage on my smallest Axis setup because foot position was pretty specific for pumping  This relaxed that a lot with no perceptible change in maneuverability or drag and really broadened the conditions that I could use that kit in. 

[Dwight (DW)]

Hi Admin,
Finally someone that give me an explaination that makes sense!
Thank you so much!
At this point i may choose the new upcoming 1250 hs Armstrong front wing with longer fuse (i’m 60 kg and i feel now my 790 Moses front wing a bit big and slow)

Beware fuselage length numbers between brands cannot be compared. The Moses 710 is identical to the Armstrong 60....

The above fall between the Axis short and ultra short in length.

Tip for “winging” not prone, the 300 tail used stock, or cut at the chop line, is preferred over the supplied 232 tail. All with the 60 fuse. Matt Nuzzo tested them all with 232 and 300 tails and preferred 300 for kite foiling. He has a video of the test on YouTube. Less nervous at high speed. The local owner of the foiloutlet also recommended the same. I tested both and came to the same conclusion.

[deja vu]

[winged surfer]

Dwight I didn’t know Moses fuse were the same length of 60 armstrong fuse. So I’m used to that length if I choose he 60 Armstrong I would not go wrong hopefully.
Thanks for all your replies, you guys are great!

[Phils]

Lots of differences between brands such as exact attachment points and wing cord lengths so you have to consider the entire length of what is below you and not just the fuse.   With Armstrong you won’t go wrong with the 60.  I do think you give up a bit of pumping ability vs the 70 but not worth the loss of agility.

[Califoilia]

Yes, the brand naming/identifying fuse stuff is confusing example...

The Axis "crazy short", "ultra short", and "short" are 58.5 cm, 62.5 cm, and 68 cm long respectively, and the Armstrong "short" is 50 cm, while their "medium" is 60 cm, with their "long" 70 cm.

I was riding the "short", and poo-pooing the "ultra short" after seeing what my Armstrong buddies were finding with their "long", "medium", and "short" fuses on similar sized SUPs...because I was thinking I was already on a "short" fuse which was turning fine, and going shorter to something like the Armstrong "short" would make it almost unridable as was happening to the Armstrong SUP guys with theirs. Amazing how this stupid thing called "reading" can open your eyes, instead of just assuming shit, and that are numbers are good.

Well hell, got a chance to test an ultra short yesterday (along with a 910, 860, and 460 stab) and goll dang, what a freakin difference maker! Wing combos that I thought were turning well already (900/390), felt way different with the short fuse, and like I was on a much shorter board! I'm now looking into getting my hands on a "Crazy Short" to test fly, just to see if that will lock things in even more on the turns, w/o losing too much stability...something I felt no difference in between the "Short" and "Ultra Short" in comparison ystdy.

[Vancouver_foiler]

So did you get your hands on a crazy short fuselage?

[Califoilia]

So did you get your hands on a crazy short fuselage?

I did, but I loaned it out before I got a chance to ride it (I got some other stuff that's got my attention at the moment), so don't have a personal ride report to give you.

However, I can tell you that the guy I loaned it to loved it at first with a 760 for a couple sessions (was borrowing one of my "short" fuses so pretty big jump), I then lent him an ultra short and 860 (he's riding his own 400 stab), and loved it...went back to the crazy short, tried to turn it like the ultra short, spun it out, and whacked himself in the ribs with the board yesterday...not so happy with it after that. 

Today he just texted me that he just picked up an ultra short (and an 860), so I'll have the crazy short back in a day or two, and will update this next week after I get a chance to give it a go.