The wind was forecasted to be at doable levels today. I've been waiting for this for over a week - and the weather was definitely up and down. But - for a window from 1pm to 3pm, the wind came through for me and I got to properly anoint No.23.
This is a flat transome/tail, square railed wing foiling board. I wanted to try this for two reasons - Dwight Fisher has been building these for quite some time and has raved about how these rails compliment the latest high aspect ratio front foils. Second - the first boards I built were inspired by the description on the FCD Surfboards website of their prone foilboards - they took what were the fastest human powered boards (prone paddleboards) and used elements (square rail, flat bottoms) to make their first generation foil boards.
I happy to report this board delivered tremendous results. I was able to get this board up off the water much faster than any other board I've used so far - a few pumps and up I go. Water releases from the tail so fast...
I'm definitely building all my future foil boards like this.
I got to do a side by side comparison with Harris's Flying Dutchman - pretty similar lines.
The major difference was the tail and the rails.
It felt good to be able to get jibes in on the first session. I was a little concerned when I tried starting the board in light wind - I sank to my waist. This is definitely a board for stronger wind days, but it is good to know what the bottom end is.
The wind when it was up was perfect for the Reedin SWX 5.2
It's always cool to see how my speed mirrors the peaks on the wind chart. It's also cool to see my top speed go over 20mph.
And I now know where to place the footstraps. Oddly enough, from looking down while I was riding, my left foot (going strong side) is forward just a notch than my right foot (riding switch). My left foot is beneath the third hole on the top insert, while my right foot goes behind the fourth hole. While riding regular foot, my right foot is behind the fourth hole on the front insert.
This is some sick gear!!!
There is nothing more satisfying than seeing your family do wonderful things - but a close second is making a board and having it exceed your expectations!
Fun day to start a connection with a new board!
W:5/F:13/S:4
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