In this picture, my main stay prone foiling board is in the foreground - No.21. I've been using this board since June 2021. It catches waves easily and has been a great partner in this foiling journey.
I did want to explore lower volumed, shorter length boards so I built a few boards, but the one in the background is what I've had in the back of my mind as I've seen many boards from many different shapers. I took No.29 out for its inaugural session this morning.
It was a good day to anoint No.29 - super light wind, super high tide, and perfect sized foiling waves.
My first wave was a double dip! The shortest boards I've made were No.26 and 27 - I was able to ride those boards, but there was no room for error on foot placement on takeoff - if you didn't have your feet in the correct spots, it was a wipeout for sure. This board was purpose built to allow for a larger front foot sweet spot and to have my front foot able to go further out on the port rail for more leverage and control of the foil. I looked down a few times while riding and my front foot was further over and so was my back foot.
Pumping this shorter board also seemed easier. Less volume up front (foiled thinner up front and also a narrower template) means less swing weight and less overall inertia.
No bevel in the rear of the board I think helps with release while taking off and also adds to board speed while paddling for a wave.
I spent two and a half hours out and caught many waves. I had an opportunity to take steep drops, paddling for flatter waves and find my footing on this board.
This board is definitely going help further my progress. There is still room for No.21 (it has always been like my "longboard" for prone foiling - I can catch smaller waves or paddle in early on the bigger ones) and I still have some experimenting to do using No.27 which is a wider templated, flat tailed/square railed short foilboard - but I think No.29 will become my daily driver.
This is a good sign for the upcoming year for prone foiling!
W:4/F:5/S:7
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