Rear Stabilizer Differences

Rear stabilizers are probably the least understood component of a given foil system.  You hear a lot of chatter on the front foil.  And the distances between the front foil and the mast, and the mast and the rear stabilizer are things most people know how performance is impacted.

But there are just several things going on simultaneously with rear stabilizers -

For the AFS Enduro 900 - while on Foil Drive - I have historically used the HA40 stabilizer.  It works well - turns nicely, provides a lot of support, and glides easy.

I recently tried using the HA38 with the FD setup.  The system turned harder and picked up speed, but it lost the support (for pumping) and even though there was less form drag, it seemed to lose the "glide".

When you line up the HA38 and HA40, it isn't hard to see there is less chord, span and surface area in the HA38.

Now to mix things up, I recently got a Mako Carve 130

The photo above shows the HA40 and the Mako Carve 130, with the Mako having:

- less span

- maybe the same/similar surface area

- more chord and more of it centered

- narrower tips

Today was my third time using the Mako.  The first time I used it, the waves were decent sized and the system felt way more pitchy.  The second time I used it the waves had gotten a little smaller, and I had gotten used to the pitch "looseness" and even started using it to my advantage - banking turns harder.

Looking at the HA40 and the Mako - they probably have nearly the same surface area - just distributed very differently.

Today the waves were even smaller.  I was originally thinking I should put the HA40 to make sure I could get across flat sections - but then the tester in me said screw it, see what happens.

When Foil Drive-ing, the lower end of the foil system is never really an issue for me.  I just jam the throttle and get to foiling speed and take the drop on a wave - I have all the energy I need and don't worry about dropping off.  So riding with the Mako Carve/Enduro 900 was not really an issue today - I got the same performance even with the smaller waves.

I wouldn't say the same if I were prone foiling - I can't just pull a trigger and get powered up.

Long story short - the Mako Carve 130 will likely stay paired up with the AFS Enduro 900 for Foil Drive-ing.

Wing Foiling Session - 12/8/2022

 I hit Hickam after work - got in a shorter session because I needed to go and pick up Marlon from UH this evening.  I pulled up and Ryan was packing up - he had used his PPC 2.8 - Jim was also in and swapping out his 5.0 down to his 4.0

Looking at the water and the trees - it was pretty much nuking.  I rigged up the Reedin SW 3.6 and bolted on the F One Eagle 890.

Even with this small gear, there were several gusts and sustained wind fields that would just swat me over - so much fun!!!!

The Eagle 890 does not have the glide of its big brother - but it is definitely faster.  I hit 21.8 mph before my watch battery died.  I know I was going faster than that.  I also think I can go faster by shimming the rear stabilizer.

Pretty much all the way forward in the boxes.

I was well powered from the get go.  After a few warm up runs, I figured I'd see how Firsts was breaking.  It was flat out smoke on the water out there - I was even having a hard time staying on the board - so much water moving around - the foil underwater was getting pulled one way while the wing was trying to pull me in another - awesomeness!

I wanted to get some speed runs in - next time I'll make sure my watch is charged up (my watch is pretty much defunct - stupid battery).

I have GoPro pictures - but I'll add those later.  For now - I can just relish the awesome power of nature! 

W:120/F:96/S:40

Garage Works - Early Sept

Besides the two prone foil boards I have in the garage, I have a couple of other projects I've been working on.

This is Tim's surfboard.  It had cracks in the fin boxes.

It also had a really nasty gash in the middle of the bottom deck on the port rail, and some spots up towards the nose that needed to be cleaned up (dings).

I've fixed some of Tim's other boards - and he rides them hard.  So I won't have to redo any of these repairs, I'm putting some glass on top of the filled spots.

I just have to do a clean up sanding on this tomorrow and I should be done.

This is one of Eli's older rear stabilizers.  It was cracked open, but I carefully filled it and sanded the excess epoxy off.  Then my OCD kicked in and I started chasing small divots and even found another pretty large void.

I fixed all of those issues and got a coat of matching spray paint on this evening. 

I'll finish painting it tomorrow and can get it back to Eli later this week (not much wind around - WPB will be back to the prone foilers).

I should finish both of these repair orders tomorrow (then on to the two prone foil boards)

Wet Sanding Fixes Everything

I had hit reef a few times over the past several sessions.  It wasn't enough for me to feel like I needed to correct any of the damage, but this morning I did manage to find a high point on the seafloor and there was some "crunching" noises involved.

I went ahead and broke out the 220-320-400 wet/dry sandpaper and got the scratches and crunches out.

I'm close to getting a 68cm Project Cedrus mast that I ordered a while back.  That size when all set up should be at 72cm - compared to the 75cm (so 79cm) I have been using.  That drop in size should reduce the bottom strikes I've been getting.  Although I must say the extra riding height does make foiling even more thrilling...

Learning to Sew

La is teaching me to sew using the Sailrite.  This lesson will end up being covers for the rear stabilizers I've been making.

I've been wanting to learn to sew so I can take all the ideas stuck up in my head and make them a reality.

So starts another journey (same with the drone - hmmmm - new decade, new interests???)

Evening Session - 11/17/2021

This is a catch up post from Wednesday.  There was rumors on the internet that a late season south swell was present.  I hit it after work to see what the buzz was all about.  4'8" prone board with the GoFoil GL180 and one of the new thin rear stabilizers.

Roland was there (not napping in the van this time).  But that was a good as it got - the break was super crowded, the surf was small and the tide was on the low side of comfortable.  I caught three and called it - I needed to get back home anyways to work in the garage.

This is me trying to find way to keep the hollow void inside the Takuma masts free from water. 

I've already went through two different methods, and have an idea for a third. Blah...

More Progress on Garage Projects - 11/15ish

Yesterday I skipped foiling to get some garage work done.  Not sure why this fuselage got all funked up - but I used a green scrubbing pad to knock off all the weird powdery white crusty stuff.  I only kept the front foil on for a few sessions... I'm not going to chance this happening to the rest of the rig so I'm going to break it down completely from this point forward.

I also noticed that there was water in the mast (75cm).  I drilled a hole in the silicon at the base section of the mast and drained the water.  I'll reseal the mast at the silicon caps (in between the screw holes and all should be good again).

Tonight (16th) I also re-taped the male ferrule.  The 1210 was a perfect tight fit - but the 980 was still a hair loose.  I guess this is what the crowds are talking about when they say the components of the Takuma suck.

I also got these five rear stabilizers finished.  The top two are standard thickness.  The top one is Marvin's and second one is Prayot's.  I've tested both and these are really awesome rear stabilizers.

The bottom three are made a degree thinner than the top two.  More on the performance in the next post, but I'm really happy with these!

And I got some more progress done on Shari's board. I took the spliced on EPS foam block down below the finished point yesterday with the random orbital sander.  I did not take a picture of that, but it was noticeably lower than the surrounding portions of the board.  This evening I went ahead and cut out the fiberglass patches for the fill portion of the repair.  I mixed up a batch of epoxy with cappuccino resin pigment and added some aerosil.  I got everything on the repair area.

Next step on this board repair is to sand the fill and apply a last layer of epoxy that has orange tint in it to get the top coat to match the surrounding - then it is sanding and detailing.

Dawn Patrol and the Double Session - 11/14/2021

I pulled double duty today.  Opened up with another time constrained dawn patrol session (this is a weird picture of Marlon - my phone couldn't handle the low light situation).  The surf was definitely smaller... tide was low at 0.6' (so you would have thought there would have been more breaking waves), and glassy conditions.  I caught a handful and had to call it - I had an 8:00 appointment to sell my Armstrong HS1850.  

Right after the discussion I had with the guy who bought the HS1850, Greg and his family drove up to the house so I could get him the 5'2" prone foiling board and a lesson on how to prone foil.  This second session was totally opposite of the dawn patrol.  1.6' high tide, stiff onshore breeze (associated with a squall coming through - and yes it was strong enough to wing but too onshore to do), and a sizeable swell pushing through.

I caught a bunch of waves and was ripping.  I was able to pump out the back of most of my waves - but the wind would slow me down to the point of stopping.  I did get a few two for ones, but not as many as I could have if the wind weren't as strong as it was.  Greg total got up on foil - at least three decently long waves.  Must have been a good coach that he had....

I'm glad I had the second session.

Dawn Patrol - 11/13/2021

Friday I decided to stay back and get a bunch of progress in on the garage projects.  I finished fixing the HS1532CS, templated out three more 15" rear stabilizers, and helped La get ready for a yard sale.  The afternoon tide was not good for foiling anyways.

Marlon and I made up for it by dawn patrolling on Saturday.  I used the same setup that I have been - 4'8" prone board, Kujira 1210 and the rear stabilizer I just made for Marvin (I needed to test it to make sure it was good to go - which it totally is) 

We were on a time table - I had to take Noe to Driving Class (even though she already knows how to drive).  I also had to give back the HS1532CS and pick up a Lift HA25 stabilizer.  

Back to the waves - the session was kind of weird - the tide was rising so the waves should have been good, but they were hard to catch.  I was able to catch a handful so it was time well spent.  Tim told me a story of a guy getting his foot cut open from the top across the ankle up at Puena Point.  The guy was duck diving and the board shot back at him tail first after botching the dive.  Not good.

Garage Works -11/11/2021

After foiling and breakfast, I headed to the garage to knock out some progress on the projects.  I sanded the HS1532CS trailing edge for a third time and placed a third coat of epoxy on.  After it cured I sanded it down yet again, and later this evening I'll get the last coat on, and get that through the whole sanding regime.

Then I sized up the latest ding repair job.  Went ahead and drew out what I thought needed to be cut out.

Taped off the deck so the wax job doesn't get gummed up.

Cut out the ding.

This looks like 100% fiberglass - no carbon...

And then I spliced on another piece of EPS.  I may get this dialed in this evening (cutting off the excess and sanding it down so the fiber can be laminated on).

Then I got the fiberglass cut out that will live at the bottom of the divynicell sheeting.

And I epoxied it in place.  The glass was 6 ounce fabric under the front decking and 4 ounce in the rear foot decking.  I mixed up 4.2 ounces of resin in order to make sure the cloth was saturated (the glass only weighed 1.5 ounces - so almost a 3 to 1 ratio.

The last thing I did in the garage before lunch was to sand Marvin's 15" rear stabilizer through the 40 grit sanding.  Lunch and errands are ongoing now - but I'll likely hit the garage again once I get back home.

Garage Works - Early November

I've got too many projects in the garage again.  In no particular order:

1.  I need to fix the mast tracks on the NWFB

2.  I need to fix Marvin's foilboard (flip footstrap inserts, fill deck, cap sheet, fix tail ding)

3.  I need to seal the HS1532CS

4.  I need to laminate the d-cell sheets onto the 4'8" Wing Foiling Board

5.  I need to glue up the d-cell strips (to make more mast track reinforcement blocks and footstrap inserts

6.  I need to sand Kalani's wing foil board and install the leash plug and vent

7.  I need to figure out a way to remove a broken tap from the Project Cedrus mast, then drill out the old helicoil and install a new one

8.  Marvin ordered a 15" rear stabilizer (I need to grind that out of a blank)

9.  I am thinning down the rear stabilizers I previously made (they are too thick)

10. And I'm trying to think of a way to better organize the front foils 

11. Help Marlon with his new longboard

I made a conscious decision yesterday to get started on the list (and also cleaned out the garage of stuff we're going to try and sell at a community garage sale this coming Saturday, as well as taking a bunch of unneeded boxes and what nots to the convenience center - whew!!!)

Cutting out the slots for the d-cell sheeting on the 4'8" WFB

Helping Marlon foil his new longboard.

Thinning out the thickness of the rear stabilizers.

And the d-cell slots all set up for epoxy.

Fixing the tail ding in Marvin's board (I'm going to have to template this one...)

And first seal coat on the HS1532CS

Uuuuuuuuggggggggghhhhhhhhhh.....

Evening Session - 10/27/2021

I pulled an evening session yesterday.  GL180 on the 4'8" - pretty much what I've been using while prone foiling for a while now.

I caught several fun ones - long pumping and gliding on the waves.  The tide was low, but there was a bump in the swell height, so I was able to stay on the outside (to avoid grounding the foil).

Roland was out - the whole time we were just talking about how we wished there was wind so we could go winging.

Evening Session - 10/19/2021

The swell was supposed ot be a little bigger and the tide more favorable for foiling - so I hit the beach after work.  Same setup as yesterday.  Roland was out winging on his 4.5m2  I don't think I could have used the 6.0 and did what he was doing.

I ended up adjusting the mast to better accommodate the new rear stabilizer - I noticed with the bigger waves, I needed to get this mast further forward to balance it out.

I caught some nice really long rides - super fun conditions!  Today was the first day I could tell the seasons are changing - a little cooler and the water had a different hue to it.  Plus the sun is starting to set much earlier.

I will try wearing a knee brace next time.  That way I can pump harder.

Evening Session - 10/18/2021

After my nap and time spent at the grinding bench, I put together the 4'8" and headed to the beach.  I opted for the GL180 and the newly completed "Crepe Spatula" 15" rear stabilizer.

The swell was waist high, the tide was probably 1.5' and the wind was on the light side.  Roland was just coming in from a winging session - he said proning was a better call.

I caught four good ones.  After the first one I moved the mast forward to get a bit more lift.  The waves behind that first were really fun - long, lots of carves and got to pump back out.

When I got back in, Roland showed me what his rear stabilizer did to his 4.5m2 wing.  I asked La if she would fix it - she said yes.  Stay tuned to see that!

Finished V2 Rear Stabilizers

I helped Noe get through a class paper yesterday - didn't get to sleep until after 12 (she kept going until 2am...).  I got home and looked for wind - it was marginal and I quickly hit the couch for a quick nap.  When I got up, I felt like I wanted to get a swim (prone foiling session) in at WPB... but in order to do that, I wanted to test out the newly thinned out bottom mount rear stabilizer.

I hit the garage and sanded the stabilizer through 40-80-120-180-220-320, then brought it inside to wet sand it through 320-400-500-1000-1500.

These last few that I've been reworking are super thin compared to what they were previously.  In the water, these thinner stabilizers have less drag, they hold/flex/release nicely in the turns, and they are just big enough to push against while pumping - perfect!!!

Grinding Down the Rear Stabilizers

After riding with the stabilizer I just finished, I'm convinced I need to thin out all of the ones I had previously made.  If the camber is too thick, I can feel the extra drag.  The thinner it is, the faster I think I am going (perception).

I ground down two of the crepe spatula stabs I had - one of them was previously thinned out (was the one I was prone foiling with - bottom mount on the Go Foil).

These two are now hovering in the 6.2 ounce range (super light compared to the previous ones I had finished).  I still need to go over this with the sander and wet sand them.

La is going to help me sew covers for these!!!

Wing Foiling Session - 10/17/2021

I had to be back at the house for some visitors - so I got in a mid-day winging session.  I wanted to test Prayot's Kujira 1210 some more and under different conditions.  The wind was blowing hard when I got to the parking lot.  I decided to pump up the 4.5 - but some clouds settled in over head and the flow got choked off a bit. 

You can see the slow start and also a significant lull represented as blue lines in the chart below.

Once the sun came back out, the wind filled in again and I was up and riding.  I pulled hard upwind to the stronger wind field (eastern side of the this area) so if the wind died back again, I would at least be schlogging into Fenceline and not into the cabins area.

With the 4.5, I need 20mph to get up on foil - that dip in the wind just after 11am is the large black patch on my speed graph below.

The peak speeds were when I was on a wave.  The forecasts called for 1-2' faces - but as I was riding in, there were some chest high sets that formed some really long walls.  The Kujira 1210 picked up the energy really well and I could carve as hard as I did with the Armstrong HS1550v1.  I did have the opportunity to luff the wing a few times and got to carve up some walls with good concave sections in them.  One of these was a perfectly timed jibe and straight drop in to a standup wave.

It's looking like the form factor is limiting this front foil to below 19mph (relative to my watch).  I do like the sustained glide this foil has - I can take my time through the jibes.  If my right knee weren't hurting right now, I'd try pumping more - but for now I've been letting the wing do most of the work.

Fun day!!!!