drc13 forum posts in last 60 days

Yep I echo that.

I have no interest in this board but appreciate a detailed review of gear especially with that set of "Affiliations"

I've found once you're in sinker territory as long as there's enough wind to get the board to the surface they all take off so quickly that you really can go small. Only real downside is if the wind dies off they are a slog to paddle back in. It also can initially be a bit tricky to have enough clearance for the wing tips if you're sunk down deep.

I'm not sure I fully agree you want "long/skinny" combo so much for sinkers as you're not after the efficiency/speed on the surface but more something that sits under the water and rises up to the surface nicely.

Haha good on you Rob for giving it a crack, for what it's worth I much prefer the PW content over FD!

Main thing I noticed that will help is really try to get more into your surf stance once up on foil, it will allow you to lean against the pull of the parawing making you more stable, allow you to hold on edge on the foil for better upwind angles as well as get you back that front to back pitch control. Once you get settled in hooking into the harness makes it a lot more comfortable.

kato said..

drc13 said..
It's been a long time in the making but hoping this is the SUP surf foil board I've been looking for (will also hopefully be decent as my light wind parawing/wing board as well)

It's the Carbon/Kevlar Construction board 6'6 x 21 @85L

What's the verdict?

Sadly never got to find out, it arrived in pretty bad shape (Amos sorted me out with a refund so not kicking up a stink)

Forgot to update this thread but ended up "playing it safe" construction wise and went with an Appletree Midlength 6'4 x 20.5 @87L

I've had a bunch of sessions on it since, no it's not my dream board there's things I'd like different, but when I'm up and surfing it it's probably the best I've sup surfed, the drop in size has definitely helped my turns and whilst not super light I'll get 4 for 1's pumping it with a Code 985x so it's not a total anchor.

Feel through the board has that classic appletree stiffness and direct feel.

I do think I'm on my limit for "downsizing" though. The volume itself feels good I'm pretty much even with the waterline except for a bit of my nose above.

But I have lost more paddle speed/glide than I'd have liked. I'm having to take off on pretty steep sections and just couldn't keep up with the guys on the barracudas and franks in a tiny bay session the other day.

If the conditions are right though, today for example I'm easily able to get 20+ waves an hour plus links so the smaller board didn't give up much.

So funnily enough I'm almost coming back to the conclusion that if you want to cover all conditions there is no single board to do it all.

If you want to surf and pump your best, yes I can confirm going as small as you can works but it's no free lunch and the longer, skinnier boards will still catch things I can't.

Thanks for the detailed review!Somewhat unrelated but I'm heading your way for the first time in July.Generally speaking what size parawing would get the most use?I'm 70kg and currently riding a quest 4m, about to add another but unsure on 2.5m vs 3m. The 3 would probably get more use at home but I'm unsure if it will be too big for hood.Cheers mate

Got to test the absolute top end of the F-One Quest 4m today

25kn gusting to 33kn. At 70kg I was holding on for dear life and it wasn't pretty but to it's credit it stayed pretty composed flying purely of the A's and still got me upwind when needed.

Seeming like a pretty decent parawing so far!

Piros said..

DRC :- I like the look of the Quest and looking at going 3.5 & 4.5 for now . This time of year on the Gold Coast our wind is pretty hit and miss and gusty AF which makes it tuff on the Para , as I improve I'll keep tuning my gear . My goal as well is Hood in Sept for the AWSI & can only imagine what the 2027 gear will be .Thats why I want to be Para proficient this time round .

3.5 and 4.5 combo would be really nice too! Yeah sadly the wind season has really slowed down on the east coast (surf has been fun though!)

Frigate 2 and Pocket Rocket 2 (and hopefully armstrong release something) will all be steps up but as I say to anyone on the fence about parawinging, all the current releases are more than good enough to learn all the basics and then some. Getting in now is still a head start over the majority of the crew and the progress and learnings will continue to carry over to future gear. It's really nice to have another new challenge presented by foiling, some terribly frustrating sessions but when it goes right it's so worth it.

Just about putting the time in whenever the conditions present themselves in this tricky season, I don't think I'll be as far along as I'd like to be by July but I'll have no excuses for conditions in hood!

I'm 70kg

Wingboard is a 50L Appletree Slice V4 (-20L) . Kneeling on it it's a bit below the water but once there's wind in my sail it will come to the surface and get going pretty quick. If I hit a lull and I'm standing on the board I'll pretty quickly sink to waist deep while standing.

My surf SUP/Parawing board is a 87L Appletree Mid Length Skipper (+17L). While paddling it around standing some of the deck is submerged/water level, most of the rails are underwater but the nose is slightly above the water, I have to keep the board moving to keep it there

I could easily go smaller on the wingboard but I don't think I'd want to go too much less on the SUP

Long and skinny has become the go to for DW boards (where paddle speed is critical) but I'm interested to know if anyone who SUP Surf Foils has compared board designs.

I'm currently surfing a 7'10x19@110L DW shape (pictured) but can't help but think there might be a better shape where surf performance is the priority.

It surfs surprisingly well and enables me to catch pretty much any wave I want but I do on occasion tap the nose or tail and I feel the pump could be a little more efficient. I also wouldn't say no to a little more side to side stability in bumpier conditions.

The dims I've pulled out of thin air would be roughly 6'6 x 22 @95L. If anyone has ridden similar shaped boards would I be giving much up vs the DW shape (or on the flip side gaining much?)

It's not easy to find much info on SUP surf, best I've been able to do is watch some footage of locals in Hawaii and even then you'll see a mixture of the older square shaped designs through to barracudas.

I know they'll all "work" but removing DW from the criteria, what's best?