New Foil Trimming Advice Needed

I've got about 30 sessions under my belt and consider myself an advance beginner (can fly straight but still can't nail a jybe).

I recently switched brands from Cabrinha to Axis and got out on the water for the first time last week. I found myself really struggling with the new gear. My main issues seemed to be take off. As soon as I would lift off the foil seemed to always be in a stalled position leading me to eventually crash down. I tried moving my feet forward on the board but then found the nose digging in too much before take-off. This is unlike my previous Cabrinha gear which would generally just take-off with speed aided only slightly with a small kick to back of the board. When I sometimes managed to get flying I struggled to keep flying due to stability issues.

My gear setup was a 960 Sptifire, a Black Short fuse, a 325 Progressive tail, and a 90cm HM carbon mast. Note I've paired all of these things with little knowledge or advice on the brand, hence thinking I've made some wrong choices.

Just wondering where/how I should start trimming the setup to fix the issue. Here are my thought on the potential issues, keen to hear other peoples thoughts:
- Mast too far forward in the tracks leading back foot pressure stalling the board
- Too small a tail for the wing. Would a 350 or larger tail be more suitable for a 960 wing?
- Incorrect length/type of fuse. I thought using a Black Short fuse would be the most stable given it's the longest one I have.
- Too small a front wing for my skill. Given the area of the 960 is just under 1200 I assumed that was large enough and comparable to what I was previously on (Cabrinha 1050 H Mk2 wing or 1300 X wing). I also bought the 720 and 840 Spitfires in anticipation of wanting to eventually step down in size after getting used to the bigger 960.
- Tail shim required? I didn't use shims on my Cabrinha gear so this tweak is new to me.
- Too ambitious a step up in gear for my skill. Is the Spitfire line designed to be unstable and not right for me.

Any advice to help quicken the solutioning highly appreciated. Thanks.

This should help you get the foil in the right position in the tracks. I always use it when setting up a new board or foil.
Hope it helps.

I think you're gonna struggle with that setup. Unfortunately it sounds like you've invested pretty heavily in those foils which are pretty outdated. The spitfire has no glide which is what you're gonna want learning to gybe. If you want to stick with Axis try to get hold of an Art V2. Knowing what I know now, after struggling for years on a similar setup as yours I would take the loss, dump it & get a Code or F one setup. If I had bought a different setup I'd have shaved a season off my progression curve.

First, I'd do a bigger tail. Way more bigger friendly jibing with a 375 or 400 tail. The bigger tail adds a ton of stability "and" automatically helps keep you on foil, coming out of the jibe when you are learning to jibe. Leave the little 325 tail for when you become a hot shot. No shims.

You didn't say if you had original short fuse, advance short fuse or advance plus short fuse. Huge differences in placement in the tracks. Advanced plus, is likely a lot more forward than your Cabrinha.

It really is critical to get the kit balanced. Lift the entire kit, board, and foil, precisely from the chord line of the front wing and makes sure the board is hanging level upside down. It really does matter.

Just move the mast back until it doesn't stall, don't overthink about gears, you are on an ok setup, just play around and get use to it. But for your actual problem, just move your mast back. Later on, most probably, you'll move it back forward again.