by grantmac » Tue Jul 07, 2020 8:17 pm
My quest to find the right foil has (I think) arrived at it's finish for now.
I started with the original H2 Slingshot. Added the Infinity 76cm wing and although it was an upgrade I wasn't terribly thrilled with the construction or adjustabiity. I prefered the C position on my board but it really needed to be somewhere between B and C, like a B sharp for the music fans.
Then I grabbed a Starboard Team Set and although the quality was outstanding I just couldn't totally enjoy the locked in feeling. Plus my board and sails are really focused around carving swell in medium wind rather than chasing VMG in super light wind (fringe benefit of relocating back to Victoria, BC).
Fortunately the used market for Race Foils was strong enough that having it for just two weeks didn't cost me anything.
So then finally a used SuperCruiser was found at a really decent price. This particular one is the larger 1700cm2 model. Last night was my first opportunity to get it flying, I was well powered with a 5.2 4 batten wave sail for almost 3 hours.
Compared to the I76 in C position the wing is further back, the stabilizer is much larger and the fuselage is similar in length to Slingshot. A lot like running the I76 in B position.
It's been my observation that Starboard do this combination of a more rearward wing with a very large stabilizer for the foils they intend to be comfortable on a beam reach (Freeride and Race 75cm for example).
There were times I couldn't tell a difference from the I76. This was steady state cruising with decent power.
So lets focus on what is different using the I76 as a baseline:
Biggest difference was significantly more pitch stability, no surprise with the long fuselage and huge stabilizer. This means it feels a bit sticky getting off the water and also responds to foot and sail pressure slower. You can sort of pop the I76 off at very low speed with a touch of back foot then pump it downward to gain speed, I haven't figured that out with the SC yet. Heading down a wave I got caught out a few times not getting the nose down fast enough.
This stability could be why the FoilX boards can run the mast track so far back, I'll need to try the mast track extender I built.
On the flip side that leads me into my second point: it feels significantly more efficient, especially at low speed. This was really noticeable when pumping and coming out of gybes. It responds better to sail pumping and picks up speed faster.
That could be a result of the more streamlined fuselage, the wing is also slightly thinner and higher aspect.
I had the stab set for a bit more nose up than neutral but it was still a little more back footed then I'd like. I'll try moving things around to see if I can get that balanced closer to what I'd like.
Speaking of moving things around. It seems that Starboard have designed their own version of the Slingshot switch fuselage:
You can mount the wing further forward using a second set of screw positions. This has been mentioned online and I know Darius uses it with his Ocean 2000 wing.
I was intially hesitant to try it since I figured the wing would need all of the fuselage engaged for maximum support. However doing some measurements with pictures online it appears the new Quick Lock Surf fuselage extends only as deep into the wing socket as the SuperCruiser in the forward position.
With that knowledge I feel confident trying this new configuration and I'm very curious how it would respond to the smaller 270cm2 Surf stabilizer. This would be closer to a semi-race kind of a set-up.