How long was the downwinder? What was the battery usage? What were the wind and swell conditions? With the Cedrus mast why did you have it set at 18cm instead of at the bottom of the mast? Awesome video showing what is possible with the foil drive plus.
So many good questions and I’ll try to answer them all in a video I have planned where I’ll try and explain all that and more. We’ve been doing loads of downwinders specifically to test the impact of board size and foil size on battery life
In this run the wind was around 12-15 knots and swell was ok but inconsistent- there were some flat sections where a lot of pumping was needed (being able to use foildrive in these sections occasionally to keep going helps a lot). The paddlers struggled at times because of the conditions - one made it with no problems (he is super experienced), 2, were wayyyy behind us, and one dropped out half way through - we had to pick him up on the way back to our car at the start point. This run was about 8-10km and I had about 40% battery left at the end, but I was filming with GoPro and that means I make mistakes and fall more often because I’m focused on filming rather than looking where I’m going at times, so without filming I wouldn’t have used so much battery. I did another DW yesterday in seriously big swell and strong wind with only one sup foil paddler and myself, so I kept behind him the whole way for safety - each time he fell I stopped and waited for him to get on foil before starting again. That was 18km and I still had 30% left at the end, but I was using a bigger board (5’ x 37ltrs) which makes a huge difference at how easy it is to get on foil, which means I use a lot less charge from the battery each time I use the motor to get on foil. I always prefer the motor to be in the assist position (18cm) for everything (except for proper efoiling of course) because that has less drag when you’re on foil. It’s possible to surf and downwind with the project Cedrus mast with the motor in efoil position but you can notice the drag compared to having the motor in the assist position. Some people prefer the ease of use of the efoil position and are willing to put up with the drag - it’s easier to learn with the motor as an efoil. I prefer the assist position because it’s higher performance
Hey Dominic, I have seen an attractive offer on a second hand board.... Not sure if its anygood for me. The weird thing is, i cant get much information about it so i think its a prototype olaian 6´ EPS 51.8L foil sup surfboard. Maybe its good for a foildrive set up? i am 85kg 5´ 10"... what do you reckon?
I haven’t ridden those boards so don’t know anything about them I’ll afraid. It’s very long for 52ltrs, how wide is it? Can you send a picture? When choosing a board it’s important to take into consideration what you’ll be using it for. Will you be using it for prone surfing, SUP surfing, downwinding, winging, do you want to pump it at all (flat water or linking waves) because what you want to do has a big impact on the type of board that is suitable
@@dominichoskyns9091 Width is 21 7/8", thick 2 7/8" length 6´ . Its only 135euros and it can take a foil. It sure can do some sort of party trick but i dont know what?
@@onederment its an odd size to volume ratio. I think that would be very good for learning downwinding and maybe even learning to prone foil, but it’s way too long to be a good prone foil board (would be very difficult to pump) and not enough volume to be a sup foil board. It would make getting on foil very easy but when on foil the length is a problem. The beauty of foildrive is that you just don’t need such a long board to get on foil. Maybe good for DW for a heavier person, and learning to prone but not much else I’m afraid. To use it for SUP surf foiling you’d rather have to be a super light weight person or have super extraordinarily good paddling skills, or both! Most people need about 20-30 ltrs more than their body weight in kg. I don’t know many people who can use a negative volume sup board
@@dominichoskyns9091 So by that logic do you reckon someone ~100KG would be able to utilize a 110-120L sup foil board to paddle or should one look for even more volume?
@@paddleboarddog it depends on your skill level. 10ltrs above your body weight would be ok for someone with very good skills and fitness. 20 ltrs is what most people settle on as a compromise, remember that the lower you go in volume the harder everything is. More volume and you’ll catch more waves and get more time on foil. Less volume may be more fun when on foil, but you’ll tire faster and get less time on foil. Beginners usually need at least 30 or even 40 ltrs more than their body weight or it’ll just delay their progression. For winging this is less important but for sup foiling and downwinding having enough volume is very important
Thank you VERY much for your response. It's much clearer for me now. I really appreciate your pioneering efforts. Good on yah mat Aloha, Don
How long was the downwinder? What was the battery usage? What were the wind and swell conditions? With the Cedrus mast why did you have it set at 18cm instead of at the bottom of the mast? Awesome video showing what is possible with the foil drive plus.
So many good questions and I’ll try to answer them all in a video I have planned where I’ll try and explain all that and more. We’ve been doing loads of downwinders specifically to test the impact of board size and foil size on battery life
In this run the wind was around 12-15 knots and swell was ok but inconsistent- there were some flat sections where a lot of pumping was needed (being able to use foildrive in these sections occasionally to keep going helps a lot). The paddlers struggled at times because of the conditions - one made it with no problems (he is super experienced), 2, were wayyyy behind us, and one dropped out half way through - we had to pick him up on the way back to our car at the start point.
This run was about 8-10km and I had about 40% battery left at the end, but I was filming with GoPro and that means I make mistakes and fall more often because I’m focused on filming rather than looking where I’m going at times, so without filming I wouldn’t have used so much battery. I did another DW yesterday in seriously big swell and strong wind with only one sup foil paddler and myself, so I kept behind him the whole way for safety - each time he fell I stopped and waited for him to get on foil before starting again. That was 18km and I still had 30% left at the end, but I was using a bigger board (5’ x 37ltrs) which makes a huge difference at how easy it is to get on foil, which means I use a lot less charge from the battery each time I use the motor to get on foil.
I always prefer the motor to be in the assist position (18cm) for everything (except for proper efoiling of course) because that has less drag when you’re on foil. It’s possible to surf and downwind with the project Cedrus mast with the motor in efoil position but you can notice the drag compared to having the motor in the assist position. Some people prefer the ease of use of the efoil position and are willing to put up with the drag - it’s easier to learn with the motor as an efoil. I prefer the assist position because it’s higher performance
Hey Dominic, I have seen an attractive offer on a second hand board.... Not sure if its anygood for me. The weird thing is, i cant get much information about it so i think its a prototype olaian 6´ EPS 51.8L foil sup surfboard. Maybe its good for a foildrive set up? i am 85kg 5´ 10"... what do you reckon?
I haven’t ridden those boards so don’t know anything about them I’ll afraid. It’s very long for 52ltrs, how wide is it? Can you send a picture?
When choosing a board it’s important to take into consideration what you’ll be using it for. Will you be using it for prone surfing, SUP surfing, downwinding, winging, do you want to pump it at all (flat water or linking waves) because what you want to do has a big impact on the type of board that is suitable
@@dominichoskyns9091 Width is 21 7/8", thick 2 7/8" length 6´ . Its only 135euros and it can take a foil. It sure can do some sort of party trick but i dont know what?
@@onederment its an odd size to volume ratio. I think that would be very good for learning downwinding and maybe even learning to prone foil, but it’s way too long to be a good prone foil board (would be very difficult to pump) and not enough volume to be a sup foil board. It would make getting on foil very easy but when on foil the length is a problem. The beauty of foildrive is that you just don’t need such a long board to get on foil. Maybe good for DW for a heavier person, and learning to prone but not much else I’m afraid.
To use it for SUP surf foiling you’d rather have to be a super light weight person or have super extraordinarily good paddling skills, or both! Most people need about 20-30 ltrs more than their body weight in kg. I don’t know many people who can use a negative volume sup board
@@dominichoskyns9091 So by that logic do you reckon someone ~100KG would be able to utilize a 110-120L sup foil board to paddle or should one look for even more volume?
@@paddleboarddog it depends on your skill level. 10ltrs above your body weight would be ok for someone with very good skills and fitness. 20 ltrs is what most people settle on as a compromise, remember that the lower you go in volume the harder everything is. More volume and you’ll catch more waves and get more time on foil. Less volume may be more fun when on foil, but you’ll tire faster and get less time on foil. Beginners usually need at least 30 or even 40 ltrs more than their body weight or it’ll just delay their progression. For winging this is less important but for sup foiling and downwinding having enough volume is very important