Hydrofoil | How to Choose a Foil Surf Tail Wing 

Hey Gareth -- No worries -- we got you covered through the whole progression. We'll start with just getting you on the best Armstrong Shim # for the various foils and conditions!

New Caledonia -- Awesome. Thanks for watching Didier --- dock start and downwinder on Armstrong is a bit of a tough call. At 89KG you're going to want a bit more foil. If you stay in the Armstrong family - the HS1850 is likely to give you the slower stall speed that you'll need to dock start and get going. It is not as fast as the HA1325 but has a MUCH slower stall speed which will give you more flexibility as you dock start and get into the downwinder. Please keep in touch and let us know how it goes. Best, the Half-Life Crew

Hi Sven -- thank you. I'll never be one to limit gear addictions! That said, you can really span across multiple disciplines with ~3 front wings, 2-3 fuselages, and a couple tail wings. And! It turns out that mixing and matching helps you become a better foiler. Cheers, Tim

For sure! I here you get some pretty great waves coming through there. Best would be for us to have a conversation about the options and your background. You can reach us at (909) 698-0401. We're pretty booked up today but would be happy to talk/connect tomorrow. Cheers, Tim

Hi Bill -- I'll do you one better. Would you like to book a lesson? If you're new to prone foil surfing, I highly recommend at least one lesson. We'll get you up and going safely. It will flatten your learning curve tremendously. email me at halflifet.5@gmail.com and we'll get you sorted. Cheers, Tim

Go to guard rails if there's south or Kahului harbor if it's north

It can all be managed with the right wetsuit! 5.4M Ripcurl Flashbomb my man! Cheers, Tim

Thanks Cush! Sky does love that Spacestick (John actually flew over to Maui with it for Sky :-)

Hi Flying Beaver! Surface area matters somewhat due to the undeniable fact that larger surface areas creates a bigger platform to stand on.....that said....design matters more. Please email me at halflifet.5@gmail.com and we'll get you dialed in. The CF300 Tail wing is great for winging. It stabilizes the foil to really help with offside foot height management and transitions. Behind the boat it can help heavier riders or beginners but we really recommend the 232 or V200 depending upon how you ride. Same goes for prone. Cheers, Tim

@@HALFLIFEVIDEO Really appreciate the response. That’s great feedback. I shot off an email. I was also told the 300 was good for pumping. I’ve been kite foiling for a little over a year, but just started pronefoiling. My point is I know how to ride the foil but pumping is alluding me. I get 4-6 pumps on the 1550 then sink. I’m 180-190 lbs. I get it takes time-I’m just looking for the best pumping combo at present. And dock starts look scary-I’m no spring chicken either. I was told a larger tail wing would act as a better counter fulcrum for pumping-at least initially. Something on shims would be cool too. I understand that it changes the pitch in theory but how does that translate into riding? You guys should come up with some standard acronyms for the various foiling disciplines, writing out these terms gets tedious. Would also be another way to ingrain yourself into foiling history. One more thing, and this is probably very obvious to you guys, but as a beginner I had to figure it out for myself. As I’m starting to play with harder carves on the foil, my innate tendency from a surfing background causes me to put heavy back foot pressure with turns. Which you know causes breaching. I’m realizing the foil can hold all sorts of hard angular turns if I increase that front foot pressure-which is counterintuitive to every board sport I can think of where it’s a requisite is to increase back foot pressure. So I’ll sink the mast a bit and lean on that front foot which has made a huge difference in my turns. I don’t breach and the foil holds the turn so long as I have decent speed. Again, I know you guys are more than aware of this, but I’ve never heard it stated on any foiling videos. Just think it’s a good piece of learning info that you guys could add. Or not. For me it was a true eureka movement. Foiling is by no means self explanatory. Your channel is great, thanks.

I was riding the 1850 for a mellow walk in the park with a short 60cm mast, 50cm fuselage and 16’ custom stabilizer from foster designs.

@@skyramafoil thanks sky! I could see the wingspan :):)

Aloha Simon, I chopped my 300 stab on the line but rarely ride it, as it’s to thick for me, it has its place though for sure.

Understood...thank you Sky 😀

@@skyramafoil Hi there Sky, thanks 🙏 for your advice on stabs on this vid, I am riding hs1850, 72, 60 mast, +1shim on a 4’8” prone board, at 84kg (187lb). I have mast right back in tracks, as I find the 1850 has a lot of lift, with this set up what stab would be best to maximise my pump game: 212, 233 or 300. Any other tips to tailor this set up for pumping would be much appreciated, Mahalo Nui 🙏 🏄‍♂️

Sorry guys I meant 60 fuselage and 232 tail in my last post, apologies.

@@BoyBrighton yeah that's a good set up. Try it with a 50cm fuselage you might find it nice on the bigger wings. Will free up the pump to. 232 tail is good unchopped for that set up.

If you have the know how to make your own rear stabilizer -- I'd say go for it. The Armstrong is designed with a chop point on the rear stabilizer so when your riding progresses, you can adjust the rear wing. Great design in my view. That said -- fully support building your own tail wings if you have the knowledge and time to do so. Tim

@@HALFLIFEVIDEO ah I see it was designed for it, I thought people were just cutting up their 200$ stabilizers xD

Where can I find unfiberglassed versions? I’m trying to build my own foil setup for as budget as I can while still having some quality.