Rob appreciate your videos and content! Always great to watch when I can’t get time n the water. Regarding the DW shaped board, I’m guessing it was built as a sinker board for you? If so I’m not surprised you found it no better. With a sinker you want a flat stable bottom that rises to the surface quickly. The DW shape only gets going quickly when it’s in displacement mode on the surface. They are great light wind machines but if you have enough wind for a sinker start you are better with a traditional shape.
I agree with you that the downwind boards require enough volume to float on, but at that point, I feel like I’m better off with an early to plane flat bottomed board that is more stable and I can pump well. With a tippy downwind shaped board it’s very hard to balance. I don’t know. I’d love to do a scientific study and get some real world numbers.
I so appreciate your comments. I really want to try the new DW boards to see how low I can get my light wind wing foiling threshold to go since I am a windsurfer and have NO interest in kite foiling (which is without a doubt the first to get on foil at my inland lake). I am a very big bodied freestyle windsurfer, and so being efficient and pumping is my nature in light wind. The long thin DW boards for wisper light wind, kind of remind me of the low drag Starboard Serenity concept. The hybrids to me are an enigma. Can you really combine both into an all around board? Dwight Fisher from FL seems to hint it is the future, after championing the squatty flats bottom boards a little over a year ago. I appreciate an honest review. Vince's boards sure look sweet.
My gut instinct is people starting earlier on those DW boards are just using bigger boards or not pumping efficiently. The Starboard Serenity is the best windsurfing board for non-planing fun in super light wind. So yes the Starboard Serenity is faster in the water, but the goal is to get the foil board out of the water at some point! One thing someone else mentioned is that footstraps make a difference too. I use footstraps which helps unstick the board. The other thing is that once I’m up, I don’t want some 6-7 foot long board. Even this board feels long! But some riders that ride waves will take narrow over short.
Absolutely. Simplicity is often the best and then his focus on craftsmanship which isn’t simple. Or the tweaks made to the rocker, track placement, and volume distribution which are subtle but have a lot of attention paid to them.
Hey Rob. I met you a number of months ago at Dana Point. I am thinking of checking out Lake Piru next week for a couple winging sessions. I have never been there before, but I have been to a few lakes nearby waterskiing. Is there any general information you can share with me about best times for wind, camping, and where to launch with my wing gear? Thanks, Steve.
Hey Steve! Piru should be good for wind next week. Had a nice session there yesterday. Look at the sensor on the dam and look at the NAM 3 Km model. If it shows anything over 17 in the gusts it’s usually good. Compare to the previous day’s graph for timing and confirmation there has been wind. I recommend getting there by 12 to be safe as it comes up early. But sometimes it is better later or has a midday dip. There are 2 launches. The north launch has cleaner wind and we usually go there now. The main south launch has a big wind shadow but better wind at the point. We often wing up there to ride. You can have someone drop you off there too for short downwinders. Not sure about the camping but should be easy to figure out on the website.
Great video! Insightful. I was thinking of getting one of the long narrow downwind boards for light wind conditions and SUP foiling but am now reconsidering one like this. Have you tried SUP foiling with this board?
This would be too small to SUP foil. And a SUP foil board might require a longer more narrow design. I haven’t tried yet. But I hope to test some SUP boards and make a video soon. The way a wing generates power is different than a paddle though. So my thoughts on wing boards might not apply to SUP boards. A lot of people swear by the DW boards, but I just don’t see the appeal for winging.
I’ve definitely considered the Appletree. I like the XPS center but they’re heavy and still require repair. Betting on Vince’s glassing over waterproof foam. We’ll see!
