STEVE ALLEN
I am using a Boss foil and Neil Pryde foil. The beginner’s foils have a shorter fuselage so guys do not get so high out of the water. When they crash from too much lift they are more likely to keep planing rather than catapult and crash. My foils are stiffer and faster than normal recreational foils. In some ways they are a little easier than aluminium foils. If you really want to go fast the pure race foil is easier because they are stiff and solid under your feet. I had one race where my foil was slightly loose on my front wing and it was moving. I had that happen to me in the strong wind race. It was so hard to control like that. The moment anything moves just a little bit or if something breaks or is not 100% solid, then it is very difficult to control.
I am using the Patrik scaled down Formula Board developed for foiling. It was made to be 91cms wide like all the other brands are doing. It is good for foiling because it is wide. I developed some pads to get my back foot out a little bit more to have more power over the foil. Even without that it works great and the board also works as a normal windsurfing board if you want to ride it without the foil. This board is more versatile than most other brands. The wide tails are basically there for the upwind foiling. Once we are downwind we don’t need the tail so wide. I am using a 9.7m Formula sail. Because we are doing upwind racing the Formula design is made for that. For my smaller sizes I would like a scaled down version. I change my harness lines to a little shorter for foiling and have my boom height higher. It is not a big change but it is a little different to slalom and more like Formula. The height of the boom gives you more power, angle and control.