Pre-Flight Checks

As Harty has already noted in the mag, getting your foil set up correctly is key. Not knowing whether the challenges you’re facing are down to user error or kit setup can make progressing quickly a challenge. Here’s a quick look at making sure you’ve matched your foil well to your board and how to get the most out of your ‘first flights’, and beyond.

LIFT The quick rule is for more lift, move everything back, for less, move everything forward. However it’s key to understand that where the lift is coming from underneath your board changes depending on the foil.

The most important thing to look at is how far forward the front wing is of the foil’s mast. The bigger the gap, the further forward the lift will be underneath the board. The smaller the gap, the further back the lift. This has a massive impact on how different foils perform in different boards but also how you might set your board up to start with.

The Starboard modular platform is a good example of the various configurations available. They have a few different setups, but let’s look at three you might use in similar conditions - the Freeride, the GT (sports model) and the Race.