Is anybody having success foiling with powerbox?
There are lots of powerbox boards out there. I keep hearing that the powerbox is not strong enough for rocking/cantelevering forces.
A few foil mfers are offering powerbox tops with various sizes of flanges. NP, RRD, Power Plate for Slingshot. I might consider using a Power Plate with a powerbox fitting on top. This might be enough to spread the rocking load on the bottom of the board.
There has to be an engineering reason why the board makers are offering foil-ready boards in only the deep tuttle configuration. Well, yes, most foils out there so far are deep tuttle, so the numbers make sense.
So, what about all those powerbox boards out there?
Local 170lbs.er used PB and powerplate for over 35 sessions with no problems until he hit a shallow sandbar and bent the single screw. He had to slog home. 2 screws is stronger but always use a leash.
Another bud hit a sandbar, lost the tail of his Formula board along with the foil. It stayed below the surface and was never found. Deep Tuttle with a leash.
After a great experience with a Tuttle Powerplate i wouldnt hesitate to do the same with Powerbox. As others have stated make sure to leash it.
I do leash the Power Plate on my Florida unmodified L6 formula board. A couple feet of kite line works great, and there is a hole to tie the line to the plate without it interfering with the bottom fit. Leashing may not be necessary with that board, but it is cheap insurance.
In any case, regardless of finbox type, running aground at speed is really hard on gear. Stuff breaks. Ouch. For inshore estuaries in Florida the water is shallow everywhere. I use a 24" mast there and foil only during high tides. If I sail in the fresh water lakes, the water is deeper, and I can use a 36" mast.
Will anybody in Australia get the new Neil Pryde Glide Wind soon, and use it on a powerbox board?
There is another thread on here i think where the NP Glide has been discussed. I have one and I love it. I wanted to give foiling a go buy wasn't too keen on the expense of a new board. The NP Glide was very attractive because being a powerbox fitting i could use it on my existing boards. I have used it on an RRD firestorm111L and JP supersport 118L. If you are worried about killing your beloved board just get yourself an old freeride board 110 to 120L for a few hundred bucks and go crazy. If you don't run into a reef or crash into a sandbar you are not going to have any problems in my opinion.
Thanks. Gonewindsurfing247 has experience with the powerbox. Please keep posting your experiences here, dude.
So, the NP Glide Wind and RRD WH Flight Alu 85 and Power Plate for Slingshot, and maybe some others, come with powerbox.
I would like to collect everybody's experiences here to see how it goes. There is a lot of angst about foiling with the powerbox. Maybe the angst is overblown.
I am considering getting a NP Glide Wind Medium (I weigh 88 kg) to mount onto a Starboard AtomIQ. I already foil with AFS-2 on a formula board. The Glide might be a good teaching foil since it is supposed to fly easily and at low speeds. Will the powerbox hold up?
Thanks in advance.
