I’m working through a prototype board made of high density polystyrene foam that can be easily shaped with a nichrome wire cutter and a little sanding. I’ll admit it’s a copy of lift and flight boards but functional and fit for purpose. I’m just trying to ditch the pelican case strapped to a surfboard set up. Does anyone know where to buy mast mounting rails boxes or have a solid 3D printed design they would like to share? The last one I hacked out of a dammaged liquid force board but doubt I’ll find another to use as a donor. Also, I’m working on a waterproof connector design to permit a waterproof electrical connection at the mast/board interface so that I don’t have to haul around the complete set up all the time. So… Does anyone have any idea of how to scientifically determine how far forwards to mount the mast box? I love hanging out on nose of my board while cruising, but it’s not really conducive of carving all that well (I. E. I’d prefer to carve off the back foot).
HEy tunnelvision.
I would use deep tuttle boxes for the mast… Used by a lot of foil brands… If you need 3D Data of the deep tuttle and can`t find it …email us;-)
The standard spacing is 90mm center to center. Houston kiteboarding sells extra T nuts that slide into the track.
For a normal surfboard the mast gets mounted close to directly under your rear foot. On a efoil you end up riding further forward to counteract the pitch up tendency from the thrust being mounted so far below the board.
Many thanks for the recommendation. I think I have a design concept that will enable anyone to 3D print their own mast box (DIY Deep Tuttle Box) as well as eliminate the need to transport around full set-up. This concept will enable riders to simply unscrew the mast from the board and transport them separately. I will share the concept with the group once I’ve printed a functional working prototype.
Ride Engine sell a mounting that you can glass into a board. The fin boxes need to be in high density foam for strength.
Here’s the mounting that they sell:
Hey guys, I’m just going to make my own tuttle box. That way I can integrate my plug and play electronic mast connections and not have to haul the full set up fully assembled everywhere I go.
Theres a photo of the concept under the “waterproof connectors” thread.
Where do you put the mast on the board, position from the aft of the board?
This would of course depends on what type of hydrofoil, wing area etc. Also the type of board and volume of it matters.
I heard that the center of gravity is the leading edge of the front wing. So in general you want that to be center of where you standing.
I will try my Moses Vorace Kite HF, it´s more to the high/medium aspect end. I think it would need a little more speed to lift than some of the builds I´ve seen.
if anyone needs a high density foam insert and mounts I cnc cut these myself and make for a nice easy install with the standard 90mm spacing. The benefit of the plate design over the tuttle box is that you can easily adjust the angle between the foil and the board to allow you to get things feeling exactly right along with being able to adjust back and forth too.
@charlieuk do you sell pre-cut high density foam inserts via your website?
If yes, they do not show up in your store. Only the shim plates and the takuma foil are displayed there.
How realistic would it be to have a quick release system like this? It would make transportation easier, just not sure how to keep the wires from moving to much. Or even a hinge system?
@Hiorth I see that you added a carbon plate on the bottom of the board too. What thickness was the carbon plate and did you epoxy the plate to the board. Any other details would be appreciated. Thanks for your help
This is how I mount it. The aluminium rails are only there to distibute the load. They will be epoxyed in with some fibreglass. The mast head is going to be mounted through holes inside the rails. There will be 10 holes in total, so 3 positions. I will not use the slots on the rails for anything, they are not very strong. I use through bolts andI only use them because I have them.
We added a carbon plate with epoxy and one layer of fiberglass, and vacuum bagged it onto the board, this is probably a bit overkill but it holds up! If you build a board from scratch, a different approach would make sense.
But this is how we did the windsurfboard mount:
Carbon plate on the bottom. m6 threaded rods with big washers and nuts on each side of the board, these where glued and tightened before the glue was dry (not getting those out again!). Then we added some more glue/fiberglass to make sure there where no leaks. The foil is then mounted with nuts on the threaded rods coming out of the board. Not super clean, but it is super sturdy, and it will not fail. I looked at some double sided tape mount, but I do not think it will be strong enough in the long run (but I might be wrong) and I like to be on the safe side, would really suck to loose the entire propulsion unit
