I’ve spent the last few months with the odd hour here and there, building a prone board that can take my faux drive inside but also be removed and replaced with a light weight block of shaped xps to take the void and used as a normal prone board.
I’ve been out on it 3 times now and can report it is a success which is a massive relief!
I couldn’t have done it without the help of this forum and the members on here. Big thanks to Tim Setter, Jess, Ludwig and Hangloose in particular.
Some of the specs are:
Board - 5ft 6” by 18.5” 60L
Battery - 12s2p 21700 p45b cells.
ESC - Flycolor x-cross 160a
I’m not good enough yet to get up and ride and hold a GoPro stick but hopefully soon I can get some photos of it in action.
Hi @nekitesurfing, Am tempted to try a full board build like this at some point in the future. Did you buy this board blank from somewhere or is this your own shaping. Looks like CNC cut marks in the shaping? It looks really awesome. Do you have any stringers embedded in the board?
The box that takes the battery was built separately and is made of 10mm high density foam laminated with carbon fibre. This was then inserted into the board along with two 3mm thick carbon rods either side of it on the deck to act as strengthening beams across the void. The carbon lamination of the foil box also extends right past where the box is on the hull to provide strength. It is early days but no signs of weakness yet. I’ve been pumping the board without motor for a few sessions now.
they have patented a prone board design where the FD sits inside. I think they are too late to get that but whatever. Its on facebook ALex Aguera gofoil ceo.
Thanks. I took inspiration from @s9tim. There are still a good number of improvement that can be made. Weight being the biggest. If I went for a v2 version with a carbon mast, different motor, lighter lamination schedule and smaller hatch, it would be another kg lighter. I’m slowly working on putting a hatched version in my DW sup at the minute with a tiny motor. After that, a tow boogie! It never ends .
I’m planning out my first attempt at a faux drive build which will start off as an external box attached to the deck of my 6’4 85L midlength wing board. I’m 6ft 85kg, lots of wing experience in waves but zero prone foil.
Given your experience testing and building multiple systems, have you now got a favorite battery + motor + ESC + remote combo?
I had an initial plan, but I’ve read through a lot of builds on this forum which has made me less sure about the parts to buy. I’m leaning towards Flipsky VX3 remote, Flipsky 6384 waterproof motor, ESC TBD, battery 12s2p, housing TBD.
I’m very happy with the balance between weight and power of the 12s2p pack with p45b molicel cells.
I’ve stuck with the Maytech remote. I don’t love it but it works fine.
I’m using a mixture of Flycolor hv3 and castle phoenix escs. The later are more expensive but really good quality and give me confidence to push the board harder.
The integrated mast is a lovely upgrade.
I’ve had the most success out of the cheap aliexpress 6384 motor. It uses less amps when getting up and going than the Saite and flipsky. Having said that, @s9tim has been experimenting with other motor options with some very interesting results.
S9tim is at the very front of developments on the internal foil drive boards, efficient motors and mast integrations. I’m very much a follower.
