Hi All,
So got my DIY efoil going and gave it a first test. All the motor ESC and things seems to work good. On an inflatable 145l board with NSP 2500 front wing and 80cm mast. I mounted the motor most of the way down so prop about 5cm clear of fueselage.
Have done about a dozen days tow foiling behind a boat and got quite confident. Can get straight on foil and starting to practice crossing the wake. The differnt tow line loads every time you turn made me think of going efoil.
So the problem is now I have gone from the thrust being a tow line at say hip height to a pusher prop at the bottom of the mast. The board just wanted to wheelie and I couldnt get enough weight forward to easily get it on foil. Normally stand where the foot straps would, Now ended up with feet infront of the straps and had to learn hard forward to keep the nose down. Eneded up with so much load on my front foot once on foil was really unstable. (I had this when I started with the tow foiling but moved mast back and balance is perfect. Currently hard back in the track)
Standing so far forward on the board just seems wrong. Should I move the motor up the mast so less leverage ? Should I cut the mast down to make shorter? Should the motor be angled up slightly ?
The best result I had was with the remote in the low setting. The thrust come on softer so gave me more chance to get on foil. Once on foil was fairly much full throttle most of the time.
Maybe just something I have to get used to. Cant move the mast back any more.
Any tips appreciated.
Cheers
Well front foil is really big for efoil so that might be part of the problem.
What prop are you using?
Yeah it is big, Im 100kg plus gear. It works well tow foiling. I do need to look at getting a smaller foil but thats another topic. Seems NSP not so popular these days so maybe need to go another route.
I was thinking about that. A smaller foil will be less drag which is below the thrust line so maybe only make it worse? Would have to be going faster to foil also so would need more thrust maybe? Maybe a whole heap of dynamics Im not thinkng about.
Not sure how big a difference moving it up the mast say 3" would make? I would have to cut new holes in the mast for the cables so trying to work out if its going to make any notable difference.
Cheers
Best way to get help here is to supply the readers with facts including photos.
The prop can make a big difference but still don’t know what you’re using.
Lots of people perhaps bigger than you EFoil on smaller foils - imo moving the motor up won’t solve anything.
Sorry forgot to add the prop details. Currently got the 162mm folding with the prop guard. Thought that might be a safe option.
Also got the 3 bladed white one from flipsky but not tried.
Yeah want to get a smaller foil. Just not sure what brand to commit to. Not sure what future there is in NSP.
Couple of pics attached.
Tow foiling with this setup balanced well. Feet where the foot straps bolt holes are (Not installed) and slightly more pressure on back foot.
Just the change from thrust going from above the center of mass to below has totally changed things. Maybe not surprising.
I might be able to get out again on the weekend and try again.
Actually another change is the weight of the motor and batteries, esc box which is all at the back. Maybe another 6-8 kgs right at the back.
Pitty I have run out of room on the mast track. Just feels like it needs to go back another couple of inches.
Cheers
It is normal that extra weight is needed on the front foot to leverage the motor thrust. Moving the motor higher on the mast will reduce this swing but then it is not an efoil anymore. I learned to foil on reduced throttle to counter this issue. Only use full throttle to lift off.
Might try to put some shims on the stab too.
Looking at the photos, it looks like the prop guard pointed downwards?