GEAR: CHOOSE THE STAB THAT OFFERS THE BEST BALANCE

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22 march 2023 0

The stab has a significant influence on the performance of your front wing, but reducing its size in extreme proportions can be counterproductive. The boss & shaper of GONG, L’Ours, deconstructs the idea that small stabs are bound to deliver performance boosts. In foiling, it’s all about balance.

Wing foiler : Patrice Guénolé, Boss & Shaper GONG, with a Lemon FSP Pro, HM 85 Mast and a Fluid LS plus Fluid H 42 Foil Set-up.

“I designed our foils with size indicators such as S, M, L or XL. This is what allows you to go from one range to another without getting lost because an L will always be an L, whatever the range. Easy.

It is the same for the stabs. A front wing L is calculated to work with a stab L. The entire architecture of our foils is calculated on these balances. If you deviate from these rules, you create aberrations of use. For instance, and this is a common mistake, mounting a small stab with a large front wing will make your set dive at high speed, which will force you to transfer your weight to the rear foot, it will accelerate until your center of gravity is too far back and create sudden instability and therefore a sudden fall.

The ironic part is that people who go for smaller stabs do it to go faster. Totally counterproductive. It’s like putting bicycle wheels on a Formula 1 car to improve your glide!!! In reality, there may be a gain in the middle of the speed range of your FW. But that comes with a loss in the low speed range and in the high range. I don’t know many people who always ride at the same speed and are happy with it.

Another ironic point: at GONG we are very focused on glide. Firstly because it’s my style. And because I find it looks good. So my stabs are already very small compared to the FWs. So beware of magic tales. A foil will go faster if it offers resistance to the power of the rig.”