Foiling the thickness of your board by layering the foam, is an art form that takes time to learn. Making sure you get it just right for the weight of the surfer is all important. Let’s face it we all like a blade through the tail so it will sit well in the tube and not float around…

Back in the early 70s I concentrated on getting the tail foiled finely almost like a flex tail without the flex, then 2 x 6oz glass on deck and one on the bottom kept it strong and of course the flex tails did just that, extended the foil through the tail. It helped acceleration, drive out of turns and whips off the top. Shaping them was fun, we would start with a machine plane then go right down into a 6″ hand plane till we got it right.

Some boards were nearly 3″ thick in the middle with a rolled deck and down rails and this blade of a tail, weighed a ton and went like a rocket!! How things have changed to even thickness, hard squared off rails and tucked under edge through tail.

Recently I have surfed with a fellow KB rider, he was on a 5’10” five finner quite chunky through tail with a razor edge. He was 6’2″ and surfed the board very well. I was on a 6’2″ Freak tri-fin very foiled through the tail it flys and I’m 5’9″ so his worked for him and mine worked for me, everything has its place.

So now you have an evenly foiled tail, tucked under hard edge with light strong materials the foil gives you release through fins, your rails, and your tail. Love that foiling feeling, nothing like it!!