Wingfoil Stabilizer Tuning - A Complete Guide

A guide for adjusting your stabilizer, what to expect, and what adjustments to the way you ride for given changes.
Also some details on what a stabilizer does and some high level details on the physics behind it.
I've also added a cheeky little bonus section :)
Hope you find this useful!

[@davidstewart9982]

Interesting. In my world, we discuss an upward stabiliser position as increased pitch ( for the stabiliser) as opposed to the complete unit, for which you would term a negative effect. Some of my friends get confused until this is explained carefully

[@pubfixture]

Here's my simple-man derivation from your force diagrams: Drag equals stability (provided your riding in equilibrium, not stalling). And the farther forward you're riding on your board relative to the mast, the more drag there must be in the system. Want less drag and more response? Tune your set up to provide adequate lift for comfortable riding, while having your center-of-mass as close to directly over the mast as possible. It's a young sport. Maybe there will be adjustable front wings in the future... Newbs ride with drag, pros ride with glide. I'm a newb, but want to get better. Thanks for the vid! 🤙

[@PeteJonesF6]

That's a good summary :) Drag isn't all bad, and its possible to make things unnecessarily difficult.

[@simonm7776]

Nice one, Pete. Great videos you do.

[@PeteJonesF6]

Cheers Simon, great to hear :)

[@philiptuffs-wh7jp]

Found your content good . I am still new to wing foiling and use Armstrong kit with no shim on stab that gives max lift , have just bought a 70 fuse to help pitch stability but find even small movements it feels very loose . The stab is 232 with a ma foil any ideas on set up or me to calm things down .

[@PeteJonesF6]

Longer fuse, bigger stab or even a longer board may help. I'm not super familiar with the Armstrong kit, but it probably just takes practice. You could also try narrowing your foot stance so that your movements are less consequential. Hope this helps

[@franpinyol8500]

What is the effect of the stabilizer in pumping ? Any. configuration makes the foil easy to fly ?

[@PeteJonesF6]

In the extreme. No stab will be incredibly hard to pump, as the force you put in will tip the foil if it's even a tiny bit off balance. That said minimising drag is also important, so you'd need to find a good balance between the two I guess!