Hey guys,
Thanks for the kudos and tips.
This is a slingshot NF2 kitefoil. I can ride it with my kite and behind a boat without any trouble (although you do indeed have to pay constant attention or surprise stall, and I can't jibe yet). I'm 165lbs and start to foil at slow speeds below 10 knots on my kite.
I think the difficulty in riding comes from a new force balance on the board with the thruster at the bottom of the long mast creating a large pitch-up moment. This has to be counterbalanced by moving much farther forward on the board.
When kiting or foiling, force normally comes through your harness / handle located above the board, creating a pitch down moment that the foil may be tuned for.
So you're now accounting for the loss of the normal pitch down moment, and increased pitch up moment from the thruster, all by moving your CG.
I'm hoping increasing the angle of my tail adds more pitch down moment and solves this.
I don't think the size of the board is going to change much as the thruster has no problem getting the small board on plane and eventually I'll be able to stand up on it, almost can already.
Straps off are a great idea!
Unfortunately I don't know the currents, I would really like to know them. My 12gauge wire doesn't seem to get hot.
I think the plan will be just to go to full speed (14knots ish) and stop playing with the throttle.
I also think I need to cool the ESC, so my next rev will have a static water intake, which at speed, will generate enough pressure to run water up a tube and through the ESC.
Gawd I wish I lived closer to water.