Choose the Correct Motor Length for your Gen2 Foil DriveUpdated 11 days ago

Foil Drive Gen2 Systems require you to select a Motor when ordering. There are 5 different options that this article will outline, each with different pro's and con's depending on how you wish to use your Foil Drive.

The beauty of the Gen2 Foil Drive systems is that the Motor is interchangeable. This means you can have a shorter length for assisted foiling in the surf, and a second motor for Flatwater Foildriving! You may also want to take a look into our video down below to help you in your decision making.

What is a Gen2 Motor System and why are there different positions?

The motor mounting position is a personal rider preference and can differ between disciplines of foiling. Foil Drive motors should be considered like a quiver allowing you to customise or fine tune your set up to how you want to ride.

With the Gen2 Motor Plug this allows modularity with quick and simple connection between your Foil Drive unit and your Gen2 Motors or integrated mast enabling the ultimate flexibility.

What Motors are available?

- 70cm (27.5 inches)
- 60cm (23.5 inches)
- 25cm (10 inches)
- 20cm (8 inches)
- 15cm (6 inches)

Which motor should you chose?

It's important to note that there is some personal preference at play when it comes to motor height. We can, however, give you some information on what each height is ideal for, as well as some real life, rider examples! You'll notice some if the lengths paired together, this is because they have a similar use case, take into account different variables.

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70cm and 60cm
These two are the longest of our available motors and are designed for Flatwater Foildriving where you place the motor down, near the fuselage, and intent to be powered constantly, similar to "efoiling". The reason there are two lengths is to take into consideration different mast heights. If you have a 70cm mast, you'll need the 60cm cable, and if you have a longer mast (80cm+), you'll need the 70cm cable. 

Note: When selecting the extreme lengths (shortest and longest) it is important to allow 10-15cm of clearance for the propellers. For example, if mounting close to the fuse, the middle of the motor pod should sit 10cm above the fuselage. When mounting near your board, the middle of the motor pod should not sit any higher than 10cm away from your board.

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25cm
The 25cm cable is designed as an in-between, hybrid motor position. Perfect for learners who want to limit how higher above the water they can fly, or those wanted to enjoy both foildirving on flatwater, and catching waves. The motor remains low enough that it stays in the water on small swell, giving you the option to motor the whole time, or start to lift up and feel the power of the swell alone. Eventually, you may chose to shorten this length once you feel comfortable with the motor exiting the water. This length is also ideal those who like to turn their location into a skate park, enjoying flatwater foildriving, then peeling onto a boat wake or swell!

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20cm and 15cm

While these lengths seem similar, you'll certainly know the difference! Designed for assisted foiling where you only use the motor to get on foil, then want it to exit the water for drag free flying, these motor heights draw the most discussion.

First off, when would you want the motor to exit the water in this assisted foiling style? Foiling disciplines like surfing, downwinding, wake foiling, pumping and winging. Let's look into each discipline and compare the 20cm and 15cm.

20 cm is just an around good length. It provides the best of both worlds when it comes to powered and non powered operation when reflecting on the disciplines below. If your a more advanced foiler OR your more excited about about just using your FD system in assist mode ( only using it to get on foil) and your desire is to have maximum free mast the 15 cm can really be a good choice.  It does make hybrid foiling in choppy water more difficult as the distance from the board to the water is a lot closer but you can still do it. Using a 3 blade prop setup definitely helps maintain thrust and grip on the water with the 15cm motor position.

A. Surf - 15, 20 ,25

B. Downwind -15, 20
C. Wake - 20, 25
D. Flatwater Pumping - 20
E. Winging (AKA Wind Ding or Wind Wing) - 15, 20 

 Other Considerations
Three Blade vs Two Blade Propellers
You get more thrust and grip on the water from the 3 BP and it can give you a big performance boos when it comes to torque getting out of the water and onto foil  but you loose a bit of top end speed. lightweight weight riders may find the 3 Blade Propeller Hub unnecessary and even too powerful but 2 BP is a good allrounder.

Integrated Masts 

the real main advantages of this is it give you the smoothest ride and least possible drag when your pod is going in and out of the water.  At the higher motor position like 15 cm it can also help reduce prop cavitation and increase propeller thrust and grip on the water as the integrated mast has awesome hydrodynamics. 

its also awesome to be able to join / bolt the mast to the Gen 2 box and treat the 2 items as a single piece making installing it on your board as simple as 4 x m8 bolts. 
 

FAQ
If I have an existing Gen1 Motor or Integrated Mast, can it be converted?
Please check out this video from Paul on Gen1 to Gen2: CLICK HERE

Do I need to tape the whole cable to the mast?
Yes! While it may not seem necessary, leaving part of the cable exposed, or not spending the time to do the job well, can result in significant increase in drag! We highly recommend taping from where the cable comes out of the motor, all the way up your mast to the other end. It's also important to make sure the end of the tape faces the same direction as the water flow, otherwise you risk the tape peeling off.

Needing to add a second Gen2 Motor to your cart, click here!

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That's it, you're all done! Don't forget to sign off, link to the main help centre (Open in new tab) and drop in the [email protected] for any more questions on the topic! You might also link relevant articles before you sign off too!

To learn more, check out the other articles on our Help Centre which can be found under the 'Support' tab on the website.

As always, if you have any questions, please reach out to us at [email protected]. 

Happy Foil Driving!