Dave Daum - King's Foil (Basically perfect)

[APPST_Paddle]

I've been holding off making a review on a 5'8" 104L King's SUP Foil that Dave Daum made for me back in November to get a full range of conditions, a few different foils, etc. I also literally stepped on an oyster shell on the first session with it, so I was out of the water roughly 3 weeks while that healed (straight through my 4th/5th toes). Anyways, the whole experience was great, discussion on what exactly I was looking for, communications from Dave and his wife, etc.

Sizing: I'm 6' between 175-180 lbs typically, riding east coast mush/inlet waves, basically perfect for SUP foil.
Previous Board: 6'5" 115L JL Flying-V, great board to learn on, but 115L was too much to progress any further on.
I talked with Dave about sizing quite a bit, I wanted to keep some float for shorter period, inlet type bumps where some stability is needed. I tried in my progression down - a 95L wing board, it was fun once up, but just too tippy to be practical. We settled on 5'8" around 104L.

Construction: Perfect, carbon distributed through, solid box, no issues, very light. Weighed in around 13 lbs upon arrival.

Stability: It's a different shape than the JL, tucked in nose, but keeps the width. I've had no issues, honestly, I could have gone smaller probably, maybe like a 5'4" or so around 100L, but it's been extremely stable in all conditions.

Ride: Love it, the nose shape handles any sort of deeper dips/dives I might take. The length has come down to where I feel like I can make tighter turns/ that just weren't possible and it feels just all-around more agile. Dropping almost a foot and 10L will do that. Foil placement I've played around with a bit, but I feel like unlike the JL where I was almost always all the way forward (probably bc of the volume), dead center on this setup is typically best. I'm on a GL210 setup, I'm going to try the PNL and maybe check out the new GoFoil stuff soon.

Durability - I'm not easy on boards, and knock on wood, no issues so far.

Overall - if you are looking for a custom SUP foil sized to your specifications at a very reasonable price compared to the market, give Dave a call. Also, thanks to Califoilia for some tips on sizing/construction for Dave.

[red_tx]

APPST, Thanks for the write up.
More pics please
Include the bottom and butt views.
Thanks
-red

[PonoBill]

Great folks, and that looks like a great board.