Got a new  formula board - and want to adapt it for your needs?

When you buy a new or used formula board, it's seldom just plug-and-play. Here's some suggestions, how to keep occupied. Some of the points might be a little far out, while some points might be worth to consider.

Formula boards don't have a zillion possibilities for placing the foot straps. But among the existing (few) possibilities for a start you can as well transfer the measurements that use to please you.

More about foot straps ...

Sooner or later the nose of the board shall lie under the sail. And then its almost inevitable that the anti-skid shall scratch the monofilm. That's why the  nose of this board has been sanded and spray lacked.

Formula sailors are dependent of exchange of precise information - also as to the placement of the mast foot. Measuring the distance from the stern to the mast track starts with a right-angle and a tape measure ...

... the distance of the mast track from the stern is measured and the figures are placed (so that they aren't covered by the mast base). Of course  "30", "35" and  "40" refer to  135cm, 135 cm and 140 cm from the stern.

If you are the type of person, who always lose the nut for the mast base, you can place it permanently in the mast track. Here the nut can't disappear from the track because of a little piece of EVA foam and some glue (contact adhesive).

If you have decided to mount a flap to the stern of the board, you just need a piece of a fin cover and a little epoxy. Please notice that it's a precision job, if you'll avoid turbulence.

Chicken straps most often are not delivered with the board. So if you want a chicken strap, you shall probably find one among your things. Until you are getting used to the board, a chicken strap might be good for your confidence.

If the board is delivered with a fin, it most often fits. But old fins must be adjusted. Some material (epoxy putty from Nautix) has been put on the head of the well used fin to the left. Needless to say, that it's easier to remove some material.

Every time an old fin shall be adjusted to a new board, you have to adjust the fin bolts too. And

in the end most often you shall buy new ones. That's not always easy, as the bolts shall be very long and made from acid proof, stainless steel.

Oh - and formula boards keep being shorter, and

if you wont buy a new, shorter board bag, you can instead shorten the old one. Here the board bag is fold up "inside itself" and kept in place by means of some strips. Primitive and ugly - but efficient.

Very often formula sailors discuss the rake of their fins - especially if the rakes are modified by the sailors themselves. Why not use the almost straight rail of a formula board as an opportunity to make a "measuring  device" for the long fins?

Here a Debo R16 turns out to have a rake of +6.