AHD Compact91 Review

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Langdon
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webguy
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AHD Compact91 Review

Ducked out for a secret session yesterday afternoon on my new AHD Compact91. AHD has a US distributor now and their well regarded boards are available without worrying about delivery from Europe. Their boards are sandwich construction but built in a mold which reduces the amount of handwork necessary and the prices reflect that. The finish quality looks excellent and no shortcuts are apparent - ie pads, straps, graphics, non skid look excellent. website: https://foilandco.com/product/ahd-compact-foil-2/

While I think the 83 and 72 are more likely candidates for most foilers here, I was interested in the 91 because I was looking something that had could be more oriented to competition than my current Tillo Convertible. My skills and objectives have changed since ordering my Tillo back in 2019 (it took a while to be built and arrive). That Tillo was definitely an improvement in many ways over my first gen Tillo - a bit more durable, wider in the nose and tail. However, it's convertible design means that very subtle compromises were made vs a full on foil board. I would not have noticed those things in 2020 when I took delivery nor would they matter to most people here as they also make the board more user friendly for most beginner and intermediate foilers.

I wanted to get the AHD wet before an upcoming trip to FL and see how the footstrap and mast track positions were. First thing I noticed in setting up the board is the mast track is a bit shorter and ended a bit more forward than where I have the mast tack on the Tillo - generally about 105 cm from the front foil screw when using my IQFoil with the + fuselage. I was worried that it would be a problem but turned out not to be as I'll explain below.

The Compact 91 is notable for having a flat nose on top, flat and wide deck at the back straps and good but not overly done cutouts. It has a lot of volume (190l) which is more of a consequence of it's shape ( a lot more "board" at the back straps) than just bulking up to be floaty. Similar boards from other manufacturers have similar volumes.

On a day where not much wind was forecast (no dots on the NWS forecast), I decided to go to the LLSC and sail a SE breeze. The water has cooled a bit and there was a small dome effect so being close to the windward side was an advantage. I had an auspicious start - foiling off on the first puff as soon as I got off the beach. That's when I noticed the back straps are out, really far out. On most foil boards, the back straps will line up inside of the back screw on the front strap. More performance oriented boards might opt to line up even with that and some boards will actually line up just a touch to the outside. The AHD is a cm or 2 to the outside. The second thing I noticed was the water release was amazing. The Tillo is no slouch coming off the water but the AHD just glides and the volume and cutouts in the tail are very noticeable.

After getting things sorted - opened the back straps a bit - I started to get the confidence to stay in the back straps. I occassionally got 12-14 mph gusts and the board took off like a rocket. On a day where I saw maybe, maybe a single whitecap, I was impressed with how well the board went. It's definitely a locked and loaded feeling in the straps. Of course, when things get too hot, it's easy to put the back foot more inboard. I was able to sort out jibing pretty quickly and peeled off a few full foiling jibes. It is a wide board so it takes a big step across when jibing. I had been worried that the more forward mast base position would affect jibing but it doesn't.

What the more forward mast base does though is make the board much easier to heel to windward. The very flat deck at the back straps makes it super easy to control the heel of the board. As one gets more heel, the more forward mast base helps push the nose off the wind so you don't carve upwind. Suddenly, it all made sense. As well, the additional volume is invisible. I really couldn't tell it's there - you can't use the same matrix you use for conventional boards ie saying you should use X volume for Y weight.

It's not all peaches and cream. This board is intended to be ridden aggressively and I think, especially when using the back straps, would overwhelm an inexperienced foiler. The width is intended to control powerful sails and foils so if you aren't using those, it makes more sense to choose an 85ish cm board like the Compact83, Starboard Freefoil 150, Fanatic Stingray, etc. (or a really nice used Tillo Convertible Biggrin )

Details: AHD Compact91 218x91 192l 90cm OFO (30cm from tail) Claimed weight 8.9kg used HGO 8.0 and Starboard Millineum (1000) foil.

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moredownhaul
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Re: AHD Compact91 Review

Nice looking board. Is the board painted black between the Tuttle holes or is that some sort of reinforcement? Or is it flush mount?

Alan

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aeroegnr
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Re: AHD Compact91 Review

Really cool, doesn't look all that dissimilar from an IQFoil board, although just 4cm narrower and probably a bit less cash.

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webguy
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Re: AHD Compact91 Review
moredownhaul wrote:

Nice looking board. Is the board painted black between the Tuttle holes or is that some sort of reinforcement? Or is it flush mount?

Painted black. Should have mentioned that my IQ foil fit right in plus it sits flat in the top of the foil box so a lot less wedging going on than with a traditional tuttle box. The board's weight is concentrated in the back. Feels like they put the material where it matters.

aero, the flat back deck is a bit of a departure from the IQ plus it's just a touch wider. Otherwise, I would agree - it appears that the AHD is in the same class as the IQ ie setup for performance. I'm hoping that I increase my PBR by at least 0.1 kt. ie about a 10% increase in speed Lol

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aeroegnr
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Barrett
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Re: AHD Compact91 Review

Thanks for the test pilot report. Sounds awesome.

Barrett

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zaosan
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Joined: 02/07/2012 - 11:26
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Re: AHD Compact91 Review

Nice review William, although dimensionally the board/foil combination looks fearsome to me Smile

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Re: AHD Compact91 Review
zaosan wrote:

Nice review William, although dimensionally the board/foil combination looks fearsome to me Smile

Thanks for your response. The foil is actually fairly docile but for someone who is just freeriding, I think a 1200-1500 mid aspect wing is probably a little better and easier to ride. It probably takes just a bit more work to get off the water but doesn't hit a speed wall as soon and glides very, very well in lulls.

The board, I've found after some time on it, makes sense. It's designed to be sailed aggressively up and downwind and on lighter air reaches. I was concerned when ordering it that the back strap position so far out would be a problem but my feet feel very natural there and my upwind performance and angles have improved noticeably. My upwind angles now match better racers but, of course, their speed is still much higher since they can keep down more power. I'm still working on staying in the back straps powered up off wind because they generate so much power in even 11-12 kts at my size. At that point, I take my foot out and put it more in the middle. In that position, the board is very controllable and I've raced it with wind in the low to mid 20s (with a 7.0).

For someone who is more interested in freeriding, something a bit more narrow in the 83-86 cm range and maybe about 10 cm less at the back strap makes more sense since it will be easier to jibe (less far to step) and just as easy or even easier to get off the water.

For riding in our very light winds which are frequent here, this board makes an 7-10 kt day absolutely delightful, though. My angles and speed are a touch higher than a more freeride board and foil. However, I think that most people are perfectly suited by more freeride gear and not wrestling with a big 4 cam sail, etc. In other words, while I like my kit, unless someone is interested in the last 5% of performance, more freeride style gear is the way to go.

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