well said, Jake. I didn't know about how they proportion the lift. Interesting.

Yes, Timbo, the boards stay down all the time. This is great because it keeps the boat like a normal racing catamaran with good tacking and gybing. I do move my weight around a little to get lift off or fine tune the flight attitude but it is pretty subtle.

When you are sailing 12 to 18 inches above the water, the waves really aren't a factor like they used to be. You can surf down the longer ones still on foils and the bows will sometimes cut into the back of a wave but generally pretty impossible to stick the main beam unless you sail in bigger conditions than I'd ever want to sail in.

In Miami we had some pretty big chop this year at Bacardi Cup that would hit the main beam on occasion upwind. Downwind that chop and the big gusts associated with it were a little unnerving to foil in, so I healed the boat up and skimmed along instead. The boat won't foil when it is not flat and this is handy for coming in from the wire for jibes too. In skimming mode the boat just kind of touches backs of waves but doesn't bury like it normally would. Not as fast but still quick. In fact, on one race I was getting tired and tried sitting in downwind without the boards back to be more conservative. The boat actually was harder to sail because it kept stuffing waves and getting water over the main beam. I was surprised but I guess the manufacturers and foiling advocates who said lifting boards could actually make the boat easier to sail were right.

It's amazing how little change in board rake is required to make them foil and how much your body weight changes things too. The boards move back a max of 2 inches or so. I usually pull them back half way or a little more light air. If I don't foil, then I go back to the back foot strap and just stay in that one rather than the forward one and that usually does the trick.