I bought a used series 1 flite board from a freind after he decided to upgrade several years ago. This 5 foot, 67 L board flosts me fine for my size 5’10" 220.
Everyones opinion is valid because its based on their own personal experience and unfortunately it also includes infomation from other sources without actually testing it.
In my opinion the board is only a part of the equation, foilers fly the wings not the board!!! Wings are by far the single biggest variable in the efoil equation.
The second biggest variable is the water you will be flying on. Flat water is great for testing and evaluating different wings, boards and shims. The stable conditions allow for repeatable testing, and this leads to predictable riding conditions.
I am fortunate to live on a barrier island with a river on one side and the Atlantic ocean on the other side. When i first got my flite pro, I had an explorer battery, a cruiser 1100 wing and a 290 stabiler with a fixed prop. My first 50 hours were spent on the river practicing drills and manuvers. I practiced high spead and low speed runs, fgure eights and trying to perfect my height control in and out of turns. This allowed me to control my breaches and touch downs. I got good at all these skills but NEVER felt like I could out ride my board.
I then began using a flow 1300s wing and i had to relearn most of my basic skills. My mussel memory was based on the 1100 wing and the 1300 flow s was dramatically different. The board and mast was the same, but the wing is what was defining the foil ride. At 75 hours i bought a true gluide and began the process of power off gliding. I would practice in the river and play in the ocean. The experience of mastering high speed approaches in to a turn and minimizing a tight 180 turn radius was a very crucial skill for swell and wave riding.
Learning to ride waves required another equipment change. I abandoned the trueglide prop because i did not see the performance i was expecting and i switched to a folding prop. It was significantly better for my gliding and the perforance losses based on the prop efficiency was not an issue for low/ medium speed wave riding. My final upgrade was switching to a huge 1500 cruiser jet wing and a 300 stabiler… This is the configuration i have been using for the last year. It flys great in flat water and in soupy chop, it provides the glide that is needed for the 30 second plus power off wave rides. My time spent on the river banging out hundreds of tight turns allowed my to become fairly proficient at being able to carve while riding a wave. When conditions are perfect i feel like a pro but the wave and swells are constantly changing, and the rips, tides and winds can all impact a ride and humble me instantly in to recognizing i can not out ride my board ( this is why years later i am still stoked about efoiling).
I have a 1100 cruser, 1300 flow S, 800 flyer, and a 1500 cruiser jet wing. MY STABILERS are 245, 290, and 300.
I have a fixed prop, trueglide and folding prop. All of these items were used on a 5 foot 67L seies 1 flite pro.
II am currently making modification to my series 1 board to able to use my series 4 mast. I plan on getting a ultra board, but understand that there is a very big learning curve while trying to get up in choppy ocean swells. I surf with people who have very different opions and some choose the pro and others choose the ultra, i cant comment on this because i do not have enough experience using the ultra in challenging surf. Used boards are easy and inexpensive to come by so i will be getting a ultra and using my new mast assembly to begin testing my current wing sets to figure out what works for me.
The flite MN and L2 are geting really good reviews for their performance, but have seen some issues with the carbon fiber mast. I believe these boards should only be considered by riders who have made novice mistakes that are inevitable.
Check out my rides on the community flite app, md_eady
Daytona beach, Florida
Used Series 1 parts available , flite box, hand controllers, trueglide prop, esc unit and motor.and nuegart gear box.