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Zapple S
Zapple S: Next-Gen Trench Board for High-Performance Foiling
The Zapple S is Appletree’s next generation trench board, crafted specifically for advanced riders, smaller riders, and wave focused foilers seeking to push their performance in surf.
Inspired by the success of the original Zapple and developed alongside the new AppleSlice Prone, the Zapple S is a compact, ultra-responsive foilboard built exclusively in performance sizes.
Key Features
- Ultra-Thin Profile
Minimal thickness underfoot maximizes foil sensitivity and delivers razor-sharp turning performance. - Pulled-In Rails
Narrow rail profile increases control and forgiveness during high-speed turns and wave maneuvers. - Flat Central Rocker & Continuous Rail Rocker
The combination boosts speed and glide, while maintaining agility and clearance when foiling. - Light Deck Concave
A subtle concave improves comfort and enhances connection between rider and board. - Full Nose with V-Entry
Adds volume and helps smooth out touchdowns, deflect water, and support prone paddling. - Specialized “Signal Window”
A built-in signal window in the nose ensures seamless operation of Foil Drive systems without foam inserts — just plug in and ride. - Inserts as Standard
Comes with inserts for straps as standard. Offset options in the back, V in the front so you can precisely match your stance
Designed for a New Era of Foil Surfing
The Zapple S was born out of demand from advanced riders looking for a smaller, more responsive alternative to the original Zapple. A board better suited for foil-assisted takeoffs, tighter turning, and small foil control in steeper waves.
It’s not a beginner’s board and not intended for large foil setups. Instead, it excels when paired with a Foil Drive, offering the extra push needed to get going in waves — not flat water.
With its compact dimensions and high-performance DNA, the Zapple S is perfect for riders looking to explore radical new lines, ride otherwise unridable waves, and get more waves per session.
Fusion or Gen2
All our stock boards are standard compatible with the Gen2 Foil Drive system. For custom boards, you also have the option to make the board compatible with the new Foil Drive Fusion system!
The Fusion system has a bigger battery and it extends a bit further forward then the normal Gen2 Foil Drive. This means that the fusion will fit in the standard Zapple and Zapple S, but the foil will sit further back. While this will be ok for a lot of riders and foils, you might want to move the box forward a bit to find your perfect position.
To accommodate this, we will extend the recess/trench in the board with about 10cm, or about 4 inches, so there is room to move again. This can also be a good option if you feel the normal Zapple has the trench too far back, which can happen in combination with some foils.
We advise against adding this longer recess if you don’t need it. You will have a large open gap which will disturb waterflow significantly. So only order if you are going to use the Fusion system, or if you are absolutely sure you will need the extra space. Contact us for personal advise.
By adding Fusion compatibility, you will lose 1L of volume. We will not compensate for this, so keep this in mind when ordering the board.
FOIL CONSTRUCTION
50K CLOSED CELL FOAM
It all starts with the core and every board we make starts with a foam core of our very own 50K closed cell foam. This foam is formalized exclusively for us, it is not used in any other board in the market.
The foam can withstand 50.000 kg per square meter, while staying very light, and most of all very flexible. Another plus of our 50K foam is that it is closed cell, meaning that the foam will not take in water, and the board will not blow out when it gets hot.
100% CARBON FIBER CONSTRUCTION
All our foil boards are produced in our 100% carbon fiber construction. You want carbon fiber in a foil board for its stiffness and strength. A stiff board will give you the best control and response from the foil. Also stiffness will make pumping the foil much more effective. With carbon fiber we are able to make the board extremely strong while really light at the same time.
The most stress in a foil board is in the connection of the foil to the board. So this is where we put extra care and attention to make it the strongest connection available. The foil mount is CNC cut with the board, for the highest precision. We only use FUTURES oneshot boxes as they are the strongest in the industry. The boxes are placed in a panel of ultra high density PET honeycomb. This PET honeycomb itself is sandwiched in carbon again. Meaning there is carbon fiber both inside the board and outside. The honeycombs open structure ensures a solid connection between inside and outside, fusing everything together into a solid block.
Our lamination is completely different as well. We use a vacuum technique developed in house, where we layer all the carbon fiber, and reinforcements on the board dry. Then we extract all the air from the bag and inject the epoxy resin under pressure. This results in the tightest lamination possible, with the best ration between fiber and epoxy. It also gives 100% connection to the core so the boards do not delaminate. Extra patches under the feet prevent heel denting.
Inserts in our foil range are made from blocks of high density material. And can be customized position wise. These blocks are also fused to the core so they never pull out.
| Zapple S | Width | Thickness | Volume |
| 4’4” | 18.25” | 2’9” | 29,6L |
| 4’6” | 18.5” | 2’9” | 31,2L |
| 4’8” | 19.0” | 2’9” | 33,3L |
Michael –
Thought I would write you a fulsome review of the 33litre Zapple S. Hopefully this provides some good feedback for the Appletree team and future customers.
By way of comparison I have previously been foil driving on a 45litre Portal Enigma board (the same template as the Unifoil Quiver Killer). Using the Max battery and my Lift foils (the HAX150 – 980sqcm and the HA120 – 780sqcm).
I have used the Zapple S in three sessions. Two in the ocean waves and once in wind bumps. I have used both the HAX150 and the HA120 lift foils in these sessions.
My review so far from these initial sessions is that this board is a complete game changer for any intermediate and above foil driver wanting to take their abilities to the next level in both ocean wave surfing and down winding. This is my view due to the following reasons:
1.) the efficiency of the board on take off is far superior to that of a board without a trench, this in my view is not just due to drag of the battery casing in the water but also due to the weight of the battery sitting higher up in the vertical aspect of the board whereby the amount of weight bearing on the back of the board has been reduced when initially powering up, this helps dramatically in my view with takeoff planning as the board sits flatter and ploughs less through the water. One should consider that this might also be due to the smaller board size but I have used other friends’ smaller boards and felt the same ploughing affect on initial powered take offs. That’s not to say the Zapple S wont plough if you put your weight back too much when standing up, but you would really have to purposefully do it.
2.) the supperrior planning characteristics allow for a smaller board to be used as well as smaller foils. I have had no issue getting up, even into wind with the HA120 and will start to try the HA90 (which is a 590sqcm foil and see what the limitations are). Turning radius on cut backs and bottom turns, speed, not being over foiled in critical sections, and general hydrodynamic efficiency are all gains in this regard.
3.) the feeling under foot once on foil (and especially once on foil with the motor off and on a wave) is hands down a light speed jump to having true connected control to the foil. It is the first time I have not felt out of control on critical sections in the waves, the pitch control is like nothing I have felt before on foil drive. Granted when I am winging or para-winging on small boards the pitch control is still superior (due to weight under foot) but for a heavy lithium battery to be attached to your board with all the delay in reactivity I don’t think you get closer to a pure non battery feeling and reactivity. I think the word control is really the one resounding feeling I get from the board, it gives me the confidence to turn harder and hit more vertical sections of the wave.
4.) pumpability is a significant improvement, I managed to pump connect to my second wave yesterday for the first time and I am sure it had to do with the significantly improved swing weight and balance of the board with the higher battery placement (not to mention the easier quick and high cadence pumpability with a smaller foil).
5.) The remote connectivity was superb, not a single issue as long as the nose of the board was slightly out of the water when first initiating power to the motor. I also felt that with the less weight the power delivery and reactivity with the remote was quicker and more accurate.
6.) With the placement of the battery higher up, this also allows for a longer foil mast to be used, I have previously used a 80cm and 70cm mast length (the 70cm being a useful tool in practicing mast height management for efficient gliding). I will be trialing my 90cm mast going forward (without a trench board I have not tried it as the overall height would be too high). With the 90 cm mast and the smallest cable length I have this should give me c. 75cm to 80cm of uninterrupted mast length to play with, which will be incredibly useful on the bigger waves days.
7.) The board has a very intuitive feeling, so much so that I let Doug have a go on it and even though he has only been foil driving for less than 2 months, he got up on it straight away and started carving onto a wave. I think this also has to do with the Apple Slice outline with the slight higher width to length ratio in the outline which really helps with stability on take off and on foil.
8.) On foam density and glassing; even though the board weighs quite a lot for a 33litre board it feels incredibly stiff and rigid which I personally like. The Mako foam glassed boards I have used in the past feel too soft and springy for me. Maybe this has to do with the fact that those boards were designed to be prone boards (which is what prone foilers may be looking for) and not foil drive boards, but I really enjoyed the compact and dense feeling of the Zapple S paired with the battery placement.
In conclusion; my view on foiling is that it is one of those sports where it truly is a combination of skill, experience and getting the best possible equipment. In this regard I think Zapple S will accelerate my progression at a faster rate than if I stuck with my previous set up and it has at the same time given me a rejuvenated stoke to get on the lithium and go out in one foot surf, which is mostly down to the feeling underfoot and the excitement of uptick in the rate of progression that I feel I am achieving (perhaps this is actually not reality but certainly is what I am feeling).
The only downsides are a.) it is another board in my shed with already an overloaded amount of gear and b.) without the new bolt system it is a royal pain to set up and change battery. That being said it is well well worth it and I would advocate to Appletree to put this board into full production and get it out into the public’s hands, they have done a stella job on it!