So I decided my first board, a 125cm twin tip converted to hydrofoil board, was too small and too hard to ride. I has no rocker so every time I nose down it burried and I fell off. This makes it really hard to learn.
So the second board is also a twin tip, 150cm ish. I put 17cm of nose rocker in it and removed all the tail rocker. I can now catch about 50% of the touch downs, so this means I can do two or three touchdowns on one tack and keep going!!
The new board didn't have the right inserts to put foot straps on, so I figured I'd try it strapless for a few sessions to see how I like it. It's OK! I don't mind it. The only hard part is starting, but I kinda got the hang of that. Getting my feet into a comfortable position every time took a bit of practice, a few cm either way makes a lot of difference. Luckily I painted my board with stripes, so I know front foot on red stripe, back foot on green.
So anyone else wondering if strapless is worth it -- yes. Give it a go. I tore my foot tendons in the straps, and strapless isn't much different. But much safer.