Kite surfing with foil boards

[Spartan]

 

 

Looks like this new craze of kite foil boards is here to stay, especially with the racing  fraternity.

they are gets some crazy speeds and you can kite from 6- 7knts of wind +

i think I might give it a try..

[igeighty]

Awesome, and a great video. It doesn't hide the fact you will have a few stacks at first. It will be interesting to see where this will be in 5 years once the equipment evolves.

5 stars

[.Joel]

Probably the best tutorial series for foilboarding I've seen online!

[Spartan]

This would have to be the easiest foil set up for a beginner, I think. 

What a great design by NORTH kites

Edited July 15, 2015 by Spartan

[Spartan]

[KiteStyle]

Hey Spartan,

I've been doing a lot of research, as soon as some gear sells (record decks / vinyl collection I've been hoarding for 15 years, old kite gear etc) then I'm going to buy one.

Personally I would avoid the LF - too slow and a fundamentally unsuitable board, no nose rocker and sinky. There are faster wings being made in WA, however that's polishing a pig to some degree.

The north costs a mint and has as many cons as pros. Didn't rate will in the french magazine group test. 

If you're wanting something reasonably priced, the 2 standouts are the Zeeko alloy foil with "pocket" board. You can order these seperately from http://zeeko-kites.com/fr/49-foil-series and sneak both bits under the $1000 gst mark - so total cost around $1750. Waiting for real world tests now, however it scored highly in french mag group test for what it's worth.

 

 

The other contender is the Alpinefoil Access 5.0. It's a little pricier at more like $2,500 in your hands. Pros are carbon wings rather than G10, faster (32.9 kts claimed top) and a faster upgrade wing available. Possible more stable wings as it has rolled tips. Board is more race oriented and has mounting for velocitek speed puck. Cons are carbon wings, relies on 'galvanic isolator' between aluminium fuselage so as not to rot.

http://www.alpinefoil.com/pages-hydrofoil-kite-foil/kitefoil/kitefoil-alpinefoil-5-0.html

 

 

 

[Spartan]

I didnt think Foiling  would be any good out in the surf but ive be shown to be wrong 

 

http://youtu.be/HEWEOCnxxr4

 

 

The original Foilers, this is nothing new folks.

 

Edited July 15, 2015 by Spartan

[KiteStyle]

Horue make stunning vids. Their freestyle/surf foil is super light and actually pretty cheap for a full carbon board and foil - about $2200 I think from memory..

Definitely not a beginners foil though!

http://www.horue.fr/produits/h13/h13-lightweight-freestyle-foil

http://www.horue.fr/boards/caneri-pro-model

 

 

 

 

[nigel]

Some body put one of these foils on a kite powered cat.....Mmmmmm  Speed!!

[Spartan]

For only $2000 that's under half price of others for board and foil, nice color too.

BTW I'm not looking to break the sound barrier as I'm first  trying to get up on my feet and get the feel of the board, that will come later, they will be providing new bottom foils  for the speed Demons and as we progress and find our feet as a  beginner , the race foil wings are interchangeable and very affordable. 

I'm getting one ??

 

 

Edited July 25, 2015 by Spartan

[Jason]

For only $2000 that's under half price of others for board and foil, nice couloir too.

BTW I'm not looking to break the sound barrier as I'm first  trying to get up on my feet and get the feel of the board, that will come later, they will be providing new bottom foils  for the speed Demons and as we progress and find our feet as a  beginner , the race foil wings are interchangeable and very affordable. 

I'm getting one ??

 

 

No it's not half the price, there are other much better options at around the same price point.
The other ones that are double the price are full carbon units, not alloy.

 

[Spartan]

Yeah true it is all alloy ?

Edited July 25, 2015 by Spartan

[KiteStyle]

Spartan I agree with Jason - investigate your options don't just jump on the LF blindly - you seem to like LF as a company but their foil is not great.

There are photos of 2 broken LF wings floating round at the moment, only soft foam filler inside, not tough.

Mast section (profile) is crap compared to others (based on pic below), and takes on a lot of water, and has some corrosion issues. 

Re mast section - vs TKF:

http://imgur.com/naAoY2e

Board is heavy, sinky, and has no nose rocker. It's not a foil board.

Whole thing is slow & draggy, and after a month or two most owners want something faster. 

 It's not 'all alloy'  - have a look at adam1605 on seabreeze he'll make you an all-alloy foil for under $1000, which is cheaper, lighter and stronger than the LF one, identical shape, and you can stick it on any strong board, even a LF fish if you so desire.

Otherwise consider Sroka, Alpinefoil, Zeeko or the brand new Cabrinha which will be around the same money as LF, has a board with some nose rocker by the looks, and is otherwise identical. I've even been offered a new Slingshot with MHL carbon foil at $2500. Also in full carbon there's a spotz going for $2200 2nd hand, or a mk1 KFA for $1500.  Any of these would be a better spend of your hard-earned.. 

Edited July 27, 2015 by KiteStyle

[KiteStyle]

If you're dead set on a LF at least hold off a bit, I just saw this referring to them:

 

Just saw the new models at the dealer conference and they look awesome. Much more "partability" and customisation available. A new, higher performance model is coming in with a great price tag (just over 2k) and the entry model will be cheaper unlike a lot of products this year...

[SoutherlyBuster]

@KiteStyle, thanks for the detailed write-ups, a lot of hard earned knowledge there. So to educate the rest of us, you mentioned the LF board is not a foil board, what are the key characteristics of a foil board. I am guessing the importance of rocker is when you re-enter the board onto the water, without rocker, the only way to clear the nose (and prevent it from submarining) is to tilt the board up, but that powers up the foil to lift the board off the water again.

Regards,

Norman

[KiteStyle]

I think you've got it Norman. Beware my knowledge is only theoretical at this point - just been obsessed for a while.. biding my time  Reading a lot of translated french pages, they're all over foiling.

If you can foil well, I guess the board becomes relatively unimportant, but everyone still touches down sooner or later.. This guy in the vid below has been chopping an inch at a time off a standard twin tip. Somewhere in the middle you can see him waterstart straight up onto the foil. Although to be fair he's riding a pretty rare foil (stringyfoil) made for low speed glide.. 

For racers, boards are still evolving quickly. Front rocker with deep dual concaves (boat hull style), inverted rails, even wave piercing or scaled down moth hull looking boards are being tried.

For learners, nose rocker helps ride out stalls/kangaroo hopping without sinking nose & tumbling, but also I guess without needing radical changes of attitude. Board volume helps flotation which helps in-water board handling, getting up, low speed riding etc. Thicker rounded rails are safer to land on as well.

 

 

 

[SoutherlyBuster]

Thank KiteStyle. Those up-wind turns are amazing, I've tried them on my surf board, it slows down to a stand still before I can complete the turn.

[Northern Kites Australia]

Foiling is definetely the next phase of kite surfing (like the Thruster was for surfing back in 1980) and eventually it will dominate twin tips. I bet, over time twin tips will be used as a teaching aid in preparation for foiling, or for only freestyle comps. Foil boards will come down in price and that's when the masses will take to it like bees to honey.

But then again I think the "elixir" could be a cross over type foil, especially one that is bi-directional?

I should stop predicting

 

[philippe1387]

Horue produces the lightest and cheapest 100% carbon gear available on the market!

2kg for the board caneri pro model

1.4kg for the foil H13 (freestyle/wave)

2.2kg for the foil GP cruising (cruising/beginner, fiting on windfoil too!)

Enjoy!

 

 

[KiteStyle]

Hello Mr Caneri. Big respect for your insane foil skills, and your production crew does great work too. 

I would love a H13 / Caneri Pro combo - it's my dream '2nd foil' at the moment. 

 

[Spartan]

I wouldnt have believed it unless I'd seen it. Well now I've seen it,  2.5 - 5.5 knots 

 

 

[Spartan]

 New speed foils fom Liquid Force as they  promised will be delivered for 2016 

 

 

 

[KiteStyle]

 

Good info, ta. 

New foil & board look like a good step up. Pics don't match the plan & elevation drawings of the wings. Wonder which is accurate?

Will be good to see some more info emerge, materials, weight, top speed, etc. 

 

"rocket foil" is a bit funny considering it's the slowest foil you can buy. 

Edited August 16, 2015 by KiteStyle

[Spartan]

Liquidforce have now taken Foiling to the next level ?? 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 4, 2015 by Spartan

[KiteStyle]

Nice vid, thanks.

The Rocket fish looks much better than foil fish in every aspect. Even like the colour. 

They keep claiming it's very light - but it's a meaningless claim without releasing actual weight.

 

Happy foil - 3.5kgs board is ok, on par. "Ultra light weight" stretching it a bit. Horue's 2.2kg board is "ultra light weight".

Both have track/plate mounting systems - nice.

Both have longer fuselages - something a lot of FF users were crying out for, and even bodgying up their own. Plus a more forward position for the stabiliser if you want more responsive pitch control.

Carbon / high aspect upgrade - looks great - my only question is whether they're losing performance staying with the square fuselage section, which is a bit clunky.

Keen to see Aussie pricing on all these. - And of course full weights and real world max & cruising speeds.

 

Liquidforce have now taken Foiling to the next level ?? 

No, No they haven't. They've taken their foil offerings to the next level. Marketing slogans suck 

 

 

 

 

---

This bit was supposed to be a separate post, but somehow I put it together.. 

 

For the record I paid about 2k (FF / Rocket fish price) for a 2013 Spotz 1 carbon foil, spotz board, and race and General Purpose front wings. 

Should cruise over 20kts and top over 30kts. Weight around 6.5kgs complete I believe (TBC)

Edited October 7, 2015 by KiteStyle