What is wind foiling? 12-most-frequently-asked-questions-answered Wind foiling, feeling able to fly The Foiling Revolution This Is Why I Started Wing Foiling -BEYOND THE REEF -The Early promise -Windsurf foiling and wing foiling: 5 differences between the two awesome activities. -The Best Places to Wing Foil in the United States -WingFoil Schools Worldwide -How to choose the right equipment for Wing Foiling (Beginner Version) -Choosing Your Wings: A Guide to Wing Foil Wimg Sizes -What Is Wing Foiling? -What is foiling anyway?
|
| What is wind foiling? |
 |
Whether it's The America's Cup, Kites, Windsurfers or Catamarans and Dinghies; its seems that the Hydrofoil has literally taken off in the sport of sailing, as craft of all shapes and sizes take to the skies.
We've teamed up with former Neilson Instructor and now UK based coach Sam Rossto find out more.
WHAT IS 'FOILING'
Foiling or Hydrofoiling is where a single or set of wings are attached below the bottom of any water based craft. These wings generate lift as you move forward and allow the boat or board to fly free of the water's surface with just the parts of the Hydrofoil still in the water.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF HYDROFOILING?
First of all, there is the feeling! With everything out of the water, everything goes silent. With no feedback from the surface of the water, you truly feel like you are flying. The feeling is best described as being closest to when you first get planing on a windsurf board and then some. This really does take it to another level.
The performance advantage comes from the wind you need (or lack of). When windsurfing you'd normally need over 10 knots to get planing and even then, you'd be using pretty big sails. With foiling, you can get flying in as little as 6 knots and you can use much smaller sails than you normally would.
In these conditions with most of the kit out of the water and drag massively reduced, you can convert even the smallest gusts of wind intoimpressive board and boat speeds.
WHAT STANDARD DO YOU NEED TO BE?
For windsurfing, the key element to foiling is being comfortable in your footstraps. This means you'll already have the skills of adjusting stance to the conditions, be comfy in the harness and you should have all the techniques you need to create flight.
With dinghy sailing, a Level 2 sailor who is happy sailing something like a Laser in a good breeze should be able to start foiling with no problems.
If you are happy blasting along in a straight line then maybe it's time to try flying along in a straight line.
To start with it's not the difficulty but the difference that needs getting used to. As you take off for the first time you're getting new types of feedback in an unfamiliar way. As you adjust, yourability quickly comes back to you as you learn that it's all the same techniques just used in different places.
WHAT KIT DO YOU NEED?
The foil itself is the key item, they come in a variety of sizes but the most important thing is that it matches your board.
Most foils fit boards through a specific type of fin box; a deep tuttle box. The tuttle box is commonly found on larger slalom, freeride and formula boards. They are usually pretty good for foiling as the increased width of a board gives you more control and higher volumes mean you can get out in the lightest winds.
You can get foil specific boards and foil ready boards. Here the fin boxes have been further re-enforced and have a large array of footstrap positions giving you multiple tuning options. You can even get foil only boards, which see super sharp rails and very flat decks designed around the idea you'll spend all your time above the water.
Any sail will do, although a few tuning tweaks may well need to be made especially when it comes to harness lines, which you tend to use on a much shorter setting when foiling. |
Source: Neilson Beach Clubs |
See more at source: Neilson Beach Clubs |
|
