New video…
https://vimeo.com/59827580
One thing Ive learnt from this camera POV is that it doesn’t show enough. But I think you can see that it lifts and its moving fast.
a bit about the hydrofoil design…
Currently I see the overall shape as being in 2 parts, the central length and width provides the area required to plane as quickly as possible. and the side ‘wings’ are for riding on the wave wall.
The front shape of the foil controls how smoothly it enters turns and how easy it is to control overall.
A wide foil is stable but also puts a lot of flex on the struts which leads to erratic handling.
I like rounding off the front and back and any side protrusions so its a little safer to ride.
Balancing the foil comes from the back, with the last rectangular foil is was too stiff to roll from rail to rail, so I’m moving the ‘wings’ that give it stability towards the back.
The wider planing area in the front of the last foil also pointed the nose away from the wave so I had to ride is skewed a bit.
I consider the outline shape as a set of curves that control where the planing area is to be most effective… should it be increasing towards the tail ? Or reducing as it extends out to the side ?
Theres also the difference in how the first flat foil rides Vs the complex Inverted V of the last aluminium foil… What effect did the turned down sides have for speed , turning and hold ? And are the angles too much or not enough ?
The complex 3 stage planing areas of the last foil (Yellow foil ) provided enough overall planing area to work well…but there wasn’t a smooth transition in lift, I felt I was riding either the centre or one of the side planing arms. The single piece foil provided smooth control in all angles but had little hold in the tube.
Riding the foils is a bit of a gravity drop much like on a standard bodyboard where it’s not possible to generate speed like on a surfboard, and I think there’s an opportunity to use more aggressive angles to create the maximum lift and drive.
with the last foil I needed to lean it over to get some grip on a steep face so I’m incorporating angled wing tips on the next model so when I move them on to shortboards they will be able to generate down the line speed.
With the possibility of using the foils on a shortboard soon, I’m not sure if I should try to make the foils ride like a shortboard or enhance the unique hydrofoil feel and ride. Or somewhere in the middle…?
I don’t think standard FCS plugs will have enough stability for hydrofoiling but I thought that XXL fcs - style plugs could be retrofitted onto just about any thing that floats so there no need for a purpose built board.
just thinking…