What you are doing is quite admirable, in my opinion. You are breaking trail, for others to follow.
Who knows, maybe I’ll try it and love it to bits.
I could even get involved with this 3D printing of fins/foils stuff.
How about using a 'foiling launch vehicle" attached to the surfboard with a quick release. You kite-foil-surf it into a big wave long before it breaks, then pull the quick release and surf the wave on a conventional surfboard.
Meanwhile, the kite-drone-foil keeps cruising along, maybe even coming towards you to give you a lift back out…controlled by a Raspberry Pi…
You’re killing me with this information but it’s also highly exciting. You have been more than helpful in the past so I take no offense if you can’t answer me but I figured I would try anyway. Where are you getting those metal gull wing brackets?
Monkstar1… What gullwing brackets ?
Bill, thanks for that. I’m just following on from when Terry Hendricks was starting to try my low aspect foils. He always used those wide high aspect foils but changed to something more like mine in his latest surf foils.
Making foils isn’t hard, this guys making them from pine with a few layers of glass and he’s a big guy.
Some cool shots of paddle foiling in smaller waves on the east coast
<img src=“https://i1.wp.com/asurferscomposition.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMGP2239-2.jpg?resize=1038%2C576” ?>
http://asurferscomposition.com/2017/04/24/monday-surf-re-cap-satellite-beach/
Monkstar1, they were made by a friend from 3mm Aluminium.
Lawless, those pics convey how it feels to ride foils in the surf, not all that shoulder hopping, but Foil like your Surfing. Fast, smooth, it’s not difficult to do on a normal board. No vest, no helmet, just a leggie.
This thread can be a design journal for my reference as well as other who might try making a foil.
I’ve tried simplifying and condensing the design because it uses less materials, less weight and it makes it more controllable.
I’m using a multi foil setup where once it lifts the height above the water is completely stable at that or any speed.
In an effort to make things simpler I’ve got that height down to 2 inches but it doesn’t look like your flying so I’m raising it up to 4 inches.
I also dropped the width of the foils to 16 inches and that’s overly stable, it’s a bit like a push bike in that with speed it gains stability. So I’m bringing the width in to 11 inches. Might be too slim and unstable but at least I’ll have leant something. I’ll test that tomorrow.
I have the design finalised but certain dimensions look better.
Are you now using one keel or multiple keels? Are you still focused on lateral foils? How are you mounting them to the board?
During your efforts to lower the ‘hovering height’ you must have had some experiences when it was too low, so the board touches the water much of the time. How does that go? Any chance for a ‘hybrid’ model that hovers when going more straight, but engages the boards rails when turning harder?
Monkstar1, I’ve PMed you.
MrMik, it’s a personal choice about height, some like to be seen to be flying so they stand out in the crowd, other don’t care but lowering does bring the rails into play based on the foiling height and the shape of the board in the back half. And even with the rails just touching the water they don’t really make any difference until they are more deeply engaged in the wave.
I’ve got foils on a standard shortboard and a Simmons-esque board and you can feel the rails work in a cutback on the low foil so a Hybrid is a reality.
With a foil you don’t need any conventional fins but on a Hybrid you could involve all sorts of rail fins.
Because of the athletic nature of the sport foils will be shorter, guys are already doing aerials on foils.
I was there when the guy in the pictures was surfing. Quite a spectacle. Also, Maybe I’m biased from following your thread here Surfoils, but he seemed too high up. Our waves are slow and not too powerful so he needed to do a lot of pumping to maintain engagement.
Yes Greg, the longer mast gives a certain look to foiling but takes away from the feel and balance, like standing on a chair on a surfboard. There’s a pause between what manufacturers have made and need to sell and what’s better, so inside a year it will all be on sub 2’ masts.
This isn’t me or mine in the pic but does this qualify as foiling ? It’s a 10 inch mast on this board and close to the Hybrid that MrMik was talking about.
And apparently Kai Lenny has just invented the hydrofoil bodyboard…?
This is a closely watched site and without a doubt it was observed world wide that surfoils was riding a hydrofoil bellyboard years ago, but the spin masters are giving all credit to the kid in the spotlight, just alternative facts is all, lol.
Greg,
I can’t comment on how it works for stand up foiling, I know the justification for such a long mast when kite foiling is the ability to lay over at an angle and not have your rail to the surface. But on a few occasions when I was using a 12 inch mast, in some small Florida surf I experienced missing waves as the power of the wave essentially passed between my foil and my board.
Surffoils,
My latest design is more or less a hybrid of your longer foils and my wider foils hoping to reap the benefits of both.
What I an glean from the ride description from the fellow in those photos is that he is limited by how quickly he can turn,
he can only do wide turns, which is good on a kite but maybe not so good in the surf
I have always tried to maintain a near zero turning radius for my main foil and tried to minimize how much tracking that is created by the tail sections, because I know especially in the smaller Florida surf that you have to be able to maneuver to where the power is, and that can change at any time.
Maybe that’s where the opportunity for advancement lies.
I have some alternate designs I communicated with Brett about that might change turn performance.
Secret Sauce? LOL…
Stoneburner (Bill Wurts), youre the one who has given me the best ideas about the surf hydrofoil design. I dont know how many emails weve exchanged over the years, but its a lot.
Youre the main contributor of science, conceptual design and essential Devils Advocate to temper my creativity.
You know how and why the foil design really works so I thank you for your constant collaboration and insight.
You told me a few years ago what the final configuration would be so looking back now I think you already knew and youve just led me to the design.
You already knew what would work but youve let me run around pretending I discovered it !!!
Theres zero chance of us ever meeting but thanks for all your help Bill. Youre a good man.
Many more years and ideas to come. Brett.
Hi Brett -
As you know, I’ve followed many of your ideas that you’ve posted here. I still consider you to be one of the true innovators in modern surfing.
A guy named Nels Norene used to post here once in awhile and he also had his own website… “Vagabondsurf”
‘Roger Wayland’ was occasionally profiled and was known to be a prolific down&dirty innovator. His boards were often completed seemingly on a moments notice and lacked some of the finished qualities so many expect but… holy cow, did he came up with some interesting stuff! Here is an example…
Hi John, Rod’n’tube has links to Vagabond… some of the work people do is just amazing like Nels and Sways here is loaded with creative thinkers and builders.
As best as I can measure it there’s a 6 year turnaround of reality on the internet.
Whatever happened today can be re-invented in 6 years and it’s accepted as truth.
Maybe because there so many Ad-men flogging their crap these days that no one really cares what they say…
One SUP forum Admin said there were plenty of pics of hydrofoil bodyboards on the net but no pics of people actually riding them so it wasn’t invented until Kai did. Some of the bullshit is too stupid to believe.
John, I think there’s a hidden vault of the most amazing surfcraft thats never seen the light of day or the Internet. Like a pristine barn find Brewer gun, some of the best creative work is yet to be discovered or yet to be invented.
Hey Mr. Burner, don’t bogart that sauce my friend !!!