Last weekend we had our first Downwind Foil Gathering at Old Princeton Landing. Awesome turn out, so stoked to see so many familiar faces all in one place!
Below is my YouTube video as well as Denton’s video, and slow motion videos of the experts paddling up onto foil.
In this video series I explain how popular foil brands are designed and built and why it matters. How the hydrofoil wings connect to the fuselage and the mast, whether in components or one single piece, I go over the components and design choices and the pluses and minuses. Several times I was an early adopter of a new foil and learned the expensive way whether the marketing why hype or the real deal. The brands I discuss are F-One, Axis, Armstrong, Slingshot, and Mike's Lab. This knowledge can be applied to any brand of foil. For clarity this isn't a detailed review of a specific foil wing or model (see my Foil Reviews page for detailed reviews). This information helps one know what they are getting so they can determine the true value of a hydrofoil, it's durability and longevity, and what the upgrade options are.
The point of this video series is to give you an overall understanding of why foil designers do what they do. I didn't have a clue when I bought my first foil, it was all a big mystery. Every new brand of foil I purchased had a new learning curve of how the parts fit together, function, and the longevity and durability.
I surf foiled the F-one SK8 850 foil. I was mostly testing to see how it handled wing tip piercing the surface, and how it performed in head high plus long period swell.
In this video I show what happens when the wing tip comes out, and compare the SK8 ride characteristics to the F-one Eagle, Seven Seas, and Phantom foils.
Also there are additional videos of a short wing foil session speed test, and another surf session in small gutless surf.
A mythical tale of the far far away land of Oussa with Sorcerers, Wizards, Lords, Emperors, LyeRhus, Merkins and more.
The yarn is spun in this video, with images of strange flying creatures.
Flying hither and yawn these winged ones move with the wind.
Some say they pose a grave danger others believe them to be lovable and harmless friends.
What are they really and how will the Merkins respond:
In this video series I show and explain tips and drills to learn to jibe on a wing foil board. When I was learning riding toe side felt very foreign, and so I go in to detail how to get the feel needed to complete a jibe. I show and explain how to work on the parts of the jibe so we can put the pieces together and have success. There are 11 videos in this series.
I hand shaped and glassed a hydrofoil wing out of a piece of wood and mounted it to an Axis fuselage for $20. This is a beginner friendly foil wing shape, designed for someone who has never foiled. Cheap, simple, and hopefully durable. The only challenge was deciding how thick to make the profile wing shape, I started really thick and worked my way down to a shape that is very forgiving and user friendly. I am stoked and feeling very proud and empowered, I can now make my own foils and I have lots of ideas for future builds!
There are 11 videos in this tutorial series. Cutting the outline shape, cutting the fuselage hole, shaping the profile of the foil, laminating, vac bagging, drilling and fitting for the fuse bolt holes, more shaping, even more shaping, laminating and vac bagging again, sanding, showing the finished foil shape in detail, and a ride test video.
