DIY Wood Foil Wing Build – A Front Hydrofoil Made Out of Wood for Axis Fuselage

DIY Wood Foil WingI 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.


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Wing Luffing While Foil Surfing Waves and Riding Bumps

How to control and manage a wing while wing foil surfing waves or riding bumps downwind.  When only holding the wing with one hand it can drop and twirl and flip and spin, this video series focuses on why this happens and what to do about it.  Five videos in this series:  why the wing moves around, strategies to control the wing, what the best wing foilers do in waves at Fort Point, managing the wing on tanker waves, and managing the wing when riding bumps downwind.


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How to Make a Waterproof Wing Foil Board – Video Tutorial from Start to Finish

How to Build a Waterproof Wing Foil BoardGo ahead ding my board, it's waterproof and will be fine.  I used to be afraid of dinging a board and would never let anyone borrow my super fragile glass encased sponge.  I have seen the proof that waterproof boards don't soak up water and last for years.  I am sold on the concept so I made myself two boards.  Did I mention these waterproof boards weigh less than any of my EPS boards?  What's the catch?  Well, I had to make it myself.  Considering how much I have learned it seems like a good catch.

This page shows the process of making a wing foil board from start to finish.  Almost nine hours of video edited down to about two hours of video showing the entire build process and me explaining every step including making the vacuum bag.  Also a list of the parts and materials and where to get them.  This is not meant to be a master shaper or perfect build tutorial, my intent is to simplify the build and make building a board more accessible to anyone.  I left all the imperfections and some rough edges as a proof of concept that a wing foil board can work well with a less than perfect finish.  I also used plant cloth and plant based resin, it is important to me to continue moving towards 100% non toxic materials.

First video is a 5 minute fast time lapse of the entire build.  Then videos showing: making the blank, shaping the blank, installing the boxes handle and leash plugs, making and setting up the vacuum bag, laminating the top and bottom and vacuum bagging, opening the boxes, sanding, and installing the deck pad.  Then a list of parts and materials. I also talk about possible delamination of waterproof foam and the solution we came up with.
Here is shorter preview I uploaded to YouTube.
18 videos in this series.


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Lightweight Waterproof Foil Boards – A Step Towards Sustainability

We built waterproof boards.  Mine came in 4 pounds lighter than my eps board of similar size and volume.  The swing weight is night and day difference, felt way more maneuverable, turns felt much quicker especially rail to rail.  With waterproof foam dings aren't a problem, as in they don't suck up water and get heavy and cause the boxes to delaminate and fail, this has been the issue with many of my eps foil boards.  Ding free means less material and resin to seal the board.  Water ingress isn't an issue, pin holes don't matter.  Jeff Clark made a prototype 2 years ago, and even with many dings it has not gained weight.  I tested it for several months and was very impressed with the potential.


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Foil Reviews – Honest Feedback on Hydrofoils from Popular Brands

Foil ReviewsI often feel frustrated seeing the reports on the internet of popular foils, they seem biased or sponsored and leave out any problems.  I am reluctant to say in public what I don't like about a foil, especially if a friend is making or selling that foil.  So here in this post behind the paywall I will do my best to be completely honest and unbiased and say what I like and don't like about the foils I have ridden.  In this post I give video and text reviews of these foils: 
F-One Seven Seas 1100, SK8 850, Eagle 1090 and 990, Seven Seas 1200 and 1000, Strike V2 5.5m, Phantom 940, 1080 & 1280, 95cm HM mast.

Cabrinha Mantis 4.5m wing, H Series 1200, Code Board 5'4" 98L

Takuma Kujira 980

Axis Black ART 999, BSC 810, PNG 1150, red 900, 1000, 910

Armstrong 2400 low aspect

Naish Jet 2450 low aspect

F4 1250 & 1700, and 1325 low aspect

Slingshot / Ride Engine Infinity 76 & 84, Timecode / Arc 68 low aspect

Foil Science 1116, and 1600 low aspect

GoFoil


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Berkeley Wing Foiling in the San Francisco Bay

Berkeley Wing FoilingBerkeley has direct line of sight to the Golden Gate Bridge and the opening to the Pacific Ocean.  Powerful wind and swell enter the mouth of the bay and make their way all the way to Berkeley.  Spring and summer winds are the most consistent and best time to wing foil in Berkeley.  The best way to access and learn about Berkeley wing foiling is to visit the…

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