Foils....

have you bothered to read the LF foil review in the review section ?

North foil isn't available publicly as far as i am aware .

I'm no slingshot fanboy but it looks nice construction & design wise, and like zeeko they've just bought in a 2014 design from an established foil designer rather than start from scratch and take several years to start hitting nicely tweaked designs. They're calling it 'alien air fx' for anyone searching.

North - ridiculous price (around $4500+), not worth considering really unless reviews find it's the best thing since sliced bread.

/my 2c, never tried foiling but I've been doing a lot of reading/vids lately.


Here's some more to consider:
kitehydrofoil.com/equipment.html

Hi Guys - I'm based in Montpellier, France and have been foiling since may 2008.

Following on from the 2014 Americas Cup 2015 will no doubt be 'LIFT OFF' for kite foiling.
If your already reading about it on the web, its too late you've already caught the Foiling BUG.... Dig deep as performance foils are expensive to build.

No words to describe the sensation - unless you've tried it you can't understand it.
It's the 3rd dimension of sailing, windsurfing or kiting....

Regarding kitefoils on this side of the planet - here's my two cents of an overview:

France has been for sometime leading the way regarding kite foils - that does not mean to say that I'm biased.
I'm an English guy thats been residing here on the French Mediterranean for over 10yrs.

Lots of good new foil producing companies cropping up all over the globe recently.

The Taaroa Sword is the defacto race engine together with Spotz - I believe that the Spotz foil is cheaper however - both are full carbon and are Race Specific foils.

I've never ridden KFA foil but the word here is that they work well - chapeau les gars as they say here.

The Ketos foil (Alps based composite manufacturer) here in France is the most mature carbon foil on the market - it works in all modes of riding - learning, free-ride, wave, race and speed wings are available and its priced competitively @ 1690€ Really good after sales service and quality of product.

Fastafoil (my company) Sencillo shares the Ketos fuselage and we produce wings for learning and progression(good to 26+ knots) st'd format and free-ride wings.
Easy to use, no sharp trailing edges unlike some foils that can cut not only your wetsuit...

Zeeko for 2015 have pulled out all the stops - completely new foils both Carbon and Alloy. As I said in an earlier post their Alu foil will be the most cost effective foil on the market (sub 800€) and will, in my opinion, be suitable for 90% of kitefoil riders - it's an really good design and performs. The carbon foil is on a par with the Sword for all out speed and racing - beautiful finish and graphics.

Horue - they produce both kite and windsurf foils and they work well.

Alpine Foil - another alps based foil mfc - Damien continues to produce beautifully finished foils and their Alu foil should be something special. Alu fuselage machined on a 5 axis CNC milling machine - the alu mast plugs into the fuselage. Some issues with twist flex in the carbon legs however I presume this was due to teething problems on the early production front.

The Kitefoil Co - middle east based French foil designer who produced the 2013/2014 Zeeko foils.
The Manta is heavy but I'm sure that it works well. At a recent Spring foil event the lack of board meant that it was impossible to test the foil. The 2015 kite board I'm told verges a little on the heavy side.

F.One foil (2900€) with board - easy to use foil that is geared towards beginners and progressive foiling. Like all things F.One a quality product and an ingenious design.

North - I've seen the foil in person and it is heavy, very heavy almost the same weight as the Alloy Liquid Force foil however at almost 3000€ it's twice as expensive.
But you get the bonus of being able to trap your foot in the foil and risk breaking your ankle if anything goes pear shaped. Nice finish though.

Liquid Force - great beginner foil but limited to circa 15knts top speed with standard foil wings.
The Kitefoil Co are offering replacement wing sets (600 to 700$ a set)

Gong - Beautifully finished Chinese mfc foil @ 999€ the complete foil. It works but kangaroos gravely the faster you accelerate.
Rear wing needs to be inversed for it to work efficiently and it needs a vertical foil to stop it from snaking at speed.

Lift Foils - outside of Europe but Nick Leason has done a great job of developing his foil range. Apparently they work a treat.

Moses - Italian based foil mfc. No first hand experience but they look good and I know a couple of guys who have learnt to foil with them without any hassle.

Bruno Sroka - no presence at the recent foil spring gathering so difficult to comment. Lots of screws and bolts but an original concept. Some what limited on Vmax but no doubt the foil works - Bruno knows his stuff so I'm looking forward to riding it once they start appearing on the beach.

There are other foil mfc here in the EU apologies if I've missed you out - everyones knowledge is limited by their exposure.

The human body is an amazing machine - it will adapt, adapt and adapt.
If you purchase a poor performing kitefoil and there are good and bad foils - like any market.
The human body will adapt and learn to accommodate the pitfalls of performance defaults - your learning may be slightly slower but the magic carpet rider experience is what is important. Enjoy and aim to be full foil tacking asap.

Thanks for the info...

I'm lookign at upgrading my race kite now and was wondering what is the optimum size for foiling. I'm still running a course board now, but was thinking of going to a 15m2 instead of a 17m for better use with a foil?

What size do people generally run for light wind foiling?

Thanks : )

Yeah 11 and 17 atm, but thinking 11 and 15.

im hoping the 15 wont rob too much bottom end while still on a course board