Just a heads up: We obviously have a commercial interest but hope this info might help.
Very exciting times with Windsurf foiling becoming mainstream this season. After Kiteboarding went through a light wind transformation last year. This year it's windsurfing's turn. Nearly all major brands are coming out with Windsurf Foiling products from Light wind entry level foils to full on PWA race ready gear.
We have been very activity involved in foiling since the last two years and are confident Foiling will transform light-wind windsurfing.
Keen to get one, got an 80cm wide slalom board, how do you strengthen the tuttle box?
Hey Choco, yes you can get the box and deck strengthened.
Give us a bell 03 95255655 and we can give you the details of one of the guys specializing in this.
Hey 33 Frupus, yes we have been using the Foilmount and so far it's working really well.
We are running the mount just in front of the finbox which is perfect for most foils. You can't have a board with too much V or concave.
Come and check out our demo board if you have time !
Select to expand quoteTheZu said..
Hey 33 Frupus, yes we have been using the Foilmount and so far it's working really well.
We are running the mount just in front of the finbox which is perfect for most foils. You can't have a board with too much V or concave.
Come and check out our demo board if you have time !
Thinking about Foilmount on my inflatable Windsup (Fanatic Viper Air)...do you see any reason why it would not work?
Select to expand quote33frupus said..
So fitting s foil to a powerbox board is not an option?
It will be soon - we know for sure there are a couple of brands working on these right now. It'll definitely boom once we can just put a $1k alloy foil straight into our existing freeride boards. There's a lot of focus and development on foils right now - definitely exciting times for windsurfing!
Thanks for the replies. Once it reaches the level of plug and play the appeal will be massive.you would imagine a larger baseplate to transfer the load over a greater surface area of the base of the board is the go ..
Heres a good overview from Robby Naish, also promoting the small soft sail option rather than the full on slalom set-up.
Warning - numerous close-ups of Robby Naish chest hair included.
www.windsurf.co.uk/robby-naish-light-wind-foiling-explained/
Ok ! We have some more info and feedback from testing different boards and foils and teaching a few people how to foil!
Categories:
it is now quite clear that different brands are taking a different approach to foiling:
1 High aspect foils = Technical/race
Brands like Starboard and Neil Pryde are catering for the "racing " side of the market with more high aspect foils or full on race foils. Due to the high aspect nature they require larger (racy) type sails and plenty of skill to get them planning in LOW winds. They are also a lot harder to Gybe. (planning through Gybes)
2. Medium aspect foils
Some other brands like Slingshot and Fanatic/North are bringing out medium aspect foils that have good top end but don't necessary require racy type sails. They will get planing easier in sub 10 knots conditions.
3 Low aspect foils
It looks like Naish is one of the only companies at the moment that is focusing on low aspect/very early planning foils. These will get planning from 6 knots and you only need a small wave sail. (4.7/5.3) these foils have still a surprisingly good top end but are not as fast as the more high aspect foils. These also are reasonably easy to Gybe.
So far, customer feedback tells us most people are interested to get foiling as early as possible using small sails.
133 Starboard Freeformula with Slingshot foil and Starboard 120 AtomIQ with FoilMount and Naish Malolo foil
Also check out the Slingshot Windsurf foil Academy, lot's of useful tips !
www.foil-academy.com/courses/wind-foil-academy
Fun video from last week in 10 knots !
www.facebook.com/the.Zu.Boardsports/videos/1453450174693324/.
Naish foiling info night at The ZU this Wednesday. Come and see the new 2018 Naish Windsurf, Surf, SUP foiling products including the new 122 Hover and Thrust foil. Naish is at the forefront of foil development with Kai Lenny and is one of the only companies that is concentrating on lightwind foiling with small sails.
Hope to c you there !
Thanks ZU - this is of great interest. I'm an ex Melbourne sailor living in Vancouver, Canada. I travel back to Melbourne every year, and think i need to make a stop at your store to get my foiling needs sorted out.
Nice one....
Select to expand quotechoco said..
Keen to get one, got an 80cm wide slalom board, how do you strengthen the tuttle box?
I had mine reinforced by a guy in Cheltenham, PM me if you want the details. Going gangbusters so far.
After only 5 sessions, I can say I am hooked. I love it. It's simply an amazing feeling flying above the water. It really doesn't take that long to feel in control. My first session was pretty much a shocker, but session #2 and I was flying for a few hundred metres at a time. Session 5 today, and while the wind played ball, I was in the air.
I had a Starboard Futura 121ltr/70cm reinforced and it's going really well. To be honest though, I am already hankering for a full foil kit, full carbon, full foil board.
If you're umm and ahhhing, but can afford $1100 for a foil and have a board that would work - do it. It's pretty amazing. I was looking at full carbon foils 2 years ago, and finally pulled the trigger on a NP alloy, which has been a fantastic entree into foiling.
I find myself hoping for lighter days. Funny how the world turns.
Here's some (crap) GoPro from Green Point today. Hard to see, but look for the wash when the board is on the water, and the thin line made by the foil when it's flying. Love it.
www.facebook.com/damien.woods1/videos/10154827497217546/
Select to expand quoteMikeyS said..
An barely a whitecap in sight. What size sail did you have up?
6.6 .... was just right. It was filing in as i de-rigged. Had i rigged up then would have gone with 5.5.
Hey Guys,
We will run Foilboarding lessons this summer, we found this the fastest way to get into Windsurf -Kitesurf-sup or Surf foiling.
Check it out:
Wasn't aware that it was legal to tow without an observer, must be different rules in Vic.
No, you're supposed to have an observer.
Reg 95 Marine Safety Regulations 2012 (Vic)
Observer to be used when towing
A person must not act as the master of a vessel engaged in towing a person on any State waters unless in addition to the
master there is on board the vessel a person who is in a position to-
(a) observe the person being towed; and
(b) communicate with the master of the vessel
Penalty:
10 penalty units.
Just don't get caught, guys.
assume foil boards come with narrower stance options re foot straps for shorter people? Now that would be a development 
Hey Swoosh and MikeyS,
Thanks for the feedback, we are well aware of the regulations.
This is a promo video that was shot in controlled conditions ( we probably had 8 abservers and a 2nd Safety vessel)
The people foiling in this video are highly skilled instructors, not students.
The actual lessons will be run in full compliance with the marine safety regulations. Students will be in full wetsuit, life Jacket and Helmet (See beginning of the video) and there will be a observer on the back of the ski.
Thanks,
Paul
The Zu
Hi. Says you have Fanatic windfoil on ya web page. How do they compare to Slingshot?
cheers
Hey nazsail, sorry for the late reply.
The Fanatic is a little faster than the slingshot (higher aspect) but takes longer to foil. Fanatic is more suited to lighter riders.
Slingshot is a great All-rounder. We now also have the full range of Starboard foils (very impressive)
Some Images of the windsurf Foiling Clinics we have ran with Elwood sailing Club and Guy Gribb this Summer. If you missed these keep an eye out for one of our upcoming clinics on foiling !
Check out this session we had in St Kilda last week 8-12knots !
www.facebook.com/The.Zu.Boardsports/videos/1691122597592746/
Nice!
I'm curious whether the fanatic board is one of the "foil ready" ones.
Or have you added some sort of reinforcement on the deck above the Tuttle Box?
I mean the black patch between the rear footstraps, would be happy to know what this is.
Hey ZeeGerman, both fanatic boards are foil ready boards. The black section of deckpad in between the backstraps is "custom" modification to help with grip in Gybes and learning to foil
