Hi everyone,
I wanted to share my experience with a Patrik FoilRide 125L (www.patrikinternational.com/en/shop/windsurfing/windsurf-boards/foil-ride.html) windfoil board and ask if others have encountered something similar. I've been using this board for two seasons with an AFS Freerace 95 cm foil (afs-foiling.com/product-category/foiling/windfoil/foil-windfoil/). I weigh about 75 kg. Recently, I noticed the foil box had started lifting around 2 mm above the deck. At first, I assumed it was just a surface issue, but things turned out more serious during inspection and repair. I took the board to a very experienced windsurf board builder and repairer Pete here in Finland.
Here's what we found during the repair process.
Structural issues discovered The deck had no real reinforcement around the foil box, just a thin laminate layer, which clearly wasn't enough for the stresses of foiling. The foil box had started to push through the deck, and creaking sounds during jibes were actually signs of the structure failing. Upon further inspection, fibers on the bottom of the board were also cracked, meaning the bottom needs to be rebuilt as well.
Construction details Deck: Two fiberglass layers: 45/45 biaxial and 0/90 orientation Two biaxial carbon layers Bottom: One biaxial carbon layer Four unidirectional carbon strips All fiberglass is S-glass Only a thin final laminate layer covers both sides Pete told me that proper reinforcements in production would have only added ~50g in weight, while the repair now adds closer to 100g. It's unclear whether this weak deck construction was intentional or a manufacturing oversight, but either way, it feels unacceptable for a windfoil board. I've reached out to Patrik International multiple times via email and Facebook, but have received no response at all so far.
My question. Has anyone else experienced similar structural issues with the Patrik FoilRide 125 or other sizes? Did your foil box area show signs of weakness or delamination? How did you end up repairing it, if at all? I'll post final photos when the repair is complete. it's being reinforced properly now with a much larger structural patch both on deck and bottom.
Here are a few photos of the board deck when I first noticed the foil box had lifted, as well as some shots from the ongoing repair process by Pete: drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TMq12w5nkL_z4R-A_fAPMyc4s7ZVSnXN.
I've tried to contact the board manufacturer, Patrik, via email, but unfortunately I've received no response so far.
To be honest, the repair has become so extensive that I'm starting to wonder if it even made sense. Maybe I should've just bought a new windfoil board instead. But now we're committed, and at least the structure will be properly reinforced this time.
Thanks in advance for any shared experiences or input. Juha from Finland
Never seen or heard of a fail. In any of their foil models.
How do you say its one thin layer - but list a number of different layers?
and how can you tell its s-glass from sanding it...?
Foils load a LOT of stress and some boards fail. You'd be better off waiting for Patrik International to answer as they are very good with customer service
I don't understand how companies can get away with ignoring messages. That said, for warranty claims you normally have to contact the point of sale. Have you tried the shop where you purchased the board instead? They should be able to deal with warranty claims instead, even if out of warranty.
While it's unfortunate, the 100g won't matter a bit to your foiling. Good that you had an experienced repairman available.
Something that doesn't quite fit with me is that the AFS is one of the few brands to have a plate on the foil head so that the forward portion of the foil mast is supported by the bottom of the board. If the deck is lifting 2mm, that would suggest the bottom did too? (Which I didn't see you mention). For those wondering, because of the lift of the wing is forward of the foil mast, there is a rotational effect on the foil - the forward portion pushes up while the back pulls down. If a tuttle head foil isn't completely inserted, it's always the front screw that loosens that while the rear remains tight. 
Thanks to everyone who's commented and shared thoughts.
Here's the correct link to a few photos of the damage and the ongoing repair work: drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TMq12w5nkL_z4R-A_fAPMyc4s7ZVSnXN . For some reason, the original post had the wrong URL, and I can't edit the post anymore.
To summarize the latest findings. When the board repairer (Pete) opened up the area around the foilbox, he discovered that the deck had only a single thin laminate layer, no structural reinforcement at all. The entire foilbox has now been rebuilt, and the bottom side of the board has also been reinforced properly, so it should now finally be able to handle the loads of foiling.
In Pete's opinion, and I fully agree, the board was built incorrectly from the start. A windfoil board should never leave the factory without proper reinforcement under the foil box. In this case, it really felt like only a matter of time before the box failed under normal use.
Sadly, Patrik has not responded to any of my repeated messages or emails (www.patrikinternational.com/en/contact).
Thanks again for the discussion, I'll post more once I get the board back on the water.
One layer is structural. So is 100
they are just different strengths.
So instead of saying it was not structural - which is meaningless - What exactly was the deck laminate in the area of the chimneys / up to say 20cm in front of the chimneys?
normal is styro core, 1x glass, pvc foam , 2x biax carbon and one glass
that's from my observation working on them.
Is Pete actually suggesting there is only one layer of cloth in that area on the deck?
your pics don't show any deconstruction/layers / progress
