Foiling Kiteboards vs "normal" kiteboards

[Doug Lord]

Originally Posted by manuel Dalmau

Kitefoils can beat a conventional course board fairly easy upwind on a lightwind course, and they go much deeper downwind than a course board that has to go higher to create apparent wind with a lot more dragg , the foil can do it by simply moving the kite once they are riding the foil the have a much better VMG than a course board ( the foils limitation at the moment is that its top speed is much lower at the moment than a planning course board).

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Thanks and welcome to the forum! Do people think that there will be improvements to top-end speed?

[manuel Dalmau]

Here in Puerto Rico we recently saw a huge improvement between the carafino foil ( carbon fiber ) and the sky-ski ( aluminum ) . I don't think that the difference is the material but more the profile of the foil, the aluminum has a much flatter profile then the carbon ( carafino) and it reaches higher speeds doesn't try to rise out of the water and is much controllable, on the down side it is like having a knife under you feet and you are learning to ride a bicycle ( you will fall at the beginning ). I do believe that Foiling has a big future as a racing class , mainly because it don't require so much physical strengh to ride like a regular course board where you need to be in really good shape to start to be competitive . Yes, it requires some dedication at the begging like any other discipline but the feeling is incredible !!

http://vimeo.com/17186240

Manuel

[Doug Lord]

Originally Posted by manuel Dalmau

Here in Puerto Rico we recently saw a huge improvement between the carafino foil ( carbon fiber ) and the sky-ski ( aluminum ) . I don't think that the difference is the material but more the profile of the foil, the aluminum has a much flatter profile then the carbon ( carafino) and it reaches higher speeds doesn't try to rise out of the water and is much controllable, on the down side it is like having a knife under you feet and you are learning to ride a bicycle ( you will fall at the beginning ). I do believe that Foiling has a big future as a racing class , mainly because it don't require so much physical strengh to ride like a regular course board where you need to be in really good shape to start to be competitive . Yes, it requires some dedication at the begging like any other discipline but the feeling is incredible !!

http://vimeo.com/17186240

Manuel

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Manuel, what a great video! Thanks for posting it.

[Doug Halsey]

Manuel,

I also enjoyed the video. What camcorder did you use & could you please describe how it was mounted?

Thanks,
Doug Halsey

[manuel Dalmau]

Saludos Doug

I use the go pro Hero (980p), bought it at costco $189 ( great buy) and i converted a surfboard leash ( the velcro side ) got 2 pieces of pvc molding ( lightweight and don't absorb water) sandwich them with screws and use that as the base for the camera then i placed it on the middle strut of my kite. I placed a couple of pictures in my gallery

Manuel

[Doug Lord]

Another video: http://www.kitesurfeur.be/2010/12/su...nnar-biniasch/

[manuel Dalmau]

Check this video !! North american kitecourse racing


http://www.vimeo.com/26509776



Placed 7 overall !! 1) John Heineken 2011 World Champion
2) Adam Koch 2010 World Champion
3) Damien Leroy 2010 2nd place in Worlds Championship
4) Julien Kernuer 2011 European Champion
5) Ricardo Leccese 8th IKA world Ranking
6) Bruno Sroka 2009 World Champion .
7) Kiko Dalmau ( Foiler )
8) Brian Lake 3rd 2011 Worlds

[Doug Lord]

Originally Posted by manuel Dalmau

Check this video !! North american kitecourse racing


http://www.vimeo.com/26509776



Placed 7 overall !! 1) John Heineken 2011 World Champion
2) Adam Koch 2010 World Champion
3) Damien Leroy 2010 2nd place in Worlds Championship
4) Julien Kernuer 2011 European Champion
5) Ricardo Leccese 8th IKA world Ranking
6) Bruno Sroka 2009 World Champion .
7) Kiko Dalmau ( Foiler )
8) Brian Lake 3rd 2011 Worlds

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Thanks, Kiko for the info! I'm very interested your impression of the performance of the foiler boards as compared to the planing boards?

[manuel Dalmau]

Saludos Doug

I think that going upwind the windier it is the easier for the course boards to pull away although the foil points higher, top speed is better on planning boards. But on lighter winds the foil keeps a higher speed and points higher . Reaching the difference is considerable the planing boards gets away very easily. Downwind the same the higher the wind the easier it gets away from the foil , but in lighter wind the foil can hold its own and could be faster. Again i am comparing with the best in the world i am sure i am not among the best in the world , proof of this is that the world champion( Johnny Heineken) stayed 2 days and learned to kitefoil and we couldn't believe how good he got in a few hours, Imagine if dedicated himself to kitefoiling it would be a different story.
Kiko

[Doug Lord]

Originally Posted by manuel Dalmau

Saludos Doug

I think that going upwind the windier it is the easier for the course boards to pull away although the foil points higher, top speed is better on planning boards. But on lighter winds the foil keeps a higher speed and points higher . Reaching the difference is considerable the planing boards gets away very easily. Downwind the same the higher the wind the easier it gets away from the foil , but in lighter wind the foil can hold its own and could be faster. Again i am comparing with the best in the world i am sure i am not among the best in the world , proof of this is that the world champion( Johnny Heineken) stayed 2 days and learned to kitefoil and we couldn't believe how good he got in a few hours, Imagine if dedicated himself to kitefoiling it would be a different story.
Kiko

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Thanks Kiko! Do you think there is a lot more improvement left for the foilers or do you think its pretty near as fast as it can be-I mean from a technology standpoint not a skill level.

[manuel Dalmau]

I think that there is a lot of room for testing and hopefully improvements , The foil i am using has not change very much and i'ts being around since the 70, and it was built for towing behind a boat not thinking about kitesurfing. I see the foil's on the Moth and wonder if it could work on a Kite ?. We need to start testing.

Kiko

[ChuckFoil]

Kiko, thanks for the tips. Especially using the bar to control height Totally worked and now I ride much better. Got a run all the way to the rock..

What is the name of the aluminum conversion. Did you say Fast Foil?

Hope to see you out in the water soon. I want to work on toeside and jibing (if thats possible on a plane) and riding downwind. Cheers

Chuck

[manuel Dalmau]

Saludos Chuck

It fastfoil and it is carbon fiber , check out http://kitefoil.forumactif.net/f24-g...il-discussions

Glad to be of service , see you in the water

Kiko