EARLY BEGINNINGS
Board foiling sports use boards fitted with a hydrofoil, which allows them to rise and fly above and over water. Hydrofoils have been experimented with on watercraft since 1869 when Parisian Emmanuel Denis Fargo experimented on row boats. There’s evidence to suggest ancient Polynesians also experimented with hydrofoils. They have been commonly used on high-speed ferries and other powered craft and are a major part of competitive sailing today.
With the advancement of materials and manufacturing, computer-aided design, hydrofoiling for board sports has been advancing since the late 1990s. The first were manufactured in 1999 on the Hawaiian Island of Maui for hydrofoil kitesurfing.
HYDROFOIL COMPONENTS
A hydrofoil consists of four primary components:
• Front Foil - This creates the lift. (Somes wrongly referred to as a 'wing')
• Fuselage - Much like an aeroplane's main fuselage, the front foil, rear stabiliser, and mast connect to this.
• Mast - Truncated near the middle, the mast rises upward to connect to the board.
• Rear stabiliser - Controls the pitch and stability of the board’s ride.
The design specifications of each hydrofoil component determine the hydrofoil’s overall performance characteristics. Variations in hydrofoil component specifications produce different performance merits. Depending on the activity, hydrofoils are designed to suit differing foiling disciplines, rider abilities, and prevailing water and wind conditions.
IDENTIFYING BOARD FOILING SPORTS BY THE POWER SOURCE
Board foiling sports can be identified by how thrust is achieved to activate lift from the hydrofoil.
• Wind - Harnessed by a sail, wing, or small hand-held handkerchief kite.
• Waves - Kinetic energy causes the foil to move and lift.
• User Energy - Pumping of the legs.
• User energy and paddle power - Pumping of the legs and use of a paddle.
A combination of any or all of these factors.
WIND ORIENTATED BOARD FOIL SPORTS
These include:
• Wind Foiling (windsurfing with hydrofoil board).
• Wing Foiling (winging with a wing sail and hydrofoil board).
• Kite Foiling (kitesurfing with hydrofoil board).
PRONE BOARD FOILS SPORTS
Prone foiling is so-called being as you start, just like a surfer, lying down on the board and initiating a lift by pumping your legs.
SUP FOIL BOARD SPORT
Adding an extended paddle for impetus and pumping the legs defines the sport as SUP foiling. This practice leads to wave riding in small defined soft spots or downwind riding ocean swells over long distances.
WINGFOILING - WINGING
While all forms of board foiling sports have captured the imagination of riders worldwide, ‘Winging’ has become the foil sport for the masses, being highly accessible to all comers and the least physically demanding.
The use of a hand-held, wing-shaped, free-moving sail is nothing new. The idea has been around since 1980; those who SUP have been attracted to wing foiling have been enticed as an extension of their paddling. Other strong paddlers have found a new sport in SUP foiling, particularly downwind SUP foiling.
WHO DOES WINGING APPEAL TO?
Windfoiling, without the need for complicated multiple rigs, has been too hard for windsurfers and many kiters to resist. Wingfoiling presents a few challenges, and time with a qualified instructor would be a good investment to accelerate learning, avoid possible injury, and learn more about the equipment and safety concerns.
MISTRAL, WINGFOILING AND FOILING
Mistral first invested in hydrofoil and board development in 2021 using the expertise of professional riders, naval architects and hydrodynamic specialists. During the development phase, we received feedback that end users noticed a disconnect between the performance hype of what it delivered and how it performed. We concluded that many brands are not developers of hydrofoil equipment, simply the branders of outdated kits.
Our original foiling equipment has been designed from the ground up, making a significant difference in understanding what we've created, for whom, and why.
We've aimed our first-generation equipment squarely at the entry to the upper intermediate rider, delivering early lift, great flight stability and plenty of what we term ‘unlockable’ potential for high speeds once skill levels are developed. This is evidenced in our Sabre hydrofoils.
Because of the huge investment required and the exponential technological advances within the board foiling industry, we partnered with SAB Foils Italy to ‘keep it real’ and be among the leaders in hydrofoil development. As with all newly pioneered sports, the development of foiling has been accelerated at a breathtaking pace.
