Speed wing foiling

I would like to go faster wing foiling and was hoping to get some tips from anyone who can help. I borrow my daughters foils - Mikes Lab 340 and AFS 560 Pure Race. I am also lucky to have a Zaoli wing so certainly can’t blame it on the kit :slight_smile:

I have been given these tips but would really appreciate some input. For most foils, I understand as you go faster the front of the board tends to lift up and many of these techniques are trying to stop this happening:

  1. Lean board over to reduce foil lift.
  2. Drive forward with hips.
  3. Lift up with back hand to drive downward force to front of board.
  4. Shim the mast to make board point upwards - makes it more comfortable in touchdowns.
  5. Hold wing further back along handles to put more downward force forward.
  6. Bear off as gusts hit to maintain constant power.
  7. Mast track further back relative to front footstraps so can get more load on front of board.
  8. Use harness.
  9. Use both footstraps.
  10. Negative shim tail so the foil is balanced at target speed. There is less drag by negative shimming tail but it makes stability harder to control.
  11. … and probably most importantly - go for it!!

Any other ideas or just practice?

I would think the board would tend to ride more nose down as you go faster as you need less angle of attack to generate the lift that supports your weight.

A longer fuselage allows use of a smaller stabilizer. The Naish race foil plane comes with a 30cm longer fuse than the standard.

Bear off as gusts hit to maintain constant power

I thought it was the opposite, bear off in lulls and close haul in gusts.

Most foils I have tried have more front foot pressure as they go faster. However, I have ridden a foil which had the nose down tendency at speed, so imagine a lot of the techniques are kit dependent.

I think the smaller tail longer fuse as you suggest definitely helps - a longer fuse feels like it has less marginal drag than a larger tail fin. And the longer fuse definitely helps with pitch stability - and having a more stable setup allows you to go faster…

Keep them coming! Do let us know the specs of the gear you recommend too.

I posted my technique ideas and here is the equipment list:

  • WING - the wing causes lots of drag so would need a small Ozone Fusion (they are so fast when loaded up).
  • MAST - Mast which is 12-13mm thick and super stiff - high content of UHM carbon.
  • MAST - Mast 85cm to 102cm in length.
  • MAST - Tuttle connection on the mast since they are more gentle on touchdowns.
  • BOARD - Thin course race board so can crank the board over without risking hitting the rails. Trimmed up so not so scary on touchdowns.
  • FOIL - foil section designed for speed - thin profile without too much under camber. Not too wide to avoid tips breaching. Ideally ones with turned down tips.
  • FOIL - for 2-10s top speeds a 280cm2 to 340cm2 foil to reduce surface drag.
  • FOIL - for 500m world records 450-550cm2 for consistency.

Would be interested to hear from others’ experiences.

I saw Mathis Ghio hit 40 knots on his Levitas foil and Ozone wing - incredible!!

That’s a good list, thanks for sharing!

Mathis speed was crazy! But he’s a top level athlete also those conditions at La Palme are unique, nothing even close in our area.

I don’t know why my messages were flagged as spam so I can’t post a link to the new video about foils unfortunately

Here is the foil video.
Gates on the rear stabiliser would also be high up on my wish.

Loving the videos - real nice edits. Really interesting to hear the tips.

Thanks Andrew! I hope to see you on a race course again

Another great video on speed from Richard and Dennis - talking hand wings this time:

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