Foiling – something new?
If you google foil, you will find different definitions and translations. However, looking up foil in combination with sailing, surfing or boats in general, you will get to the following basic definition:
“A hydrofoil is a long and hydrodynamically designed fin with wings.”
Using foils to get into new spheres of speed is not something new. Hydrofoil on a vessel appears on a British patent granted in 1869 to Emmanuel Denis Farcot. Later on, Enrico Forlanini started to work in 1898 on hydrofoils to be used on propelled boats. The basic idea is to lift the hull out of the water to reduce the drag force on the hull, when being propelled through the water. In the most extreme configuration, the hull of the boat is completely lifted out of the water and only the foil remains inside the water.
If you google for “hydrofoil patents” you will find several patents for different applications of hydrofoils, e.g. US2856879A “Hydrofoil system for boats”, application filed in 1956 or US3747138A “Hydrofoil surfboards”, application filed in 1970.
In the course of time, there were more and more applications of hydrofoils and in 1970, Dave Keiper designed and built the world’s first hydrofoil sailing yacht, a 32-footer named Williwaw
In 2008, the French tri-foiler and former world record holder L’Hydroptère was the first sailing boat to break through the 50 knots barrier. Since, the development has not been stopped and the concept of hydrofoils is applied more and more.
There are different kinds of “foiling” – let us have a look at some of them…
What is Pumpfoiling?
“Pumpfoiling is like flying over the water – propelled only by the rider’s force”
For pumpfoiling, a foil is attached with a mast to a board. Basically, a similar set-up is used than for wing, wave or surf foiling.
When pumpfoiling, you use your body to generate the energy to propel the board. By getting the board into a Sinus-curve, you can get into a forward movement while at the same time generating enough lift to stay above the water surface.
So you need no wind or waves or other support to get the feeling of flying over the water.
Check out here what it needs in case you want to start with pumpfoiling.
Surffoiling – a Hybrid of Surfing and Foiling
While in the traditional surfing the rider catches a wave and gets up on the board, while the board keeps the contact with the water surface, in surfoiling, there is a hydrofoil attached to the board.
When the board moves forward when accelerating due to ‘sliding’ down the wave, the foil lifst the board out of the water. The foil surfer then literally glides above the surface. This results in higher speeds and due to the smaller surface area in contact with the wave also allows tighter turns.
Wingfoiling – “Winging” with a Foilboard
When winging, the rider holds a wing that acts similar to a sail. In most cases, these wings are are similar to an inflatable kite. Most wings take their shape and rigidity once fully they are fully inflated. Other models have a physical boom structure to increase its stiffness. The rider stands on a board and uses the wing to harness wind energy which in turn, powers them along. Compared to a windsurfing or sailing, the wing/sail is not attached to board but the rider holds the wing with his hands. That makes it an extremely free-flowing sport and is part of the reason so many people love it. Many people practice this with a stand up paddleboard or surfboard with enough buoyancy.
Wingfoiling we call it when the rider uses a board with foil attached to it.