have seen some discussion about what i will call "quasi-foils"

some people are doing their own experiments:



but i also saw this:



any more trials n tribulations on these alternatives ?
the foiling discussion is almost overwhelming and this stuff seems to get lost in its midst ...

I like the look of the top one, The Virus ? but the cost is still a bit up there.

Steve Allen has used one successfully but there doesn't appear to be any further reviews by him or others.

Perfect for light wind wide boards. IMHO

actually the supplier of quasi-foil from bottom pic suggests narrower boards

should i post this question to the general population/forum ??

on iwindsurf i got a reply

"Those were a bad idea 28 years ago and they still are."

This is my attempt, it lifts the board on top of the water and planes ok
but the extra drag it creates? or angle of attack? lowers the nose increasing the waterline and limiting speed, any thoughts

Select to expand quote

ducati said..
lowers the nose increasing the waterline and limiting speed, any thoughts

that is what they complained about on iwindsurf !!

Good idea when you're out barely able to sustain planing after pumping into a plane. Powered, would be slow.

T-foil is more efficient in lift generation compare to the cross design. The connection of the mast to the foil is generating lift because the fluid flow accelerates on the top of the foil. The cross design has the same flow acceleration on the wing/mast joint and both sides generate lift. The problem with the cross is that the bottom part lift is negative. Using symmetrical foil profile significantly increases the problem of the cross design.
This could be the reason why it have been a very long time and a number of attempts to make this idea work before frpgear got it right.
There is no doubts this idea makes you plane at lighter wind. Even the cross design helps early planing a little. When you have enough wind for planing, the traditional windsurfing remain faster compared to full size hydrofoils or this T-mini foils.
I like traditional windsurfing more when the wind speed is over 14 knots. Under 12 knots I use T-foil to extent my traditional windsurfing planing. Under 8 knots I use a full size hydrofoil to fly at speed of about 2 x wind speed. I do not like my hydrofoil at wind over 12 knots because it goes too fast and I am not so good in foiling. When the wind speed is under 7 knots my full size hydrofoil does not fly very well but it remains the best equipment to use because it gets me on fast planing at wind speed of 6 knots but it does not have enough lift to get in flight. When the wind speed is variable like 4-10 knots the full size hydrofoil works the best for me because I can get on planing and I can fly when I have gusts and stay in fly when wind drops for a short time.
Statistically, I have enough wind to do traditional windsurfing 30 times a year. With all these foils I do not even need to check the weather because I get a fast speed planning or a flight regardless of wind. And this is the summer light wind season in my location. In comparison to kites I have better results compared to traditional kites with foils. High aspect ratio kites with foils do better compared to me, but with large 20m kite and experienced kiter. I think here is a potential for foiling, if it continues to develop for windsurfing, to get better compared to the best kites. The direction to develop I see is special sails for light wind foiling. At light wind I want a very light sail and large size made out of kite material to make it light. I want tall mast so I can do beach start at light wind. I want high aspect ratio sail because I go 2 x wind speed on foil. I think the current sail design is the biggest drag for light wind windsurfing.