the t-bags on sticks were faster, on every tack! @ King of Carnac
this bugger, with such a tasty name, shows how its done over in wankland:



note the tack at the beginning!!! - and the trip-over-your-footstraps ****jibe at 1:50...
bj

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bjorn said..
the t-bags on sticks were faster, on every tack! @ King of Carnac
this bugger, with such a tasty name, shows how its done over in wankland:



note the tack at the beginning!!! - and the trip-over-your-footstraps ****jibe at 1:50...
bj

That fellow is still using the foil on the end of the stick as a fulcrum, ie. gravity-limited sailing like all the rest of us. But he appears to have the skills necessary to go the next step. What he needs to do is upgrade the footstraps to ski boot and binding type strength. Then he needs to install a symmetric foil on the end of the stick. Then, when he's all steady and going, he should let his body weight swing over to leeward. Like gybing a windsurfer but without the turn. Before he gets pulled out of the water he needs to trim the symmetric foil to pull rather than push. Now body weight is not essential to the system, the forces are all aligned, the hypotenuse is shorter than the sum of the sides etc, less lift required, less drag etc, he can sheet in as much as he likes, never get over powered. Surely the Sailrocket principle can be applied to kites?

The foils are very efficient in the right conditions and require a great deal of skill to be super fast, so wouldnt by any means say the fat lady has sung Bjorn.
Looking forward till next year when its 20-25knots on a SSW-SW, and the windsurfers start clocking in upwards of 30-35knots on a reach.
That will be one hell of a battle to see if our foiling lad can keep up, cant wait!! :)

Ian, the hippopotamus what...?

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Mark _australia said..
Ian, the hippopotamus what...?

Agreed Mark, what's with the hip..... In windsurfing we use the board to generate vertical lift and a fin to generate horizontal lift. The resultant hydrodynamic lift is the vector addition of these two forces i.e.. the hypotenuse ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypotenuse.) The resultant lift is all you really need to do the job. Far better to do it with one foil aligned along that hypotenuse. That's where you gain, the hypotenuse is shorter than the sum of the two sides. The drag on the hypotenuse is less than the sum of the drag of the vertical lift and the drag of the horizontal lift. Of course separating lift into vertical and horizontal components, as we do, might aid control.

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Ian K said..

Mark _australia said..
Ian, the hippopotamus what...?

Agreed Mark, what's with the hip..... In windsurfing we use the board to generate vertical lift and a fin to generate horizontal lift. The resultant hydrodynamic lift is the vector addition of these two forces i.e.. the hypotenuse ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypotenuse.) The resultant lift is all you really need to do the job. Far better to do it with one foil aligned along that hypotenuse. That's where you gain, the hypotenuse is shorter than the sum of the two sides. The drag on the hypotenuse is less than the sum of the drag of the vertical lift and the drag of the horizontal lift. Of course separating lift into vertical and horizontal components, as we do, might aid control.

Yep, exactly what occurred to me as one smoked me upwind while I was on Formula gear. I'd never seem them up close and realised the enormous benefit of having the 45 heel. The only windsurfers I have ever seen with a foil appear to keep the board horizontal. Anyone seen foiling windsurfers that are competitive?

Hi guys,KFA Kitefoils got a foil for windsurfing- The MK2. Some guys in San Fran are using it and it works pretty good with asymmetric anhedral aft wing.
Might be a good time to get foiling on the Sailboards in WA :)

Yeh we could get a foil, and wear aerodynamic swim suits when we go to the pool.

Or we can just sail the board and design through the water with a normal fin where more skill and control on a more even playing field is required ! A lot more enjoyable to handle the board through rough water and chop, surf each bit of swell and jump each wave oncoming wave.

I think foiling is cool! But it's defeating the purpose of why we all started to windsurf or kitesurf.

Foils attract weed like crocs attract pebbles.

I bet the boats didn't expected to get flogged by a kiter, especially in a course race with 10 knots of wind!

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Mark _australia said..
Ian, the hippopotamus what...?

Once again, you're faced with a physics problem that only I can explain through the medium of MS Paint.

The upwind kiter is using the hydrofoil to pull against the kite, this is a similar setup used by SailRocket.. The downwind kiter is using his body weight to hold the foil down.. When will the Kiters work out how to design a foil that holds the kiter down!! No more powerlines


Here's the SailRocket, bit hard to understand since they're not using MS Paint.

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izymiester said..


I think foiling is cool! But it's defeating the purpose of why we all started to windsurf or kitesurf.

why is it ?

it's called evolving .

same thats happened to america's cup, moths etc .

Does it really matter as long as you have a smile on ya face?