In terms of the fastest foils I should be looking at, what should be the things I consider. Interested, outside high aspect ratio foil, does mast or fuselage matter?

Get the same foil as this leading dude Johnny

Mike's lab foils, S and M.
But I know some wingers on them, lacking skill, who are slow.

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Alysum said..
Get the same foil as this leading dude Johnny

crazy how much distance he put on the rest...

so? which foil is it?

Problem is.....most of the top 10 are on Slabs also.
All different boards, most homemade.
Dad was a world class sailor before windsurfing.

Mates of mine use kite race wings for winging, I suppose those are fastest. If you want something fast & easy to use (and easy to combine with real winging wings) look at the F-One Escape 530 with a 105cm HM Carbon mast. The carbon masts are thinner and thus faster! The Escape is cheaper and easier to ride than most "real" custom / handmade racefoils used in kiteracing (which are easily in the 3-4k euro region as opposed to 2k euro for the Escape with carbon mast)

It's funny how the answer to "I want to go fast" is pretty much always "use the right gear". I have seen very little discussion on how to go fast on gear that you are already sailing on. Does it just become too much of a problem to handle the lift of big foils that it's not worth even discussing or would the same techniques also apply to getting the most speed out of smaller/faster foils?

results from that race are posted here: d282wvk2qi4wzk.cloudfront.net/4eo6XHV2PY_results_1631389303697

Johnny and Alex (white cloud wing) and Stefaans are all on Mikes Lab foils... there is a lot of separation b/w those riders.

I have the SABFoil W1000 which is fast. I don't know how it stacks up to the Mikes Lab, but it's faster than anything else I've ever ridden. Will have to try borrow a lab sometime.

Some of this also comes down to what you can get/afford/etc... Most guys who go fast are using longer masts. The Mikes lab fuses are not super short.

Skill, of course, is still the most important factor. I've seen guys with fast foils go slow and vice versa. Of course if you're racing against talented and well-equipped racers, you better have both areas covered.

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JuriM said..
It's funny how the answer to "I want to go fast" is pretty much always "use the right gear". I have seen very little discussion on how to go fast on gear that you are already sailing on. Does it just become too much of a problem to handle the lift of big foils that it's not worth even discussing or would the same techniques also apply to getting the most speed out of smaller/faster foils?

My record with my Phantom 1480cm2 and 5m swing is 49kph (26,5 knots). Big wings can go "fast"ish. Technique is exactly the same as a windsurf / windfoil speedrun. Build power across the wind and catapult yourself downwind. Then just hold on.

Keeping down the foil is never a problem for me, avoiding touchdowns is. If you go fast enough your board will start flying nose down because the angle of attack of the frontwing becomes increasingly smaller. Touching down with the board flying nose down ends in a crash 100% of the time. If you're serious about speed, invest in a way of raking your foil backward so your board stays nose high all the time. Making shims out of a plastic cutting board is the cheapest option (and the one I used before ordering 3d printed shims).

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WhiteofHeart said..

JuriM said..
It's funny how the answer to "I want to go fast" is pretty much always "use the right gear". I have seen very little discussion on how to go fast on gear that you are already sailing on. Does it just become too much of a problem to handle the lift of big foils that it's not worth even discussing or would the same techniques also apply to getting the most speed out of smaller/faster foils?

My record with my Phantom 1480cm2 and 5m swing is 49kph (26,5 knots). Big wings can go "fast"ish. Technique is exactly the same as a windsurf / windfoil speedrun. Build power across the wind and catapult yourself downwind. Then just hold on.

Keeping down the foil is never a problem for me, avoiding touchdowns is. If you go fast enough your board will start flying nose down because the angle of attack of the frontwing becomes increasingly smaller. Touching down with the board flying nose down ends in a crash 100% of the time. If you're serious about speed, invest in a way of raking your foil backward so your board stays nose high all the time. Making shims out of a plastic cutting board is the cheapest option (and the one I used before ordering 3d printed shims).

+26kt is very impressive,even more so on a med/big foil.
How much do you weigh?

Damien LeRoy had a chat with Joey Pasquali in the "Gwen and Damo" livestream last night. They talked mostly about going fast and racing on wings. Joey mentions going 35 knots...

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WhiteofHeart said..

JuriM said..
It's funny how the answer to "I want to go fast" is pretty much always "use the right gear". I have seen very little discussion on how to go fast on gear that you are already sailing on. Does it just become too much of a problem to handle the lift of big foils that it's not worth even discussing or would the same techniques also apply to getting the most speed out of smaller/faster foils?

My record with my Phantom 1480cm2 and 5m swing is 49kph (26,5 knots). Big wings can go "fast"ish. Technique is exactly the same as a windsurf / windfoil speedrun. Build power across the wind and catapult yourself downwind. Then just hold on.

Keeping down the foil is never a problem for me, avoiding touchdowns is. If you go fast enough your board will start flying nose down because the angle of attack of the frontwing becomes increasingly smaller. Touching down with the board flying nose down ends in a crash 100% of the time. If you're serious about speed, invest in a way of raking your foil backward so your board stays nose high all the time. Making shims out of a plastic cutting board is the cheapest option (and the one I used before ordering 3d printed shims).

I experience the same, the faster you go the more the foil has a tendency to want to pitch down. Like you said, likely because of the smaller and smaller aoa and therefore being closer to negative lift.

What do you mean by "raking" the foil backward? Baseplate shim?

Regarding tail shims: yesterday I was riding Armstrong HS1250 (smallest wing I own) in 20-30kts flat water, with the +1 deg shim (old system, non-A+). I like riding the +1 shim because it gives you the least amount of drag and I'm comfortable handling the decreased stability. But would using the 0 deg shim (so more drag) help to keep the board up in situations like this? Or still better to use the +1 deg shim (least drag) for going fast?