Vintage foiling

24 days ago
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RAF142134
RAF142134
454 posts
454 posts
1 May 2026 9:38am
People talk about the joys of vintage cars and motorcycles

So I took leave of all my blue and red stuff (yes that stuff) and for an insane price started foiling a Takuma 1500 helium.

You have to watch for corrosion on the aluminium, you have to keep everything fitting 'tight', you have to watch out for bolts backing off, but what a ride! Smooth like a Herb Alpert trumpet solo ;)
Youngbreezy
Youngbreezy
WA
1253 posts
WA, 1253 posts
1 May 2026 10:39am





This was the first foil I ever bought, must have been around 2017-2018. The Zeeko spitfire a canard design, back wing bigger than the front. It's a kite foil, in that size it is too small for any other disciplines. The canard design gives it a very back footed surfy feel. Very manoeuvrable really good carving. Compared to today's foils it was very unstable and zero pump and glide. It also needed a lot more power to get it going than the modern foils. Did work well for kite foiling though, would not have been useable for any other disciplines. I know there was a couple other bigger canard foils developed but I think the negatives outweighed the positives. Poor glide and inferior pumping.

The zeeko spitfire really cemented my love for foiling. Flying around fast and laying hard carves. I'm still not sure if Ive ever done better carves than I did on this foil.
RAF142134
RAF142134
454 posts
454 posts
1 May 2026 2:26pm
youngbreezy 2017! That is really vintage :)
foilthegreats
foilthegreats
801 posts
801 posts
1 May 2026 8:59pm
I started prone foiling with this rig July 2018 on Lake Ontario:


Funny enough I still have a Takuma Heluim 1750 that serves as my grovel lake foil with a 55cm mast and fuselage. Still love that thing:

RAF142134
RAF142134
454 posts
454 posts
3 May 2026 3:45pm
Wow that's some cool fun surfing there, I'm so glad it's pretty sunny over here and summer means warm water
Mark _australia
Mark _australia
WA
23647 posts
WA, 23647 posts
3 May 2026 4:41pm
thats not vintage. Look at the borderline lethal 1970s-80's stuff They were bloody nuts!
hilly
hilly
WA
8120 posts
WA, 8120 posts
3 May 2026 8:35pm



Microsurfer
Microsurfer
215 posts
215 posts
4 May 2026 3:38am
Yeah I never quite worked out why they thought ski boots on the board were necessary?
hilly
hilly
WA
8120 posts
WA, 8120 posts
4 May 2026 10:56am
Microsurfer said..
Yeah I never quite worked out why they thought ski boots on the board were necessary?


Protect the ankles??

To match the rest of the ski gear he has on??
Mark _australia
Mark _australia
WA
23647 posts
WA, 23647 posts
4 May 2026 12:10pm
Help u drown
Oahuwaterwalker
Oahuwaterwalker
WA
296 posts
WA, 296 posts
14 May 2026 11:32pm
hilly said..






A friend had one of those on Oahu way back when. I think there were less than 10 around at the time. The mast was aluminum, board and foil very heavy, and the boots added to the giant smashing you on the water effect when you crashed. I only got out once towing in and even though I was at my most fit point in life, the day after, I felt like someone beat me with a phone book.
Velocicraptor
Velocicraptor
868 posts
868 posts
14 May 2026 11:48pm
Not as vintage as some of whats in this thread, but my 115L Quattro wing drifter bathtub of a board, Lift 170 and Cabrinha Mantis V1 were state of the art at the time. The flex in that foil setup compared to what we have now, is crazy to even think about. I went from that to a Takuma aluminum setup (also extremely flexy with TONS of slop in all the connections). I remember eventually going to a Cedrus mast and basically having my mind blown by the stiffness. A stiff mast and solid connections was probably the single biggest step in gear that I've witnessed in this sport - far beyond the evolution, boards, foils or wings.
Taavi
Taavi
428 posts
428 posts
15 May 2026 12:22am
Velocicraptor said..
Not as vintage as some of whats in this thread, but my 115L KT wing drifter bathtub of a board...


I am riding that 115 L Quatro Drifter (same shape as the KT Wing Drifter) here. Such a sweet and lively and amazing well balanced board.

radair
radair
154 posts
154 posts
15 May 2026 3:31pm
Taavi said..

Velocicraptor said..
Not as vintage as some of whats in this thread, but my 115L KT wing drifter bathtub of a board...



I am riding that 115 L Quatro Drifter (same shape as the KT Wing Drifter) here. Such a sweet and lively and amazing well balanced board.


That was my first wing board and I still have it for teaching people behind the boat. Fragile!
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