Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 15 i Foiling Magazine

Hi Chris. So first up tell us where PWR-Foil is based in France, and why the location works so well for the company? Our new premises are based in Canet-en-Roussillon, in France, five minutes from the Mediterranean Sea, and many of us here are involved in water sports. Being close to the water allows us to have fun during our lunch break and after office hours. It is important for us to test our new products quickly and this proximity to the Mediterranean Sea means that we don't waste any time. Also, when curious people want to try the PWR-Foil, we just take two machines and head to the water, which is only a two-minute walk away. How many employees do you have at PWR-Foil, and how are the departments…

"AS WE KNOW, NOBODY WANTS A BOARD THAT BREAKS WITHIN A FEW MONTHS OF USE, BUT NOBODY WANTS A HEAVY BOARD EITHER…" Given the very nature of the sport, especially in competition, hard knocks are pretty much a constant. Was impact resistance something you’d heavily researched prior to the wingfoiling boom? Hard knocks are certainly a reality in wing foiling. It comes with the territory of this water sport and something that has also been a “trial & test” process in improving our boards. The issue mainly involves pro riders whose jumps cause the greatest stress and damage to the boards. RRD has a long history of producing windsurf boards in all types of construction technologies… with the advent of foiling we faced a new era and new challenges, which…

THE GEAR 1. Choose your gear wisely, make sure you are using a board on which you are stable enough and one that has enough volume. I usually use the Sky SUP 6’1, 108 liter from Fanatic. I also recommend using a short mast so you can go in shallower waters and take off faster – I personally use the 75cm Fanatic mast with the 1400 Aero Carve, as I tend to use bigger sizes on a SUP foil than I do on a surf foil due to the weight of the board. If the waves get bigger, I can use the 1100, then if I’m looking at really small waves and I’m likely to pump more than do turns in the waves, I’ll use FIRST STEP 2. The first…

LOCATION JERICOACOARA, BRAZIL DATE THURSDAY DECEMBER 1ST, 2022 Jericoacoara, or just Jeri, seems like an oasis between kilometers of shifting sand dunes. Even though there is no actual road – just hundreds of paths through the dunes – it has grown to one of the more touristic hotspots in Brazil. With countless bars, restaurants, and clubs, it feels like a tiny version of Las Vegas, especially at night. We had been on a daytime mission though. On our trip from Fortaleza up the windy Brazilian coast, we kept an eye on the forecast in Jeri from the very beginning. The reason was that Jeri is not only known for its nightlife, but also for its waves if you hit the right swell. Long, clean waves, traveling from the point down…

LOCATION SATELLITE BEACH, FLORIDA DATE WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 26TH, 2022 BRIAN Recently I had the pleasure of meeting up with world-class Liquid Force rider Guenther Oka and staff photographer Garrett Cortese, three hours south of Jax Beach, Florida, on the Space Coast. The past two hurricanes ate away at the dunes and sandbars, leaving a tidal window of around two hours of breaking waves off of the low tide. Knowing this, I got up early and drove from Jax to Melbourne to search for an uncrowded wave breaking far enough off the beach to foil. I pulled into five different parking lots on the way down to Melbourne Beach to scope the waves. There were viable options, but the tide was still too full. Guenther reached out to some of the…

RRD has expanded their modular foil system for 2023 and has added to the performance end of their offerings with their Dynamic Pro, Blaze, Spark and Blast foils. We’ve already tested the Blaze 1250 and Spark 900 which both impressed on the speed and performance front thanks to their thinner foil sections. The Blast is no different and sits in the high aspect ratio category along with the Spark. Interestingly the Spark (AR 9) and the Blast (AR 10) both come in 900cm2 sizes. Whilst the Spark is designed for powered winging, freestyle and wave riding (also evident in its availability in smaller sizes), the Blast is made with efficiency in mind and is the foil of choice for many of RRD’s riders when racing in lighter wind conditions. This…

Chris Sayer’s garage shaping bay and passion for foiling has now been backed by his old pals at Liquid Force and Freedom Foil Boards (FFB) and has morphed into something far more serious. Hailing from California, the crucible of US surfing, and now with the inclusion of the Hurley Brothers on the team, FFB are setting themselves to be a major player in the foil market across disciplines. The Nugget is pitched as an unapologetic, no compromises, low-volume wing board designed for both wave and freestyle use. The build is high end and decadent, with a mixture of unidirectional carbon and S glass over a stringer-less EPS core and HD foam block beefing up the all-important track box area. A practical layer of E glass forms a final hard-wearing protective…

Father and son team Ronny and Pietro Kiaulehn founded Wingman in early 2022, producing bespoke products specifically for wingfoiling. Ronny has a background in windsurf harness design, all the way back to the 90’s working on innovative products with the Fanatic R&D team. Pietro rides for Naish internationally, and is no stranger to a sewing machine, initially making his own impact vests to protect himself during his progressive freestyle and race riding, as well as helping his dad’s bad back. It was immediately clear to them there was a gap in the market. Sometimes a new sport requires a fresh approach to the soft goods that support it, and with wingfoiling spreading its (erm…) wings into race and freestyle disciplines, it’s clear that the most natural and practical position of…

Hey Chris. So firstly, give us an overview of the two boards, and how much influence into these shapes is there from the original boards ridden by the Hurley Brothers, the founders of the West Coast Foil Club? The WCFC JATO and Frequent flyer boards are almost the exact design from their original models that came out over three years ago. Jeff and Ryan were way ahead of their time in their board designs. As surfers, they just knew what they wanted out of a foil board and the all-important ‘why’ questions. Their priority was a board that was light, rigid and lasted, which is really all you can ask for in a foil board. We came in and added our twist in the construction and build of their original…

Hey Erik, so tell us how you first got involved with the team at Unifoil… I've always been a huge fan of Unifoil. It was the Hyper 190 that really set in foil brain for me. I couldn't believe how much ride time you could get in a session of terrible waves. A few months later Cliffy came on the podcast. After the show we stayed in contact, pinging ideas and tuning thoughts off each other. When he came on last year, after the Vyper came out, I was joking on the show and said I'd love to help design a foil with him. He said he was into it, and I had the recording so he couldn't back out… and that started the project. Tell us about your home…

Fabien, we love the name. Tiny but mighty? It definitely is a mighty tool, if you know how to make use of it and the conditions are on. The Tiny is our high wind wing board made for those who’ve got the level to use a full sinker board. It’s designed to go big, ride waves and jump in medium to strong wind conditions, plus it’s a great option for pump foiling. How do you select your sizing for the range? In the end it’s quite easy: choose a size that will easily sink with your weight. We have worked a lot on the volume distribution, allowing the board to sink flat combined with the weight of the foil. That is why the Tiny has a thick tail and super…

Hey John, so firstly please tell us what changes we’re going to find in this model… Hey team! So this model is quite the overhaul from the Air V2, making numerous steps in many areas, working really hard to ensure this wing is the perfect all-round performance wing. One of the most notable changes is the introduction of our brand new modular handle system. This will allow for changing between our new firm flex and prepreg carbon handles, giving the user complete customization as well as the possible introduction of boom systems and other exciting handle options down the line. Other more noticeable changes include the significantly tighter canopy to improve ease of use in maneuvers and responsiveness of the wing, as well as the re-engineered leading edge diameter, which…

The idea behind the film ‘Voyager’ was to capture something that nobody has seen before. In partnership with Lift Foils, the piece is intended to show passion, express emotion, relate to a local audience, as well as share insight to a foreign audience. As many of us think of downwind foiling as an art or a sport, many others are left in awe after seeing videos or photos of riders flying downwind, as they have never seen anything like it before. In hopes of sharing a story and showing the beauty of the sport as well as this place we call home, the film “Voyager” was created. The story starts in 2019, when the downwind scene came to life on the island of O’ahu. Master foiler and lifeguard Simeon KePaloma…

Dakhla is a city located on a 50km long narrow peninsula of the Atlantic Coast. On one side is a flatwater lagoon and on the other, world-class waves. With more than 330 windy days a year, Dakhla is a complete wingfoiling destination suitable for all levels of riders. Desert surrounds the lagoon, a unique playground where you can wing with flamingos and dolphins. The region itself is home to a diverse group of marine animals, birds, reptiles, and mammals that are rare or threatened species. UNESCO supported a project to create Dakhla National Park to preserve the region’s natural biodiversity. Berbers and Arabs have inhabited the Dakhla region since ancient times. Due to its complex geopolitical situation, Dakhla has been influenced by Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, and even Saharawi nomads. Now,…

01 OZONE FLY V1 Fresh onto the scene, Ozone’s new Fly V1 wing reflects the stripped back approach preferred by contemporary wing designs, keeping it lightweight, easy to use and super-efficient. It also packs up small too, making this an excellent travel option. 02 LIFT3 F Lift’s new LIFT3 F eFoil is built using their proprietary fiberglass blend, making this a very stable, easy-to-ride platform that comes in at a lower price, and ships with their ‘Light’ or ‘Full Range’ batteries, providing 60 or 100 minutes rider time, respectively. 03 LEVITAZ BOOM 44 You only have to read Mathis Ghio’s Red Letter Day slot this issue to check out his love for the full-carbon Levitaz Boom44. Voluminous enough to get you up and riding nice and early, but compact enough…

RIDER NATHAN VAN VUUREN WEAPON FLYSURFER MOJO RIDER HEIGHT 6’0 RIDER WEIGHT 70KG The Flysurfer MOJO currently includes a range of six sizes, from 2.8 to 7m. My personal favorite size is the 3.5m as it has a great low end pull for its size, and still handles incredibly well in stronger wind conditions. It uses a variety of materials, including triple ripstop material for a nice tight and even tension on the canopy. You will find high quality Dacron on the leading edge to keep maximum stiffness and rigidity throughout the wing. The MOJO comes equipped with three soft and comfortable handles, as opposed to using a solid boom. The handles have a slight flex which assists in soaking up those stronger gusts, which in turn places less force…

LOCATION MARSEILLE, FRANCE DATE FRIDAY NOVEMBER 4TH, 2022 Photographer Arthur Samzun and I had been planning a shoot together in the South of France for a while. We’d already done several shoots together, but we’d never done one at my home spot. Less than a week before we met up, I was already fixed on the forecasts all around Montpellier (where Arthur lives) and Marseille (where I live) to try to find the best spot for shooting. The closer the date got, the better the conditions were looking for Marseille. Not only that, but the forecast was also looking like one of the most optimal of the year. Although set to be an extremely sunny day, the temperature was due to drop from 20 to 7 degrees Celsius, with a…

COPA KITLEY GWA WINGFOIL WORLD CUP BRAZIL 2022 Taiba, Brazil 16-20 November 2022 The far north of Brazil is one of the world’s premium destinations for wingfoiling – constant trade winds, warm water, beautiful weather all year round and consistent rolling swells that are perfect for hydrofoils to ride. Therefore it was a natural stop for the fifth and final event of the GWA Wingfoil World Tour 2022! In previous Surf-Freestyle events this season, riders have competed in freestyle trick formats on flat water. The Brazilian event would be the first event that featured waves, and riders were scored on their two best wave rides and single freestyle trick in each of their heats. EARLY ROUNDS & HIGHLIGHTS The Copa Kitley GWA Wingfoil World Cup Brazil included both the Surf-Freestyle…

Having already entered the foil market last season with their SLC kite foils, CORE have expanded on their foil offering by releasing the Spectrum foils as part of their newly created wing foil range. The Spectrum is a medium aspect ratio foil designed as an all-round free-ride foil to meet the demands of the modern day winger and is available in five sizes from 950cm2 all the way up to 2150cm2 to cover the full range of skill and experience levels. The foil set comes with an aluminum mast (options of 60, 70, 80 and 90cm) with a sleek low footprint base plate as well as a 70cm aluminum fuselage. The parts fit together well using the supplied Torx bolts and tool with no play in the system and for…

With a long-standing reputation of producing high performing kites, it was only a matter of time before CORE released a wing. Using their extensive team of highly skilled watermen (such as the likes of Willow River Tonkin and Steven Akkersdijk) CORE have developed a complete freeride offering with a wing that excels in all conditions whilst maintaining the high quality and performance associated with the CORE brand. We tested the 4m wing in combination with the 70L Roamer board and the 1250 Spectrum foil. CORE have gone for an all-round ‘freeride’ wing in the XC with a moderate aspect ratio that aims to deliver plenty of power for free-style whilst being light enough to ensure good drift for wave riding. The strut and leading edge can be pumped up separately…

Hey team. So first up, can you give us an overview of both ranges, and what their optimum disciplines and environments are? Both E and G Series front wings are multi-sport compatible, and they work great for prone, wing, wake and windsurf, though most are too big for most kitefoiling applications. The E Series is all about making foiling easy and having great lower speed stability and easy gradual lift. They have a nice wide chord in the middle to get you up at low speed and then taper quickly towards the tips to stay agile and stable. The E Series wings come in three sizes from 1550-2200cm2. The smallest one, the E866 is my go-to for teaching lighter weight riders learning to wing, the largest E1090 is great for…

Hey team! First things first – can you give us an overview of the board, and for who and what it’s primarily designed for? Our new Apple Skipper is more than a model, it’s a design concept that we are going to apply to a range of models. From a small board for kite and wake, a prone model, a wing model and finally a downwind version as well. All of which are tuned for the needs of these individual disciplines. In general the Apple Skipper range is aimed at the experienced rider. Riders that do not require a super efficient planing surface. Instead, the Apple Skipper is designed to perform the best in tight turns and hard carves and the occasional jump. Talk to us about the “bulge”… So…

Hey Bruno! Please give our readers an overview of the new Pocket board and the new high aspect 1350 Lift foil – which disciplines are they optimized for, and what kind of rider? The Pocket is a 4-in-1 board: four sports on one board, including dock-start, wake foil, tow-in surf foil and kitefoil. Its small size, stiffness and lightness give it exceptional precision, which makes it a formidable board for pumping and carving. You will be able to pump for long distances in the best conditions. The ultra-rigid construction makes the board feel like one with the foil and gives it an extraordinary responsiveness. The whole thing reacts exactly as you would expect it to, and it’s just great fun! It is built with a PVC fiberglass sandwich on the…

The popularity of SUP downwinding has skyrocketed in recent months. What do you attribute to its quick rise in popularity? SUP downwinding is taking the foiling world by storm! But it didn’t happen suddenly. We have been working for years towards this goal. The difference is that now, with the latest advancements in the AXIS foiling technology, it’s no longer just for the elite athletes and super-humans. With wider style foils, stiffer than ever materials and longer, narrow Hawaiian-style boards, even the average person can tackle the challenge of paddling up. Of course, it’s not exactly a walk in the park, but with our latest downwinding foiling equipment, it’s a much more enjoyable experience. Our Power Carbon High Modulus Masts provide maximum control, and the sleek Red and Black Advance…

+ Foiling changed my life a couple of years ago. It allowed me to travel around the world, meet so many people and today I am making a living from it. Traveling and discovering new places is one of my favorite things now… foiling has turned so many random spots into incredible spots. It’s given us a totally new vision of so many different places… you can turn a small lake in the middle of a city into a pumping playground, or a mushy, soft wave into surf foil heaven. + I think foiling is starting to be accepted by other surfers and watermen and women. Today most of the surfing legends are foiling, and there are even some spots that are 100% dedicated to foiling. People who foil come…

As the sport of wingfoiling continues to gain popularity, so does our World Tour, with a jam-packed schedule of 13 events planned for this year. Get ready for an exciting season filled with thrilling wingfoiling action… RIDERS COMMITTEE AND PLANS FOR THIS SEASON The GWA Riders Committee is composed of six elite athletes from the tour who collaborate with the main organizers and judges of the GWA Tour. Together, we aim to determine the direction of the sport by assisting in the establishment of rules for various disciplines, such as Wave, Surf-Freestyle, Surf Slalom, and Big Air. Additionally, we provide feedback on past events to help make necessary improvements and ensure that the tour is as successful as possible. An example of a change that we helped facilitate would be…

Hey Ryu! So firstly, tell us how old you are, where you live, and where do you like to ride? I live in Isumi town in Chiba prefecture, Japan, and my favorite place to ride is the Isumi River Mouth, the closest spot near my house. I like Isumi because it’s easy to pump back, and it’s great for long riding. What’s your usual go-to foil setup? Right now, my go-to setup for prone and winging is the Takuma foil Kujira 980 with carbon mast, the board is a Takuma Morning Sun 4`2 30L. Besides prone and wingfoiling, I also enjoy kitesurfing, stand up paddle, prone surf, and I sometimes do tow-in foiling with my father. I like to see the day’s conditions and choose the proper setup for the…

CLEMENT ROSEYRO The day before there had been no waves, no sign of any swell until the sunset… I tried to get a good night’s sleep, but I woke around 6am, and headed to the beach at 6.30 with my friend Jerome Cloetens and photographer Samuel Cardenas. It was still dark, but we could hear the waves and saw the first wave closeout on the beach. The swell was there, clearly, but I didn’t get any real idea of what the size of the waves outside might be. But I knew it was going to be big… We prepared all the gear, but it was still not windy at all. Then at around 8.30am the wind started to pick up, so Jerome headed out on the water with the 5m…

Steve: David, thanks for meeting with us. So for me, eFoiling is like the gateway drug to get into foiling. There’s really nothing better in giving someone that sensation. What got you hooked into eFoiling in the first place? David: Yeah, I totally agree regarding eFoiling being the gateway drug to foiling. I spent my life doing all sorts of different watersports – windsurfing since I was 10, and surfing and then got into kitesurfing in 1998 then into kite foiling. That eventually led me to create Fliteboard. I got the first prototype working back in 2017 after a year of stuffing around and not knowing whether it was even possible. I finally got flying and it was just an incredible feeling. Initially I thought the product would be a…

Hey Armie. So right from the beginning, what sparked your interest in foiling? What was your first encounter with it, and how did it develop into you building foils yourself? I was incredibly lucky to grow up in a keen adventure sailing family in Aotearoa, New Zealand. We always followed the endeavors of kiwi sailors internationally and the epic 2013 America’s Cup was the first time I really became interested in foils. The Kiwis were the first to foil their AC72 here in 2012. I vividly remember seeing Team New Zealand flying gracefully past us up the Waitemata Harbor at mind bending speed – so close to the wind! There was some dark magic at work here! This world class sailing history and associated industry combined with local AC development…

LOCATION NAZARÉ, PORTUGAL DATE SUNDAY DECEMBER 18TH, 2022 It was a beautiful winter’s day. I was excited to get on the water and shoot with my friend and talented photographer, Ana Catarina. I arrived in Nazaré at around 9:30am. Ana offered me a coffee at Maya Gabeira’s house, the spot’s best female big wave surfer. We walked from the house to the top of the cliff to check how things were looking at the spot and north along this wild coast. From the top of the cliffs, the ocean looked very calm. The wind from the southeast was starting to pump. Usually, this wind brings clouds and rain, but that day it was quite sunny. Ana told me it was probably possible to get in the water from the south…

The era of Mast Wars is well and truly upon us, with several of the more progressive industry players releasing revised high modulus offerings in the last six months or so to help flush out any wiggle in their foil systems. 100 plus prototypes later, Armstrong have joined the race for stiffness, and boy have they made a superb job of it. Three sizes are available: 795, 935 and 1035mm, which should transcend surf, wing, kite and tow disciplines respectively. It comes packaged with the usual Armstrong high-end niceties with a futuristic reflective cover with removable base section that Velcros on and off for transport. Foil track fixings have been completely revised from the former A+ system, with all-new rainbow-colored titanium M7 track hardware. The apertures in the base plate…

Morning David. First up, we’re gonna assume the L stands for Light on the new ULTRA L Fliteboard… are we right?! “L” stands for Life Changing… only kidding, yes it means Light. Can you tell us what weight you’ve achieved, and how you’ve managed to get to that point? ULTRA L weighs just 22.5kg/49.6 lbs, and that’s for the complete setup. In the pursuit of ultimate performance, we stripped back the footstraps and handles, as well as lightening the battery box by handcrafting it with carbon fiber. We didn’t just reduce the weight, but also the swing weight. By positioning the battery weight as close as possible to the mast, the improved dynamics make your Fliteboard even more responsive and maneuverable. This is a performance machine created for experienced water…

We’re now up to the third version of the Mantis wing. How has the Mantis evolved for this season’s model? This year we wanted to make some incremental improvements to the Mantis without losing the power and stiffness it is known for. We have refined the flow of the LE diameter, optimized the wing twist for each size for the best power delivery, and refined the strut shape for better ergonomics. Most notably the wing comes with the new rigid handle that come standard on all Cabrinha wings, with an included shim set that allows you to customize the handle to the way you ride, by changing the height and angle of the handles. The panel layout on the Mantis looks like it’s had a good overhaul, explain the design…

Hey Tibo – firstly, give us an overview of the new range and who it’s primarily pitched at… Our new Apex V1 MA range runs from the MA800 to the MA1800. We wanted to create a foil range that carves and turns well, but is still super fun and accessible to ride, and this is what we’ve created with the fully modular Apex MA range. The medium aspect ratio and medium tapered planform provide an ideal balance between lift, glide and agility. The MA1800 and MA1500 are designed as light wind performance wings and are well suited for entry-level riders making their first runs foiling in light to moderate winds or heavy riders. The smaller sizes are the ultimate all-round front wing for most rider weights with an intermediate to…

Hi Mike. Could you give us an overview of the high aspect range, what it contains, and who should be looking to benefit from it… I should start with a warning – the Sonar HA Wings are designed for intermediate to advanced riders in different powered foiling categories like wing, kite and towing in bigger and faster swell. Engineered for the highest speed and efficiency possible across a range of disciplines, the HA Series require minimal pump and power to generate glide. The HA is our most efficient wing to date. With excellent lift at high speed, the HA850-HA1250 are your core wing-foiling and surf sizes. The smaller HA550-HA1050 have less planing surface and higher stall speed. They are designed to generate maximum efficiency and lift for high-speed wing foiling,…