Contact   Imprint   Advertising   Guidelines

MHL Lift Hydrofoil Kitefoil Wobble

Forum for kitesurfers
User avatar
Hawaiis
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 1375
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2011 11:39 am
Local Beach: Kailua
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 2 times

MHL Lift Hydrofoil Kitefoil Wobble

Postby Hawaiis » Fri May 24, 2013 7:23 am

I have a Rush Randle Aluminum Hydrofoil board, it is heavy, so I bought the MHL Lift full Carbon Fiber, it is much lighter, but it is so wobbly, I wonder if this is normal for carbon fiber Hydrofoils?

here is the video:

http://www.vimeo.com/66880713


Tone
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 2291
Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2003 2:34 pm
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 30 times

Re: MHL Lift Hydrofoil Kitefoil Wobble

Postby Tone » Fri May 24, 2013 7:45 am

All that should matter is if it wobblea when on the water

User avatar
Hawaiis
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 1375
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2011 11:39 am
Local Beach: Kailua
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: MHL Lift Hydrofoil Kitefoil Wobble

Postby Hawaiis » Fri May 24, 2013 8:12 am

It definitely translates to wobbling on the water, when the board lifts off the water, it starts to wiggle. The aluminum foil is much more rigid. I thought carbon fiber is suppose to be more rigid.

Tone
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 2291
Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2003 2:34 pm
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 30 times

Re: MHL Lift Hydrofoil Kitefoil Wobble

Postby Tone » Fri May 24, 2013 10:14 am

Then you have a problem. Get in touch with them and see what they say.

mdksniper
Medium Poster
Posts: 144
Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2008 3:23 pm
Local Beach: Long Beach Island, NJ
Gear: Naish Rides, BRM Cloud 17, Litewave kiteboards
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: MHL Lift Hydrofoil Kitefoil Wobble

Postby mdksniper » Fri May 24, 2013 1:30 pm

Just a curious side question. How much did the MHL Lift cost?

User avatar
davesails7
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 2220
Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2007 7:36 pm
Kiting since: 2006
Weight: 75 kg
Local Beach: Virginia Beach
Style: Race
Gear: ML B3
R1V2 11. VMG 13, 15, 18
OR Mako 130x35
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 22 times

Re: MHL Lift Hydrofoil Kitefoil Wobble

Postby davesails7 » Fri May 24, 2013 2:51 pm

This is the only place I've seen them for sale ($1749):

http://shop.eastofmaui.com/LIFT-HYDROFO ... FOIL-2013/

User avatar
ChristoffM
Medium Poster
Posts: 196
Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2011 5:26 pm
Local Beach: Langebaan and Cape Town.
Favorite Beaches: Anywhere in the Cape, South Africa.
Style: Hydrofoils! (And surf and old school)
Gear: Cape Town Foilboard and Spotz hydrofoils.
Any kite that can keep up with the hydrofoils.
Brand Affiliation: Cape Town Foilboards
Location: Langebaan (Cape Town)
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Re: MHL Lift Hydrofoil Kitefoil Wobble

Postby ChristoffM » Fri May 24, 2013 6:01 pm

Hi

I also have the MHL lift. If you put the board down tight, you should notice that it only flexes in a twist motion, not up and down or flexing from what I have noticed. The twist if there because the carbon holds stiffness mainly in the bending direction, but its not as good at countering the twist as a metal part. I have seen the Rush foil and was also curious about it and the difference is huge.

I ride the MHL in all kinds of conditions, and it handles good even with the twist flex. But I do get days when the wind is light, and the chop of the water of such a type that the hydrofoil suddenly drops to one side almost like stalling one side and it used to throw me off every time. VERY irritating! But I have learned how much to point upwind in those conditions and with faster response I can recover from it now. Most days it does not happen, but is some conditions is does.

I suspect it is caused by the flex, but it could be something else. It might just be me going too slow in too light wind and stalling the foil, but the way it drops to one side I think it is a stall induced by the flex of the MHL. I am going to try some metal foil hopefully soon and see if they have teh same sudden stall problem.

Its not a big problem. It only happens 1 out of 5 times I go out and only in light conditions with a certain water surface texture/current conditions. Most of the time the MHL rides so nicely.

User avatar
Hawaiis
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 1375
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2011 11:39 am
Local Beach: Kailua
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: MHL Lift Hydrofoil Kitefoil Wobble

Postby Hawaiis » Fri May 24, 2013 6:14 pm

The MHL is also taller and longer than the Rush Randle, that may contribute to the wobble.
Attachments
image.jpg

SURFFOILS
Rare Poster
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat May 25, 2013 4:00 am
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 0

Re: MHL Lift Hydrofoil Kitefoil Wobble

Postby SURFFOILS » Sat May 25, 2013 10:08 am

Hawaiis wrote:The MHL is also taller and longer than the Rush Randle, that may contribute to the wobble.
Is there Any difference in the overall dimensions ? I'm interested in how any extra width or length affects the stability, sometimes its the overall balance and symmetry. Can you measure any difference in length any width ? Thanks.

Nicholas_Leason
Rare Poster
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Mar 28, 2012 1:40 pm
Local Beach: Shacks Beach, Puerto Rico
Style: Hydrofoil
Gear: MHL Custom, Lift, Ozone
Brand Affiliation: Manage MHL Custom and Lift Foils
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: MHL Lift Hydrofoil Kitefoil Wobble

Postby Nicholas_Leason » Sat May 25, 2013 1:30 pm

Thanks everybody for posting and starting to discuss foils! Its very cool to see everyone start to take an interest in the sport and the product and the riders will always push the development and evolution of the designs. Just wanted to add a few details to the commentary above. I designed and built it so I can tell you a little bit about where it is and where it is going.

The wobble is referred to "angle of twist" and it has to do with the rigidity of the material and length of the shaft since the deflection is a compounding quantity throughout the length. I do lay up the foils with multiple types of carbon in multiple directions. I usually cruise and have a good time, but some of the more performance athletes have commented that they wanted more stiffness. Easy solution... I doubled the quantity of carbon material on the inside of the foil and with a more robust molding procedure, made it work. The outcome.... My recent shafts are far more rigid.

I can't say that it is as rigid as an aluminum setup, but I own an aluminum setup and in my humble opinion, the benefits of composite components in terms of performance far outweigh those of the aluminum setup.

Thanks again for posting and if you have any questions, you are welcome to write me, nick@mhlcustom.com.

Peace


Return to “Kitesurfing”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Abaltasis, alekbelia, BillyGoatGruff, Bing [Bot], bshmng, decay, gl, grigorib, jjm, joop, Manxman, RagingGrandpa, Regis-de-giens, Vivo3d, Windwarrior, Xtream, y2kBug and 416 guests