Foiling in South Africa

[ChristoffM]

Going fast on big foils is near impossible I find, but small foils need to be of very good design to go very fast. I have a spotz which I have only been able to take out once, and it is much faster than my own designs. And my own designs are again much faster than the MHL Lift, so the difference in available beginner foils and race foils are immense.

I am still contemplating whether one would need a slow foil (or medium speed foil). In my typical conditions (Cape Town) I find that I can ride the very fast spotz foil, but am far from comfortable. I do not know how comfortable I will get if my skill level improves, but for now I like to have a slower, medium paced foilboard for my conditions.

But will I go back to an even slower foil like the beginner MHL Lift? No, not in any conditions, not even in marginal light wind stuff where it takes a bit extra effort to get up to speed on a smaller foil wing. So maybe when I get dialed into the Spotz I will not want to go back to a medium speed wing? At the moment it seems unlikely though. I really enjoy a solid (stiff) medium speed foilboard. I can take on just about any conditions with it.

For learning, I am starting to wonder whether a medium speed foil is not better than a very slow foil. I will have to see when more people start learning in my area, but going faster gives you more inertia which makes the balance a bit easier. So long as the foil is slow enought to keep you up at a comfortable speed then I do not see any reason to go for bigger wings.

[ozchrisb]

B1H3-2.jpg

The board is polyester resin construction with extra glass, which seems to work great for a hydrofoil board since the polyester has a bit more flex (and hence impact resistance) over epoxy boards.

How did you attach the foil? Did you drill through and bond in some inserts? T-Nuts? Any tricks or tips? I have a foil but no board and want to do something like this.

[ChristoffM]

What I am finding to work really well is to use ENSA inserts. They are stainless steel inserts that have M6 thread on the inside and M10 thread on the outside.

I first make 4 holes of about 25mm diameter that goes right through the blank. These holes are then filled with resin and glass+cotton flocks mixture when the board is glassed. These resin hard points thus connect from the bottom glass to the top glass layers the way I have them. After the board is finished I then tap in a M10 holes into the resin hard points. Then I screw in the ENSA inserts and then glue the inserts in place with some resin.

So far this has not let me down and I give my foilboards a lot of abuse. For an existing board, I am not sure what is the best way to make hard points into which you can put inserts. I think what I would do is dril four 25mm holes right through the board, and then put some new glass patches above and below the resin hard points to seal them propertly and connect them strongly to the board.

Maybe someone has a trick to get four resin hard points well bonded between the top and bottom layers of glass without having to add extra patches of glass fabric to the top and bottom?

[Hawaiis]

This is what I use

[revhed]

Hello,
This is an idea from "FAV" found on the french forum.
We have used it with great success, we do not foil big waves like Christoff in SA, but this technique seems strong.
This is for a factory or home made board meaning it is finished.

You drill 10mm hole thru board, or better yet if you are accurate 8, to fit your insert.
Then with long section of an allen wrench chucked up in drill with short "L" end protruding you hollow out to about 25mm between the top and bottom of board.
So if you have a 10 mm hole you can get a 10mm length of allen wrench in between to open up.
Then you add your epoxy micro balloon mixture with your inserts.
This allows for "setting your inserts" with your t bar holes for a near perfect fit!
You now have a insert "PLUG" in between the top and bottom.
You should still add carbon or glass patches for more strength, top and bottom with the correct overlap onto the board surfaces.
Make sure that your insert mixture does not attack your board core by doing a GOOD test.
I also add photo of JMB11 insert idea, note that it is designed to not twist or pull out with easily found hardware, ss of course.
Hope this helps or leads to an even better idea.
revhed

[Hawaiis]

If you don't want it to go through the board, this is the easier way. Make sure it is Made in USA, not some crap from China.