Postby davesails7 » Mon Apr 23, 2018 5:42 pm
I raced alongside some FRX riders at the Charleston Fort to Battery race this weekend. Bottom line, when it's really windy they are just as fast but in normal conditions (10-20 kts) foil kites are noticeably faster.
The guy who won the distance race, Jason D'agostino, was on an FRX hydrofoil and inflatable kite (9m). It was averaging 22 knots gusting to 30 kts with 3-4 ft chop at some points of the 4 mile downwind race. The video of the race is available on Sailing Anarchy Facebook page. Aaron on foil kite looked faster in the video, but he crashed. I crashed multiple times. It was rough!
Because it was so windy, the inflatable wasnt at a disadvantage to the foil kites. Actually, the guy who came in second, only a few seconds behind was on a twintip and 12m inflatable! When its gusting to 30 you dont really need efficiency to go downwind.
We did some course racing in lighter conditions on Friday and Sunday. The FRX is pretty much the same hydrofoil as the Delta hydrofoil that I was riding, with an extra mm or 2 on strut thickness. In the 12-16 its range I was ahead of Jason many races even though he typically beats me every race when we are both on foil kites. So the foil kites are definitely faster, but the one design concept is interesting. I dont know if they'll be able to get current racers to give up their foil kites.
Some info on the FRX:
-Sounds like they are still finalizing the details on the kites, but should be an affordable package.
-The foil is the delta hydrofoil design being mass produced by Neil pryde/Cabrinha. Same with the board
-The kites are three sizes only, 9, 11, and 14