I dunno, still looks much more difficult to tack and to ride downwind than a raceboard (even Johnny is falling!). Raceboards are already too difficult for many people to ride! I'd love to try one out, but I don't see how this would make racing more fun. Probably faster around the course, but isn't having fun racing more important than being 2% faster?
In sailing, the Laser class is old technology, but the fleets are huge and it's a lot of fun to have close races with everyone on the same equipment (one design). If you look at a hydrofoil Moth or 18ft skiff, those boats are way faster than the Laser, but is it more fun to race? With those boats you spend most of your time and attention trying not to flip your boat, and the races are more spread out. Also prices are over 3x more expensive than a Laser, you have to keep buying new equipment to keep up, and things are always breaking, so the fleet sizes are small. You have to travel long distances to find people to race.
That's why I don't understand this drive for endless innovation with faster and faster boards. I'm trying to build a local raceboard fleet, but the prices are too high and I can't get anyone interested. Just pick a design and let's race! The current raceboards are fast enough
FabsPH wrote:Wonder if they could figure out how to make a foil that would fit any board.... meaning a small foil that could be mounted in the existing fin boxes.
Alex Aguera has his foils set up to fit in a standard tuttle box I believe. Position would be totally different from a fin though, so probably couldn't have a single box that could be used for a foil or a fin interchangeably.