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Well . . . had my first go on the spitfire . . . both XLW wings . . . just a bit interesting on the first attempt to take off and then all good after that. Relatively easy change over as used exactly same positioning as with the carver wing setup.

I would gather that using the standard wings would not have been as smooth a transition.

Initially thought that it was not carving any better than the carver wing but as I got more used to the weighting, the spitfire does start to shine in this department. Smooth riding also.

Not sure why other companies have not followed suit.


Will be a week before i will probably get another chance but the plan is to try the XLW front wing with the standard rear as a few others have posted how good that feels.

Spitfire has been out for vet a year now?

I'm shocked no other manufacturer has a canard foil in production.

I'm shocked no one has tried a canard SUP/Surf foil (especially since everyone likes the XLW wings better on the spitfire! Just keep going in that direction!)

If the biggest knock on the spitfire is the weight, why hasn't zeeko offered one in carbon? Or why hasn't a home builder copied a spitfire fuesalage in carbon? (Maybe use an existing carbon mast, like a fluente?)

Perhaps kite foiling in waves is not big enough yet and for every other style "traditional " shapes are better. It's a niche of a niche of a niche...

Also many big brands don't seem to have a real interest is hydrofoil other than cheap, simple, profit. Zeeko is one of the few passionate .

I had a go on a spitfire the other day. Took me 5-10 minutes to sort the launch then I was into it. It was way less stable more role sensitive than my foil. Took more power and speed to get on the foil felt slower and possibly worse upwind. But that could have been my lack of experience on it. I could feel that it would be awesome doing slow style carving on waves.

Ultimately I think I'm into higher speed carving where the traditional foil I think may shine a bit better.

I wonder if there's some patent that's holding back other manufacturers from producing canards?

Dear all,
Firstly I would like to thank you for all your reports. It makes me think we are on the right way.
I developped the spitfire 2-3years ago. It took time to make it works and it is the main reason other could not make one. The knowledge to design a spitfire foil need to be deeper and wider than a traditional foil. All trimmings (profile choice, angle of attack etc...) need to be defined more accurately.
And business is countdown clock, and for some, why design something different than the main stream?

For me the reason is clear because this is the next mainstream
For my personnel ride I ride only spitfire ( I do not compete anymore). Why? Because I LOVE CARVINGS and turns and the ability of the spitfire is unbeatable. More than the turning ability (a traditional foil can turn also on a dime: example take our new bullet foil with a carver wing it turns super short) it is because of the feeling created during turns: the back foot pressure like a surfboard. Only spitfire can do it.

The other feature I love: I FEEL SAFE. With the spitfire the foil never take off when I crash or try new tricks due to the main wing is backward. I feel very confident as the foil will never try to hit your head during crash (and I know this...). It makes me I try powered bottom turns without any fear or hesitation. Even if the front wing is partly in the air and not in the water I achieve to bottom turn, no crash and I immediately think about the roller I will do next
This safety feeling make I ride it also on flat water, improving my ride confidently.
This safety feeling is good for good riders but ALSO FOR BEGINNERS. How many people try to hydrofoil and was scared by it due to the foil flying like hell during crashes??? With spitfire this scary scene never appears

For carbon lovers, please note that we are finalizing a fuselage dedicated for our carbon mast fitting the spitfire wings. More news soon

To summarize we will see more and more spitfire concept hydrofoil in the future for sure. We are not like planes, we are riders looking for a surfboard feeling.
I am working on this kind of foil for other uses than kitefoiling and first results are awesome.

Stay tuned and ride hard


Nicolas

Thanks for explaining about the canard design Nicolas.

You mention the benefits in feel from turning off the back foot - does that also affect the feel of jumping when using a canard foil?

After that post I suppose we should let Nicolas in the club.
A merry Spitfire Christmas to everyone.

plummet wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 23, 2017 7:28 am

But that could have been my lack of experience on it. I could feel that it would be awesome doing slow style carving on waves.

Ultimately I think I'm into higher speed carving where the traditional foil I think may shine a bit better.

I am not in the spitfire club but maybe I can be an associate. I DIY'ed wings from g10, halfway between spitfire and XLW. (Sorry nicholas....but imitation is flattery

the balance on my setup isn't right, very pitch sensitive. Next summer I will experiment with aoa to see if the ride will stabilize.

Anyways....the turning off the back foot is pretty amazing. Feels like a hard carve on a surfboard. But not slow speed, at least not sup foil slow. Plummet: give it another go if you get a chance, at least til you feel the back foot push through a tight turn. Fun times.

juandesooka wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 25, 2017 8:26 am

plummet wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 23, 2017 7:28 am

But that could have been my lack of experience on it. I could feel that it would be awesome doing slow style carving on waves.

Ultimately I think I'm into higher speed carving where the traditional foil I think may shine a bit better.

I am not in the spitfire club but maybe I can be an associate. I DIY'ed wings from g10, halfway between spitfire and XLW. (Sorry nicholas....but imitation is flattery

the balance on my setup isn't right, very pitch sensitive. Next summer I will experiment with aoa to see if the ride will stabilize.

Anyways....the turning off the back foot is pretty amazing. Feels like a hard carve on a surfboard. But not slow speed, at least not sup foil slow. Plummet: give it another go if you get a chance, at least til you feel the back foot push through a tight turn. Fun times.

It's unlikely ill get another go any time soon. There's none at my local.

It was an interesting ride though. You never know. One day I may make myself one. A higher aspect speed carving foil would come first though.

plummet wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 25, 2017 7:18 pm

It was an interesting ride though. You never know. One day I may make myself one. A higher aspect speed carving foil would come first though.

For some experimenting, you could try reversing any set of wings ... just will take a bunch of trial and error to get the lift and balance right. I am going to try with canard experimenting on the sup foil over next year -- I still have not yer heard an answer to my question on why no one is doing this for surf/sup foil, whether it's lack of knowledge, or not into experimenting, or that it doesn't work properly. Seems like the benefits of a canard for kitefoil apply even more for a surf foil. There you go Nicholas, maybe another niche to pursue.