hi I'm new to kiting and have only done a few lessons some time back., although I hope to get back on the water soon. I was recently watching TV and saw some amazing footage of kite racing using foil kites and hydrofoil boards.
I've done a bit of a search but couldn't find any recent relevant info (and i don't mean to start a foil board debate as from what i read it seems to be a slightly heated topic). However I have two main questions-
1) are Foil racing kites "better/ faster" than the inflatable 'racing kites' for racing purposes? what are the main pros and cons (i assume the biggest drawback being if you crashed a foil kite in the water you can't re-launch)? Are there many other sectors of kiting where a foil kite brings much advantage over a traditional kite with the inflatable leading edge or are they mainly only used for racing?
2) are hydrofoil boards faster over a race course than those big racing boards i've seen previously (and have hydrofoil boards replaced the tradtional racing boards in the kite racing scene)?
3) In a open fight race with the same rider what would win or be the most common preference.
thanks