Once upon a time, before foiling as we know it...

[galewarning]

Yeah, I know, there's a pole and a boom, but it's still pretty cool. Too bad the clip doesn't show the foil...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zcjhu190U3A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zcjhu190U3A

[Seabizzle]

The video raises an interesting point in the caption at the end "why did it take so long to catch on"

Realistically it would have been possible to design and build foils with the functionality and usability of todays foils but the R and D and the market drive wasn't there, but why did it take so long?

[Laughingman]

The airchair and the like have been around for years... I can find information dating back to the early 1980s. When I first saw KBHF its the first thing I thought of but I could not get a clear answer if it would work behind a kite or not. I got my answer in La Ventana earlier this year. I saw a guy using the AirChair and having a blast with his kite. Jumping super high and flying around so fast. No need to switch feet or anything just sit and go. Was fun to watch too.

[Eltreato]

I too wonder how this took so long to catch on, especially given that windfoiling is in my experience way easier than kitefoiling.

[nothing2seehere]

Almost certainly it didn't catch on because windsurfing is really difficult to learn and few wanted to make it even harder.

Plus. Unlike with kitesurfing you already have a nice floaty platform and 30 years ago everyone was doing acrobatics (handstands and the like) for light wind entertainment. There has always been stuff to do in light wind with a windsurfer - as long as you don't crave speed, you can still get out on the water.

[grigorib]

Yeah....also someone please explain how comes we have uglier than death aluminum foil sets still being sold new, or why there was a huge focus on racing and gap in low aspect - high area foil wings offering in last couple of years

[drone]

[Lokihel]

Interesting design.
It was actually a triplane! And the big vertical stabiliser below the foil must have been something you buy by the dozen

I wonder if anyone still has one lying around.

[ronnie]

The video raises an interesting point in the caption at the end "why did it take so long to catch on"

Realistically it would have been possible to design and build foils with the functionality and usability of todays foils but the R and D and the market drive wasn't there, but why did it take so long?

Neil Pryde Maui did develop and market a windsurf board with an aluminium foil - developed with Rush Randle.
Antoine Albeau says he windsurfed it before 2000 and bought one of the foils, which he still has and uses (I think this is it in this wakefoil clip). As he says, it didn't catch on, but it did work. There was a video of Rush Randle windfoiling it and it looked very similar to windfoiling on today's foils.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php? ... 3493963867

[TomW]

1: cheaper/ better CAD
2. Cheaper / better CNC
3. Cheaper / better Carbon and epoxy composites and vacuum technology
4. The Internet
5. E- commerce