I was inspired by the thread by Horst Sergio who was promoting unifoiling: viewtopic.php?f=201&t=2408431.
But then I went my own way and came up with some ideas that didn't quite mesh with the "generally accepted" idea that high aspect foils are amazing.
Gliders use high aspect foils. Fighter planes use low aspect foils. Aeroplane fuselages often are designed as low aspect foils themselves. Barges are wide. Speed boats are narrow. On investigation I found that low aspect wings are renowned for low speed high lift capabilities and this ties in nicely with our experiences with kites, a low aspect ratio kite develops more low speed power than a high aspect kite of the same area. This is because the longer chord produces a higher affected volume if you use a 1:1 scaled wing profile shape. That affected volume has a mass relationship to the affected air or water. Theoretically we can drop the relative thickness to chord ratio lower than in a high aspect wing and still get the same lift or get greater lift at lower speeds with the same area. To me, these are sounding like good outcomes for wing powered hydrofoiling
A lesser aspect ratio results in a more nimble foil that rolls more easily, making turns theoretically easier. A long enough monofoil allows direct design-in of a mast socket and increases stability so that the interruption to water flow of a stabiliser is no longer needed to provide comfort from pitching stability.
With the above design considerations I was keen to design a foil meeting these requirements and try it out. So a few nights ago I designed the foil, last night and this morning I modified it for 4 part 3D printing to fit inside my printer's build voulme. This morning I started it printing but forgot a brim around the edges, this afternoon after work and before my wing session on my massive second DIY wing,I found the build had reached about 14mm high and corners were lifting. So I resliced it, now with brim and a heat shield skirt. I've increased the base plate heat from 45 degrees to 70 and it's building anew.
Infill is cubic to create closed pockets. Estimated build time from prusaslicer is about 4 and a quarter days. Estimated unclad weight is approx 1.5kg for a foil of 3.36 litres volume. Hopefully my new slicing settings will work and I'll get 4 well constructed pieces... otherwise I'll glue up some plywood and CNC route out some foam, ply or Paulownia
These wing pieces are quarters like directions of the compass looking down, NW, NE, SE, SW. Hard to stop warping so it will be interesting to see how they look by tomorrow morning.
Today, out on the waves advancing my wingsurf foil learning every time my foil wore a chunk of seaweed i was thinking about the very different shape of this foil I'm building now. And no stabiliser to go fancy dress party mode either Just the mast...