windmaker wrote: ↑Thu Mar 14, 2019 11:30 am
grigorib wrote: ↑Tue Mar 12, 2019 5:53 pm
So do windsurf foil and surf/SUP foil markets pay off on investments into specific molds and design?
Do they benefit in means of knowledge/R&D/revenue or they're rather a burden?
Are they going to make it as a separate line or they'll be using kite/wake foil material?
As originally with kite foiling some manufacturers are willing to take the risk with wind and surf foils either because they are passionate or truly believe in them.
And as with kitefoil the rest will not actually develop or make there own wind/surf foils but have them made by someone else and then label them as there latest design which took years to develop
Consider that a good wing will produce the max lift, lowest drag, highest stability, and optimum speed. Certainly these traits can be extremely similar across different "sports". Really,
foiling is the sport and kite, windsurf, sail, wave, boat, and elec. motor are what power it, so it makes sense that the wing technology is shared across sports and works quite well. In some cases, for example windsurfing, they aren't using the 4-bolt plate widely, so there are some changes to fuselage lengths to accommodate COE in the correct position for balance as well as stiffness of the mast to accommodate the high loads.
I don't find anything wrong with outsourcing wing design as it makes sense to put the best possible product in the market. Crowdsourcing or contract design is nothing new and makes sense when measured against the cost to have a full time expert on staff to design foils, or taking another designer's time on staff to engineer these foils. Anyway, there is a lot more that goes into bringing a product to market than a contractor just dropping off a "finished" product at the door step of the brand. Brands have testers and product managers that make sure the product meets the design brief specs, and that it's able to be manufactured efficiently and with high quality tolerance. This isn't easy in small batch manufacturing such as we see in wake, windsurf, kitesurf, and surfing.
The bottom line... the risk is worth it.
Great questions.