Are monofoils the future of foiling?

[joekitetime]

I love riding loose foils. But on the same day I go swap out for long fuse foils for speed and carving.

Regardless of design, you lose pitch stability the more you shorten the fuse, or distance from front foil to stabilizer.

It is really fun to ride loose and squirrely sometimes, but for both kiting and winging I prefer both extremes, as well as the middle.

[ronnie]

I think monofoils have potential. I don't think that includes really high speed.
I think you have aimed the Triton T1 quite well as it allows people to get into monofoil freeride a bit easier.

To kite with a monofoil, it can be made to look like surfing a small wave, but it is mostly being very manoeuvrable among small waves.


For wingfoiling and riding small waves, I think monofoil has the most potential. It could also work for prone small wave foiling?

In this video Oyvind is using a 2400 sq cm wing, and with a wingding, it's possible to switch off the wing and surf a small wave - which is what the monofoil potentially might be best at compared to other foils IMO. I haven't seen a video of someone on a monofoil really trying to ride a quality small surf wave, but this is about the closest so far?

[ronnie]

So the Triton turns out to have speed potential! 31.4 knots.

Single front wings have an advantage of lift without the downforce of a stabiliser, but they don't have the stability of the Triton.

I wonder how this foil would compare if the fuselage was shortened to put the front wing just in front of the mast? It would reduce the pitch and yaw stability, so make it much more manoeuvrable - but should retain some of the pitch and yaw stability. Both wings lift and the front wing stabilises to the rear wing. The larger rear wing has a span of only 56 cm. The total upward-lifting area combined from both wings is 1300 cm2.





The same could be argued for a very short fuselage on any foil - but this one reportedly has characteristics that make it feel more like normal surfing.

[Fatso]

So the Triton turns out to have speed potential! 31.4 knots.

Single front wings have an advantage of lift without the downforce of a stabiliser, but they don't have the stability of the Triton.

I wonder how this foil would compare if the fuselage was shortened to put the front wing just in front of the mast? It would reduce the pitch and yaw stability, so make it much more manoeuvrable - but should retain some of the pitch and yaw stability. Both wings lift and the front wing stabilises to the rear wing. The larger rear wing has a span of only 56 cm. The total upward-lifting area combined from both wings is 1300 cm2.





The same could be argued for a very short fuselage on any foil - but this one reportedly has characteristics that make it feel more like normal surfing.

The Zeeko Spitfire is still on my want list...

[Flyboy]

After a number of sessions on the T1,yesterday I took my Gong Curve M back out for a session. Wind started at 10/11 knots and built to 13/14 knots. Riding with a Peak4 6m. Immediately, unlike with the T1, I was completing all my foot switches successfully. Other than that, I wouldn't say there was a huge difference in ease, or difficulty of riding.

The big difference IMO is that the T1 asks to be be ridden with a more relaxed, upright stance. It's playful and turny (think Oyvind). Very smooth and reasonably fast ... but I'm very surprised Gunnar says he got 31 knots out of it. In comparison the Curve M feels like it's on rails. I felt like I could crank the kite, bear off on the right course, pump the foil a couple of times and accelerate faster and faster up to the limit of what the foil would allow. I don't generally spend a lot of time riding like that, but it's fun to do at times. You feel the drag of the foil and feel yourself pushing against the front wing & the stab - the "riding on rails feeling". The T1 doesn't really feel like that - it's more a freestyle/wave orientated foiling experience. I haven't had the opportunity to use the T1 in bigger waves yet - it will be interesting to see what it feels like in those conditions.