It looks fun, for sure, but I think the novelty might wear off quickly.
One of the things that struck me about the rig I saw, was the the foil was a somewhat crudely shaped plywood lamination, and some part of the rig broke on the guy using it.
There is obvious room for improvement, but if you think about it, if you could have a rig where the kite is in direct opposition to the hydrofoil wing lifting down… that might be the ultimately efficient speed set-up….
Damien Leroy did a video of it a couple years back.
Exactly what I was going to say. Damo had a video out there somewhere around 2017. He was either testing one for someone or something like that. I’ve never heard of them again, so I wonder why not? Looked fun to sort of just hover around.
Damien Leroy did a video of it a couple years back.
Exactly what I was going to say. Damo had a video out there somewhere around 2017. He was either testing one for someone or something like that. I’ve never heard of them again, so I wonder why not? Looked fun to sort of just hover around.
Damien's buddy Patrick Rynne was always inventing things, and he was seemingly behind the J foil anchor. The two of them made the video of Damo flying while attached to it.
The speed idea makes sense, as you can attach the kite directly to the foil and hang from the line attaching them. The power is not limited by rider weight. You don't want to be around if the foil ever comes out of the water tho.
The auto submerged foil used a diaphragm operated by the pressure of water depth to activate the ailerons to keep the depth constant.