Bille wrote: ↑Thu Mar 31, 2022 3:16 am
juandesooka wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 5:23 pm
...
If rigid wings are most effective when fully powered, then maybe that’ll be a race thing.
Anyways...will be interesting to see what evolves in next few gens.
If done properly ; a rigid will have a Way more usable speedrange .
Bille
Your question at the beginning was close, yes inflateables are much better to crash into than rigid structure wings. The impact area is spread out. Not only that, but they are also forgiving of blunt impacts and errors.
If you haven't wingsurfed before though, you're missing the more important point, usability. For example Duotone started with a full boom, then a partial boom, now they are down to two rigid handles. This is in addition to a an inflatable boom in their last two major models. Duotone aren't known for having light wings either. You should not underestimate the rigidity of a well inflated structure with high tensile strength fibres. Alula usage enhances this significantly, while permitting concurrent diameter reduction of the inflated structure.
A non inflated rigid structure still requires resilience for impacts, no shredding or breaking that might impale, and sufficient structural rigidity to allow the wing working area to retain a useful shape.
I get the feeling you are stuck in a mode of feeling you have superior technical knowlege of better wing shapes without practical understanding of the use case in an up close and personal manner. I really think you should put the time and effort, adventure into learning how to wingsurf and retain your ideas, goals, but adapt them AFTER learning, because any wing that doesn't pop straight up to the surface of the water to be easily detached and flown is at an immediate usability disadvantage, most especially learning. Thin rigid structure wings may be a thing in the future for racing, but they still need contouring to permit high stall angles and utilise the coanda effect to resist flow separation on the upper surface. By the time you build a rigid structure capable of all this, you also will have issues with finding the compromise level between weight and shape plus the fragility of a shape that is more complex than an ILE wing. I think ram air wings and ram air under-membranes would be much more productive research avenues for you. Do consider that you will be holding the wing structure and any offsetting of it's weight by aparent wind's lift will be a parasitic drag.