Windfoiling continues to grow and attract new people every day, and brands are working hard to make sure they are on top of their game. Once again this month we have listed some new products that have been launched recently and a sneak peak of some of the new products that are announced for 2020: foils, boards and sails dedicated to foiling.
Check it out!
Following our long list of new types of foils that have large front wings (see our previous "News post"), inspired by surf-foils and SUP-foils, Mantafoils is also getting on board and launched their Mantafoils Mono 1200 and 1800.
Mantafoils is a renown hydrofoil brand within kitefoiling and windfoiling offering great value for money and innovative products (like for example an inflatable foil board!).
The Mono 1200 is the perfect foil to start your foiling experience out on. It is based on the same aluminium mast and fuselage as the classic Mantafoils Mono, but the front wing is obviously much larger with 1200 cm2, offering a very early lift even with a relatively small sail. An 1800 cm2 wing is also available to really give you the earliest planing possible.
We have just received this new wing and we will publish our review as soon as possible. All Mantafoil products are available in our online store with international shipping.
Mantafoils also announced a new wing for wing-foiling in August. The wing will be perfect combined with the Mantafoils Mono 1200.
It’s not a big surprise as an inflatable wing fits very well with the brand’s vision: offering high quality and easy-to-ride products at an affordable price.
Stay tuned, we will give you more info about it in our next update!
Horue Rental
Horue is offering a brand new rental service for the summer!
The idea is that you can order and get a Horue Vini Pro foil shipped to you (or to your summer destination) for a short period of time (3 to 15 days).
This is a perfect way for people to experience foiling during their holidays, without investing in a brand new foil.
If you decide to buy the foil at the end of your holidays, you don’t need to return it, and will only pay for the foil, not the rental. Price: €30 per day. The rental servide is only available in France for the moment.
Visit Horue's website for more info and booking.
Horue also announces new products for 2020:
The Aita foil, a new freeride/freerace foil in carbon / titanium
The new Femto Pro board (86L and 95 L)
The Waviator: A new electric foil. Perfect way to go to work !
(Price: €6990 - Contact us to order yours)
Exocet cross and free foil
The French brand Exocet has recently launched 2 new boards, a dedicated freeride-freemove foil board the Freefoil, and a convertible windsurf/windfoil, the Cross.
The Freefoil’s shape is meant to be friendly and accessible for new foilers, whatever their weight and windsurf level: Enhanced flight comfort and great in manoeuvre. The deck shape is more curved than the RF board (well known for its flat profile), adapted to a freeride practice.I would recommend not usingcam sails with this board, as the goal is freeride and fun rather speed and performance.
The Cross is actually a bump & jump freeride windsurf board, but the 124L and 134L models are equipped with a reinforced foil box and can be used as windfoil boards. The Cross is a good convertible board if you still want to practice regular windsurfing, but are curious about foiling or want to increase the wind range, using a foil in light winds.
Both the Freefoil and the Cross are 250 cm long.
This is the ultimate guide if you have decided to purchase windfoiling equipment.
This windfoil buyer's guide was created to help you navigate in the wild, foil-jungle, by sharing detailed product descriptions, product comparisons, product test and reviews.
RRD
The new all-in-one hydrofoil from RRD, the SH- Flight, does it all: sup/surf/kite and windfoiling.
To use the SH-Flight foil as a windsurf foil, you will need a convertible kit with longer fuselage (100 cm instead of 76 cm) and mast (80 cm instead of 60 cm), as well as a tuttle head (instead of US plate system).
A bit like the Mantafoils Mono 1200, this is a freeride foil for those who do not care so much about speed but want a foil with early lift and that’s easy to manoeuver.
The front wing has a thick profile and an 82 cm wingspan. The rear wing is 52 cm wide and has a negative dihedral angle of 154°. This angled wing design improves the “pumping” ability of the foil, and is also meant to avoid overfoiling (i.e. when the foil breaches the surface) and heavy crashes.
RRD Pocket rocket board:
The RRD pocket is a very interesting innovation for light wind with a super compact board, only 180cm long. This is not the first “mini” board we’ve seen so far. Both Slingshot and Horue have developed similar concepts of very compact foiling boards, but RRD’s concept is really based on a modern idea for light wind foiling, where the length of the board can be reduced. There are 2 main advantages to that:
It gives more manoeuvrability to the kit, making jibing or other freeride moves much easier.
It has a huge advantage in transport, as the board fits inside most cars, even a Fiat Panda, claims the Italian brand!
The shorter board also reduces friction and the potential in light wind is greater as you will only need a 6.0m sail to foil with 8 knots of wind.
Size: 180x 76 cm
Volume: 122 L
Weight: 9 kg.
No straps.
Recommended sail size: 4.0 to 6.4
Here is what Roberto Ricci says about this concept:
“180 cm of length is a total breakthrough as it is the most fun and accessible foil board, it flies earlier than all the other boards we have tried, stays up foiling longer and easier, and is still floating perfectly when uphauling a big sail.”
But the real revolution comes when you combine the RRD Pocket with RRD’s new Compact Freefoil sail, which can fit inside of a back pack!
The Freefoil sail has been designed to enable very early flights. The result is a very light sail with only 3 battens in the 4.0m and 5.0m, and 4 battens in the 5.8m and 6.4m sails.
Together with your hydrofoil bag, and the pocket board, you can go to the beach looking like you have your kite gear with you and not a windfoiling machine! Windsurfing has never been so compact.
Slingshot 2020
Brand Manager Wyatt Miller at Slingshot has obviously started to make his mark on the Slingshot foil collection which is getting more and more freestyle oriented.
For 2020 we will see 2 new boards in the collection besides the Levitator and the Wizard. If you want to ride waves, pull the latest freestyle tricks, or simply enjoy the control of 3 inboard straps, the Freestyle 115 will allow you to play in very light winds.
The new freestyle 115L is the go-to board for wave sailors, freestylers or anybody who demands a centered footstrap position for full control of both rails (for controlled wave riding or switch stance freestyle moves).
The thick skimboard shaped outline packs a ton of volume in a compact size. The board offers easy uphauling and plenty of float to get you up on the foil in even the lightest breezes.
Opting for the more outboard 4-strap configuration will provide great upwind and downwind angles.
Length: 6’2’’ ft (189 cm)
Volume: 115
Weight: 9,6 kg
Sail size: 4.5m to 8.0m
The Freestyle 87 is the board for dedicated foilers who want to foil even when the wind is strong. The compact skimboard outline helps to pack tons of volume into a compact shape. It can handle blasting wind speeds while giving you a direct-to-foil feeling with no noticeable swing weight.
Big enough to get in 5.0 conditions, the freestyle 87 is the choice for smaller manoeuver oriented riders or anyone who plans to foil even if it’s windy enough for fun classic windsurfing.
Like its bigger brother, the freestyle 115, it has both track mount and tuttle box in the tail, allowing to mount industry standard tuttle foils along with the tenability of a sliding track mount.
Features: Inboard 3 footstraps option, or more outboard 4 strap option. Tail cut-outs and double concave bottom shape for early release. Light and stiff carbon construction.
Length: 5’6’’ ft (171 cm)
Volume: 87L
Weight: 9,2 kg
Sail size: 5.0m to 9.0m
GA foils
Gaastra is a well-renowned sail manufacturer, but they have now diversified their collection and launched a high performance range of foils, from freeride all-round to racing.
Gaastra Hybrid
The Windsurf Foil Hybrid is meant to create an easy transition between windsurfing and windfoiling, but also offers lots of speed and performance in all conditions. A relatively short mast (80 cm) and a front wing with a medium large surface offer stability and lift to bring you up in the air without too much effort.
It’s an ideal foil if you are just about to learn windfoiling or if you’re looking for an all-around foil to have fun on the water.
Price: €899
Gaastra Mach 1
The GA Windsurf Foil Mach 1 is a performance freeride foil which lifts you out of the water easily and provides impressive control and speed potential.
The 79cm long front wing offers early lift and good stability. Equipped with a stiff and light 85cm carbon mast. It’s a good alternative for you if you are looking for a foil with good performance and ease of use, and seek for a more advanced foil with higher performance than the Hybrid.
Price: €1570
Gaastra Phantom 91
The Phantom is a high-performance windsurf foil for freerace/race. It offers great speed potential, good control and nice overall feeling. Equipped with a very light 91cm carbon mast, it takes off early and without the need of a very powerful sail.
Price: €1650
Elix F1 X 2019
Elix has recently released a new version of the F1X-M windfoil board. This new version has some more volume than the first one, and new cut-outs at the back, making the board plane earlier.
Hot sails superfly
Hot sails has developed a new windfoil sail together with Bruno André of AFS Foils. The sail is very light, a high aspect ratio (long and narrow) and has a very tight leech and 6 battens. The sails develop lots of power for lift off and then is easy to control when up on foil.
With a long luff and short boom, the wing-like outline is similar to sails and wings used of high performance foil sail boats. The tight leech not only provides lots of power in very little wind, it also allows the sail to be controlled by the sheet angle and not the twist of the top, like modern windsurfing sails.
Price: $700-$800
Sizes: 5.5m, 7.0m, 8.0m
Luff: 448 to 524
Boom: 177 to 201
AHD Topaz
AHD has just released their new freerace board combining high level performance and comfort while flying. The board is available in 3 different volumes (107, 127, 147) and is meant to replace the AHD Fury and SL2 boards.
Tabou air ride 81
The Tabou Air Ride 81 is a new foil board for both experienced foilers looking for the next step in performance and newcomers trying to get their first airtime. The 2019 Air Ride 81 has almost the same outline as on the Air Ride+ 91, with good speed and upwind potential, but is more suitable for smaller sail sizes thanks to its shape (145 L and 81cm large). Still the parallel outline, cut-outs in the tail, reducing the wetted surface, and the hull shape gets you up in the air quickly with ease and makes the touchdowns on the water super smooth.
145 L of volume and an 81cm width makes the Air Ride 81 match smaller sails perfectly. Multiple insert positions accommodate all levels of windsurfers: beginners but also intermediates and advanced riders.
Air Ride 81- Volume 145 l – Length 226 cm – Width 81 cm
New foiling products hit the market all the time and sometimes it’s difficult to keep updated on all the new gear! Don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have anything to add or if anything is missing in our product news or brand guide.
Happy flights!
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