Windfoiling is really hot right now and all windsurfing brands are developing their own range of windfoiling products. We also have new brands coming on the market. Windsurfing is obviously experiencing a revival and foiling is one of the key reasons for this new energy.
That’s amazing for us customers, to have the chance to have so many products to choose from. But it’s also harder to make a choice. I can of course only recommend our Windfoil Brand Guide E-book, which will help you to find the right product in this foil-jungle.
In the meantime, here are the latest news from the manufacturers. Quite many freerace / race oriented products, but some freeride ones as well.
WINDFOIL BOARDS
Fanatic Stingray:
Fanatic has just announced the launch of a new model to complete their already important range of foil boards, the Stingray.
The Gecko had already been adapted to foiling since last year, and Fanatic also have two other hybrid boards, The Falcon TE 140 L and the Falcon Lightwind (159 L). Both of which work well as regular windsurf boards and foil boards. On top of the Falcon Foil edition is the dedicated foil race board.
Jordy Vonk on the Fanatic Stingray
So what’s new with the Stingray? Well, according to Fanatic’s pro rider Jordy Vonk, the Stingray is a great board which will accompany you from your first flights, to a more advanced foil level, never touching the water any longer. Early lift, lot of control, and very forgiving when you are a beginner. This makes you learn foiling quicker.
The great thing with the Stingray is that you have the choice between a standard Tuttle foil box and the US 4-way track system, giving you lots of choice when choosing your foil.
As a summary, the Stingray is meant to be a fun freeride board, easy to learn on, and ideal to improve your foiling skills. The board is available in 125 and 140 L.
Price: €1999
FMX Boards:
FMX racing is the new brand of Finian Maynard, experienced PWA pro rider but also shaper. Finian Maynard began his windsurfing board building career in Maui in 1992, working directly with racing industry giants Richard Greene and Phil McGain.
The Hyperion 184 is the dedicated foil racing board for competitions, and can be used in all conditions, anywhere from 5 to 30 knots. A racing machine.
Pro rider Maciek Rutkowski will use FMX boards during the 2019 racing season.
Check out FMX website for more info.
TOP GUN Boards:
Top Gun is the brand recently launched by Casey Treichler, also known for promoting the WWF, Wave Wind Foiling. (Read about WWF here)
The range has 4 boards making a bridge between the different foil sports: surffoil, SUP-foil and Windfoil. The product names are of course in line with the brand name: ICEMAN, MAVRICK, GOOSE and VIPER boards.
Future Fly boards project:
Future Fly is a new windsurf brand slalom oriented and developed with the Z-fins team and Arnon Dagan.
The Dark Horse range are slalom oriented boards from 97 to 132 L, to be used with a regular fin, while the Flying Camel range is a dedicated foil board range.
The Future Fly R&D has particularly worked on the deck and bottom profiles to reach the optimal balance between early planning and inflight performance.
There are 3 different boards in the Flying Camel range: 125 L Hybrid, 145 L Sport and 175 L Pro. As the name indicates, the 125 L Hybrid can both be used for regular windsurfing and to explore the joy of windfoiling.
The 145 L is a crossover board offering both comfort and controlled ride.
The 175 L is for the racing experts for powerful upwind, controlled reaching and comfortable downwind courses.
Pro rider Taty Frans has joined the Future Fly team for the 2019 PWA season and will obviously use the Flying Camel 175 Pro during the PWA foil world cup events.
WINDSURF FOILS
Lokefoil Race:
Not completely ready yet, but almost. The new Lokefoil race foil will soon be released. Compared to the LK1, the foil has a longer mast (105 cm) and a broader front wing giving more power. The winglets on the side have been also developed to improve the upwind and downwind performance, making it the perfect weapon for foil races.
Price and availability to be confirmed.
Here is a presentation of the Lokefoil Race by William Huppert and Pierre Mortefon:
Mantafoils Arrow Race Foil:
Mantafoils is also launching their new race foil. This foil focus on stability and speed, without compromising early take off or accessibility.
The mast is 100 cm long and very stiff with high modulus carbon fiber.
The fuselage is 98 cm long in aluminium and fully compatible with the Mantafoils Mono for those who want to upgrade their Mono to a race machine.
Price: €1650 (taxes not incl.)
Bug Freerace carbon foil:
Following the launch of Bug's freeride windfoil last year, the Bug freerace foil is finally ready for the season 2019. Both the freeride and the freerace foils are made of 100% carbon, however the freerace version gives the rider higher speed and maximum control thanks to an even stiffer mast and its a 100 cm fuselage.
Bug Freerace foil
For the construction, Bug has focused on maximum stiffness. The mast is done with high modulus carbon and stiffness is improved by 20% versus the freeride foil. Same approach is on the fuselage, which also has 100 cm length which turns out to be a sweet spot, according to Rajko Zuzek, owner of Bug Foils.
With 3 different front wings you have anything you need to play between 7 and 27 knots.
The freerace foil works well for beginners as it’s very balanced and forgiving, but it will be optimal for intermediate or advanced foilers wanting to be fast without compromising comfort.
Jenna Gibson- GBR 96, IFCA world champion in 2018, will be using the Bug freerace foil during the PWA foil events i 2019.
Jenny just received her Bug freerace foil and here are her first thoughts: “I did my first 3 foil race here at the TWS last week (training center for pro riders in Tenerife). it was very windy 20+ knots and wavy but the 800 wing was great with my new 91 foil board with 7.0. I plan to do the PWA foil events on my BUG foil, as there should be foiling competitions in France and also in Korea.”
Price: from €1490,-
Contact Rajko by e-mail or get more info on their website.
WINDFOIL SAILS
Phantom International:
Phantom released their freerace and race foils some months ago, and they are now launching dedicated foil sails, the Iris X Freerace and Iris RF Race Foil sails.
The Iris X is a freerace foiling sail with 6 battens, 3 cams and medium mast sleeve width. It is built with a new hybrid material made of monofilm and PXB laminate, which is more affordable than the membrane used for the race sail. Sizes available: 5.0, 5.8, 6.6 and 7.4 m2.
Price: from €557 (taxes not incl.)
The Iris RF is a race foiling sail with 8 battens, 4 cams, and a large mast sleeve. It is built with a special membrane construction which reduces the weight of the sail. Sizes available: 8.0, 9.0 and 10.0 m2.
Price: from €915 (taxes not incl.)
Both sails have a high aspect ratio design to reduce the boom length. This gives better control and increased performance.
Severne HyperGlide 2:
The first version of the Severne HyperGlide showed some impressive results during the 2018 racing season: / 1ST Japan / 2ND Korea / 1ST Costa Brava / 1ST Silvaplana / 1ST Sylt
The Severne R&D team has now improved the sail even more with great aerodynamic profile, keeping the high-aspect ratio design and improving some key features to get an even more stable profile:
- Less battens to allow the profile to inflate quicker under less induced load - Lighter cam system as weight is critical in foil sails. - Reduced boom length improves control and handling.
The HyperGlide 2 is now faster both upwind and downwind, and the high aspect wing extends the wind range allowing bigger sails to be controllable even when the wind picks up.
Here is a video of the new HyperGlide2 presented by the 2018 Foil world champion, Gonzalo Costa Hoevel:
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