Downwind foil with assist
Re: Downwind foil with assist
I have a few questions or queries; Has anyone ever severely damaged a foil mast from nailing underwater debris (not including the bottom)? I just haven’t seen this often. Usually the board/box gets damaged or the front wing and even that seems rare and mostly repairable. The other is about the shift to hollow boards I see being pushed hard for next season. I built Nomex, kevlar whitewater slalom kayaks in the mid 70’s that weighed less than 10 lbs. The swing weight was almost non existent. These boats were super stiff, but very susceptible to sharp impacts. I am thinking about building a bulkhead/compartment hollow foiling/paddling board for long downwinders and I have been thinking about mast attachment and mast impact damage. I have two boards in the rotation right now. One (North) is bottom or track attached whereas the other Phil custom board is deck attached (through hulls (carbon golf club tubes) that have bolts running from the deck through to the mast plate). I have had a good summer of foiling and testing gear on the lower Columbia River (below I5) this summer,,,almost an endless summer, 50 sessions with almost no one around, but it is time to head out. I have pretty much settled on some of the gear that I want to use for super long downwinders and touring as far as foil setup (North MA and super small stabilizers), kites (Ozone foil kites are magic and they finally water relaunch fairly often), but winter is almost here/crap wind and rain and it is time to begin focusing on the next unknown…the board/boat. I am thinking maybe a fatter (wider) long foil downwinder shape of 100l-130l+++ and cutting up the deck for storage compartments with hatches and a center section for foot placement and sitting for paddling. This is an updated version of the Kenny and Phil “SUP” downwinder kiteboards we built for the long Juan de Fuca downwinders, but I am thinking it’s time for much longer trips now. Any design thoughts or insights into the new slew of hollow downwinder foil boards? Anyone using them and if so which ones?
