What is hydrofoiling?

Foiling or Hydrofoiling is where a single or set of wings are attached below the bottom of any water based craft. These wings generate lift as you move forward and allow the boat or board to fly free of the water’s surface with just the parts of the Hydrofoil still in the water.

First of all, there is the feeling! With everything out of the water, everything goes silent. With no feedback from the surface of the water, you truly feel like you are flying.  The feeling is best described as being closest to when you first get planing on a windsurf board and then some. This really does take it to another level. 

The performance advantage comes from the wind you need (or lack of). When windsurfing you’d normally need over 10 knots to get planing and even then, you’d be using pretty big sails. With foiling, you can get flying in as little as 6 knots and you can use much smaller sails than you normally would.

In these conditions with most of the kit out of the water and drag massively reduced, you can convert even the smallest gusts of wind into impressive board and boat speeds.

For windsurfing, the key element to foiling is being comfortable in your footstraps. This means you’ll already have the skills of adjusting stance to the conditions, be comfy in the harness and you should have all the techniques you need to create flight.

With dinghy sailing, a Level 2 sailor who is happy sailing something like a Laser in a good breeze should be able to start foiling with no problems. 

If you are happy blasting along in a straight line then maybe it’s time to try flying along in a straight line.

To start with it’s not the difficulty but the difference that needs getting used to. As you take off for the first time you’re getting new types of feedback in an unfamiliar way.  As you adjust, your ability quickly comes back to you as you learn that it’s all the same techniques just used in different places.

The foil itself is the key item, they come in a variety of sizes but the most important thing is that it matches your board or dinghy.

Windsurf
Most foils fit boards through a specific type of fin box; a deep tuttle box. The tuttle box is commonly found on larger slalom, freeride and formula boards. They are usually pretty good for foiling as the increased width of a board gives you more control and higher volumes mean you can get out in the lightest winds. 

You can get foil specific boards and foil ready boards. Here the fin boxes have been further re-enforced and have a large array of footstrap positions giving you multiple tuning options. You can even get foil only boards, which see super sharp rails and very flat decks designed around the idea you’ll spend all your time above the water.

Any sail will do, although a few tuning tweaks may well need to be made especially when it comes to harness lines, which you tend to use on a much shorter setting when foiling.

Dinghy
Similar to all other types of foiling the boat relies on a hydrofoil ‘wing’ in the water lifting the dinghy above the surface. The biggest difference between dinghy foiling and other types is that it has two foils: one on the daggerboard providing the main lift and the second on the rudder offering stability and control. 
 
Another slight difference is the use of a ‘wand’ to provide stability and ride height; unlike other foiling board sports where you can use your body weight to control the height at which you are above the surface of the water. Dinghy foiling uses a device called a wand, this sticks out the back of the main foil and floats on the surface of the water, as you go up and down it adjusts the foil to maintain a more stable ride height. 

Selected beachclub are great for foiling. Firstly, there is wind. Whilst you need less wind to be able to get on the foil, when you’re learning to have more breeze really helps. You get a much quicker feel for the problem you’re trying to solve if you can get feedback more quickly. 

Even though you’re flying above the surface, flat water allows you to adjust your ride height more easily to changing wind conditions rather than any swell or chop. 

It’s deep! The fin section of the Foil which is called the Mast can be up to 95cm long which means shallow water can be a bit of a challenge. The steep shelving beach at selected beachclubs, means you can launch more easily and when you have got it mastered show off your skills close to shore without the risk of hitting the bottom.

Dinghy foiling has been led by The America’s Cup boats which are currently racing in New Zealand. With Italy up against the defending America’s Cup champions New Zealand in the final. These boats are ahead of their time foiling at speeds of up to 50 knots in less than 20 knots of breeze. Well worth a watch. 
 
Several leading boat designers have brought out foiling kits for existing boats such as the RS Aero and the Laser 1. However, some designers have emerged producing foiling specific boats which are designed to foil in all directions and perfect for first-time foilers. 
 
In Mar Menor Beachclub we have teamed up with F101 to bring you a foiling trimaran ideal for beginners, it’s a real thrill to sail! If you want to give it a go, the first flight course aims to get you up out of the water and hopefully experience how it feel to ‘Fly’. If you have some prior experience or have completed the first flight course, follow it up with sustained flight which aims to have you maintaining ride height and foiling effectively around the bay.  
 
Check out the F101 here.