How do these ones look? Couple of us have been toying with building/ buying a foil each for a couple of years , last Saturday whilst in my shed the subject came up again , We started pulling out bits and pieces out of the shed , bits of ply , timber , couple of old sailboards ( 1 we will end up using .pictured ,the other one is too big).Several hours later we had the basic parts to put a couple of these things together. Did some research , called on a successful boatbuilder for a decent lay up schedule for the carbon . Even built an oven to cure the hi temp epoxy.

Mast is form ply ,fuselage is western red cedar , wings are curved laminated marine ply , boards are old sailboards , all shaped by hand with fairly basic hand tools . So far the price is a huge $330 for 2 complete setups foils and boards( we bought a second board off eBay for $20 , exactly the same as one in picture ) , probably another $30 on bits and pieces ( paint brushes for the glassing , some stainless bolts ect )

start laying up the carbon tomorrow night , we'll see how it all goes?

Btw the front wing will be solidly attached to the fuselage ,rear wing will be removable in order to make fine tuning adjustments to the angle of attack With the use of shims under the front or rear of the wing. Rear wing looks flat but is actually curved and airfoil shaped like the front one ,the foil shape is on the bottom of the fin .



























N

9 pages . when are you going to make a decision FFS

Keep doing the homework Dave.Sounds like your getting close.Might be a good Christmas present mate.??

INTHELOOP said..

good work mate. looks nice keen to try it :)
For 1500 euro you can get a 2nd had spotz2, kfa mk3 or sword. At least you can try them locally and you you know for sure you got a good working foil because they have been proven at regattas around the world.

I really don't get your focus on regattas. The market is probably bigger in freeriding so what's the point to get a formula one if you are only interested in cruising and having fun????

I reckon it is good for the sport to have some backyard builders as these guys learn from their experience and then understand better how design affects the riding.

You are completely missing the point of people trying to build their own stuff. When I built my first foil board, the initial set up cost for shaping and vacuum bagging cost me more than buying a fancy TMV or ASV. Now I realise that the hype behind production board is actually a lot of bull**** and with little experience and good advices you can build as strong and as light as a production board for a fraction of their cost.

Well it's all finished, now all I need is a little wind!! Too light today :)

kiteboy dave said..
Hey Marvin I also love your work and think you're probably the most knowledgable foil guy here.. so I really respect what you're saying and appreciate your input.

but..

it seems impossible to me to 'try before you buy'. For a start despite trying, I've yet to catch anyone actually foiling on the Sunshine coast, let alone convince them to let a stranger have a go. Even if I did, I'd only wipe out equally on any foil - like someone who's never ridden a bike trying a kmart special or a 10k carbon road bike.. gonna crash in 10m exactly the same on both.

There are a few 2nd hand race foils for sale, but honestly I've heard so many people say spotz or sword are completely unsuitable for beginners, or even after 18 months they still can't reliably complete a gybe or tack on one when they can jump on a more freestyle foil and nail it straight away. And with some of the speeds these stable beginner foils are reaching, all that twitchiness is only gaining you a couple of knots. Doesn't seem worth it for anyone but a dedicated racer, if you can reach 30kts anyway on an easier foil?

2 guys were out off mooloolaba monday lunch time.... :)

I dont think u can try before u buy cause u wont get up first go. So trying is near on pointless unless u can already foil, or someone is willing to let you have it for a week or so. . Which i wouldnt do......

if you think your keen either buy a cheap slow beginner one knowing u will be selling it in a few months or buy a good one and battle for a bit if it is a bit twitchy but will be better long term.

its just one of those sports.... Ur either in, or your out.....but thats just my opinion.

Built a my own foil (alloy mast, a couple of fins glassed together etc), thought it looked pretty good. Flogged myself learning to ride it for a few weeks (was going ok). Then had a go on a Sword and found the Sword heaps easier to ride than my home build. Nothing more satisfying than a good home build, but I suggest getting some who can foil to test and tune for you. So I built another one, wasn't much chop either so bought a KFA.

I'm keen for anything in that area once I get foiling.
I'd some along and lend an hand in the meantime, give a launch etc.
It does take a bit of luck with timing though with a baby & toddler in the house, time is tight these days.

Going round old woman island is on my 'to do' list.

I've SUPed on calm days in the pocket there and it's pretty nice, clear water, real nice feel.
Bit of a daydream of mine to foil in there in light winds or just the right wind direction when it's still relatively flat & clear blue/green water.

Anyone have thoughts on using the Kitefoil Manta on the Fone Mitu Convertable board? I'm concerned if it has enough rocker and if the strength/ build of the board is suitable for one learning on or I should say, crashing on without causing structural problems later on. I just like the idea of haven the dual purpose set up.

Sounds like your going alright "gokid". What foil were you on?

We will have a demo Zeeko Alloy foil here in vic. Late September.
Anyone wishing to try it is welcome to pm me.

Mock up ,looking good

Cabrinha Double Agent retail is $2,350 complete was hoping for sub $2,000 but I suppose there was little chance when. 12m 2016 Switchblade is retailing at $2,900

It's a Spotz 1 (2013) with 2 front wings, learner/light wind and race.

I paid $2000 for it plus a bit extra to ship over from WA - pretty much exactly what I had saved. Given our dollar's tanking so hard, even a new Zeeko would have been similar money.

I'm just hoping it's stable enough to learn / progress on - even the low aspect wing has a pretty small size & wingspan.
In the end I listened to Marvin, Skeb and a few others, higher potential speed with the trade off of learner stability.

I would love to hook up with other foil boarders on the sunny coast.
I really fight for time at the moment with demands of family & work but I'll do whatever it takes to make a meetup if it's humanly possible.

Thanks Leigh, yeah you're right can't wait to get it out on the water and get the first few painful sessions out the way so the real fun can begin.

One of the things I've loved in recent years kiting is speed. That feeling when you're a beginner where you're a bit overpowered and you're going faster and faster and you have to do something or you'll just keep accelerating out of control until you exploded in a massive stack. Then when I wasn't a learner anymore in that situation I'd ease the kite up a bit higher and then send it and boost to the moon. But then the last few years instead of boosting I'd often try to wind it on, find a flat section of water and work the kite and just try everything to max out the speed, wring every last knot out of the gust.

I'm really looking forward to translating that feeling of speed and chasing more speed to a foil.

I've gotta go buy a helmet now, I'm thinking I'll just get a kmart cheapie bike helmet for now and reassess after 10 sessions.

Good to hear your KFA is about to arrive. Exciting times. Keep us posted.