The very first Hydrofoil kite board nationals - Melbourne.

Foiling just looks so cool!
The first ever kite foiling nationals have been announced down in Melbourne, and amidst some controversy about whether it’s “too soon” to host such a thing, its attracting some serious interest in the discipline.

The big question on every racers mind right now is this: “how long do we have before hydrofoils are the ONLY way to race?” Are the 190cm long boards with three massive fins going to go the way of the windsurfer and fade into oblivion? Instead replaced by sleek hydrofoils with a single carbon mast (the sticky-uppy-bit that attaches to the board). Racers will be flying around at similar speeds on similar courses to what they are now, only it will be quieter, and slightly more precarious as they balance a meter above the chop.

The small skiff’s called Moths have already made the transition from water to air, a few years ago designers worked out to make the Moths fly completely off their centerboards using a hydrofoil on the rudder (controlled by a rotating tiller extension). In doing so it took the dinghy class from a niche competition to world class race series, with several high profile sailors moving from maxi-yachts back to the little 11ft dinghys. It’s the technology that draws them, things like the fact that the boats auto-level and won’t skip out of the water with every wrong move. The added dimension of getting the hull flying is also super cool, a trick that apparently never gets old. Teetering on a single foil makes the boats and boards quite unstable, but with instability comes advantages too, foils are notoriously quick to maneuver and even faster to ride than anything else of a similar size.

Interested yet? It’s fascinating stuff, and if you’re in Melbourne over the 17 - 23 March 2014 you would be well advised to head over to the Royal Brighton Yacht Club to see these things in action. Also on at the same time are the 2014 Freestyle, and Formula (that’s the old style of raceboards) kiteboarding nationals. We’ll bring you reports, results and some footage of the very first foilboarding national titles for Australia.