I'm curious to see when Gong finally produces a high aspect foil wing. They highest they do is barely middle of the road.
Otherwise their foils are pretty awesome.

Grantmac said..
I'm curious to see when Gong finally produces a high aspect foil wing. They highest they do is barely middle of the road.
Otherwise their foils are pretty awesome.

Yes & no Grant . The Veloce L&T 90 isn't far off the mark at all , it's similar to design and spec of the new Axis BSC range 890 & 970 , plus along the lines of the new UNI 190 Vyper & Signature Game Changer 1260 . Yes these all aren't HA foils but that's where the market is going to high performing mid to higher aspect foils. I've been riding the Axis 890 BSC and it is the easiest / higher performace foil I ever ridden , it's only mid to high at best. I'm over the super high aspect foils , yes they have monents of brillance but Dam they are hard work.

Grantmac said..
Especially if they retain an easy and secure carve which in my experience isn't always possible without some sort of winglet.

You may want to try to glue/clip/screw a small vertical fin (1"to 2") on top of the fuz of your foil(s). It makes wonders for carving as it prevents the small yaw parasitic movements that can happen in turns (and kill your speed) if your foil wings are not directional enough. You can play with the position on the fuz to dose the effect.

The advantages are that unlike winglets, they do not run the risk of breaching in turns and making the foil more unpredictable, and in a straight line their effect is lessened a bit by the wake of the mast, loosening a bit the foil to start a turn.

The drawback is that you will not be able to "dishpan" turns, only carve.

For example I used this on an early Going foil with totally flat wings and a round section fux:


But I did not need one with the Rise or Curve wings (and stabs) that are curved, and the square section alu fuz

Piros said..
Not sure about that one Colas pretty old school if anything should be on top of the wing not in front .

Not really.

You want it on top of the stab if you are looking for the maximum efficiency of its effect. But in this case putting it forward has two benefits:

- less leverage, so it does not stiffen too much the foil at high speeds. Plus you have more leverage on it to make it stall to allow quick yaw motions at slow speed (positioning for the wave while paddling), especially if you keep it somewhat high aspect (i.e. do not use a keel/nubster template)

- more in the wake (turbulent flow) of the mast in a straight line. This is important to have some looseness when initiating a turn, otherwise you run the risk of tracking, as if the foil was on a rail. A bit like wings on a surfboard tail keeps the tail loose.

- plus a safety bonus, as this fin is small, it is thin, and putting it away from body parts is better.

Basically, I started with it on the stab, but I found it was better surf-wise to have a bigger fin closer to the mast than a smaller fin on the stab. The fin on the stab, or better yet, under the stab (to avoid the mast & front wing wake) would be more hydro dynamically efficient... but too efficient, and limit the rider to foil in a straight line (like most Wind foilers do, hence they often have the fin on the stab)

Note that this is quite an efficient solution, as it is the one that is used on most planes, not just "old school" ones :-). Managing stability on planes with only the curve on wings is tricky: a rudder is the simplest way to do it. Plus with foils in water, if you rely on the shape of the tips for stability, breaching a tip in a turn tend to be catastrophic.

Yesterday after reading this post I tried swapping my usual go-to 'flat' 250 Starboard stab for the older 270 'mustache' style with turned down tips and found it way easier to to stay on a downwind wave with wing fully de-powered. I was really blown away at the difference. Just shows how worthwhile it is to not get complacent but change and experiment with the gear.