What a surprise from F-ONE which is a “single kite” brand, where is this change coming from?<\/strong><\/h3>\nFor the past 3 years we have been working on the hydrofoil project and this has proved to be a rather technical and difficult project. As you know hydrofoil has grown to become quite popular in France with many of the top high performance hydrofoil brands coming from our country. We therefore have many of our riders that are regularly up on their hydrofoils and we’re quite involved in it.<\/p>\n
My original goal was to start this season with the production of a beginner foil with enough potential to still be able to achieve high light-wind performances. We\u2019ve invested all our R&D know-how and also have used our team riders\u2019 experience.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve included Romain CASTEL in the team at the end of 2014 and he was our first “foil only” rider.\u00a0For the 2015 season I wanted to develop a high performance hydrofoil for long distance courses and racing. The goal was to look for a top rider from the kitefoil world tour by the end of 2015.<\/p>\n
But at the end of 2014 Maxime NOCHER, who is one of the top 3 riders able to win the world cup, got free from previous contracts. This was the perfect opportunity for us even if it came a little early. I convinced him to join us by emphasizing on the fact that he could have all his equipment from the hydrofoils to the kites made by the same R&D team\/brand. His home being not far from our office\u00a0also helped.<\/p>\n
Beside this, during the 2014 season, the foil kites became the reference for foil racing and light-wind conditions. So we needed to get into it if we wanted to be on the podiums and be one of the top leading hydrofoil brands.<\/p>\n
Only a few might remember but we actually started selling foil kites in 1998 and up until 2002! So we had some experience with it and knew what we had to deal with.<\/p>\n
![\"F_ONE_maximenocher_romain_castel_FOIL_la_ventana_800\"](\"https:\/\/mlwrfwewja9d.i.optimole.com\/w:500\/h:293\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/bayareakitesurf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/F_ONE_maximenocher_romain_castel_FOIL_la_ventana_800.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nRobert GRAHAM, our kite designer, is also a paragliding and a foil kite designer. Robert has been a paragliding world champion so he knows a lot about foil design. We talked about it early on and he fully understood that we had to make a high performance foil kite and in a short time!<\/p>\n
The challenge was huge so he contacted his paragliding friends and a good surprise came up as one of the leading paragliding brands -Gin Gliders- was interested! Robert used to be a designer for Gin for 10 years.\u00a0Moreover, one of Robert\u2019s neighbors, Hans BOLLINGER, is the Gin paragliding tester and distributor. By chance he’s also a kitesurfer and was super motivated by this\u00a0project. Worth mentioning: Hans has also been paragliding world champion twice in the 90’s with Robert’s\u00a0designs!<\/p>\n
So in the end we were able to gather a team that you could only dream of if your aim is to make a high performance foil kite! Robert and Hans for the R&D with Gin dealing with the designs and production.
\nGin is clearly one of the top paragliding brands and they are able to design and produce the latest high-end performance designs with top quality.<\/p>\n
Time was really short but Gin and his team have been incredibly efficient and we got all the sizes in a short time. After some preliminary adjustments Maxime & Romain were able to test them and their feedback was so positive that they were keen to use them straight away in La Ventana, for the 1st<\/sup>\u00a0stage of the kitefoil Gold Cup at the end of March. Maxime ended up second after being tied for first place for most of the event!!!<\/p>\nSecond surprise is that F-ONE has never been involved in racing?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\nYes sure. For me it was always clear that racing couldn\u2019t be a major discipline of our sport, mainly because I believe that everything in kitesurfing should bring you incredible feelings and freedom. The racing boards that used to be the norm were so difficult to ride that they could never be super fun.<\/p>\n
Now the hydrofoils have changed everything because there is nothing more fun to ride when wind is blowing below 15 knots! Flying above the water in 10 knots of wind at 20 knots of speed with all that power and speed is just fantastic.<\/p>\n
Light-wind is where the hydrofoils are making the difference and light-wind has always been a lot about performances. \u00a0So to be involved in the racing discipline is important to learn and get to know how the foils are working while the best racing riders also know a lot about it.<\/p>\n
So all that R&D to achieve top performances in the competitions will provide us all the knowledge we need to design hydrofoils for the wide public. This sport is still so fresh and some major innovations will come from the racing circuit. Just like the things that automobile racing is bringing to your own car. If one day the average rider becomes able to cruise at 30 knots speed, it will be thanks to the R&D provided by the racing circuit.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But why should customers need a foil kite?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\nOf course foiling competitors won\u2019t be the only ones to enjoy the benefits of foil kites. When we looked at the “ultra light” wind conditions, so below 10 knots, the foil kites became clearly interesting.\u00a0In those light condition the foil kites are lighter than big inflatable sizes and they also have better performances. They deliver more power but have also more speed so on a hydrofoil you can make the most of the speed they provide to create apparent wind.<\/p>\n
You can therefore use a kite of smaller area with great power, light-weight and high performances.
\nMoreover hydrofoils are actually going so fast that you need a fast kite to keep everything on the same balance. It\u2019s quite a different thing from riding a twintip which is much slower.<\/p>\n
What are the other advantages of foil kites?<\/strong><\/h3>\nIt\u2019s quite difficult to have such a high aspect ratio on inflatable kites because the leading edge becomes too long and hard to control.<\/p>\n
Beside the fact that they are lighter they can be designed with a much higher aspect ratio: average inflatable kites are around 5.5 AR, while the foil kites go up to 7 AR.<\/p>\n
In ultra light wind, like 6-8 knots, the inflatable in big sizes will also have problems to relaunch. Thanks to their light weight and closed cells the foil kites actually have a better chance to relaunch.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nRobert GRAHAM, our kite designer, is also a paragliding and a foil kite designer. Robert has been a paragliding world champion so he knows a lot about foil design. We talked about it early on and he fully understood that we had to make a high performance foil kite and in a short time!<\/p>\n
The challenge was huge so he contacted his paragliding friends and a good surprise came up as one of the leading paragliding brands -Gin Gliders- was interested! Robert used to be a designer for Gin for 10 years.\u00a0Moreover, one of Robert\u2019s neighbors, Hans BOLLINGER, is the Gin paragliding tester and distributor. By chance he’s also a kitesurfer and was super motivated by this\u00a0project. Worth mentioning: Hans has also been paragliding world champion twice in the 90’s with Robert’s\u00a0designs!<\/p>\n
So in the end we were able to gather a team that you could only dream of if your aim is to make a high performance foil kite! Robert and Hans for the R&D with Gin dealing with the designs and production.
\nGin is clearly one of the top paragliding brands and they are able to design and produce the latest high-end performance designs with top quality.<\/p>\n
Time was really short but Gin and his team have been incredibly efficient and we got all the sizes in a short time. After some preliminary adjustments Maxime & Romain were able to test them and their feedback was so positive that they were keen to use them straight away in La Ventana, for the 1st<\/sup>\u00a0stage of the kitefoil Gold Cup at the end of March. Maxime ended up second after being tied for first place for most of the event!!!<\/p>\n Yes sure. For me it was always clear that racing couldn\u2019t be a major discipline of our sport, mainly because I believe that everything in kitesurfing should bring you incredible feelings and freedom. The racing boards that used to be the norm were so difficult to ride that they could never be super fun.<\/p>\n Now the hydrofoils have changed everything because there is nothing more fun to ride when wind is blowing below 15 knots! Flying above the water in 10 knots of wind at 20 knots of speed with all that power and speed is just fantastic.<\/p>\n Light-wind is where the hydrofoils are making the difference and light-wind has always been a lot about performances. \u00a0So to be involved in the racing discipline is important to learn and get to know how the foils are working while the best racing riders also know a lot about it.<\/p>\n So all that R&D to achieve top performances in the competitions will provide us all the knowledge we need to design hydrofoils for the wide public. This sport is still so fresh and some major innovations will come from the racing circuit. Just like the things that automobile racing is bringing to your own car. If one day the average rider becomes able to cruise at 30 knots speed, it will be thanks to the R&D provided by the racing circuit.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Of course foiling competitors won\u2019t be the only ones to enjoy the benefits of foil kites. When we looked at the “ultra light” wind conditions, so below 10 knots, the foil kites became clearly interesting.\u00a0In those light condition the foil kites are lighter than big inflatable sizes and they also have better performances. They deliver more power but have also more speed so on a hydrofoil you can make the most of the speed they provide to create apparent wind.<\/p>\n You can therefore use a kite of smaller area with great power, light-weight and high performances. It\u2019s quite difficult to have such a high aspect ratio on inflatable kites because the leading edge becomes too long and hard to control.<\/p>\n Beside the fact that they are lighter they can be designed with a much higher aspect ratio: average inflatable kites are around 5.5 AR, while the foil kites go up to 7 AR.<\/p>\n In ultra light wind, like 6-8 knots, the inflatable in big sizes will also have problems to relaunch. Thanks to their light weight and closed cells the foil kites actually have a better chance to relaunch.<\/p>\nSecond surprise is that F-ONE has never been involved in racing?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
But why should customers need a foil kite?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nMoreover hydrofoils are actually going so fast that you need a fast kite to keep everything on the same balance. It\u2019s quite a different thing from riding a twintip which is much slower.<\/p>\nWhat are the other advantages of foil kites?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"F_ONE_foil_maxime_romain_green_yellow_0\"](\"https:\/\/mlwrfwewja9d.i.optimole.com\/w:500\/h:245\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/bayareakitesurf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/F_ONE_foil_maxime_romain_green_yellow_0.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"foil-3parts\"](\"https:\/\/mlwrfwewja9d.i.optimole.com\/w:500\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/bayareakitesurf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/foil-3parts.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"