Foilguide
Hey and welcome to our Surfpirates online store Foilguide!
The selection of foils in our Surfpirates store is huge! Every well-known manufacturer has its own line of foils, and some offer an impressively diverse range of foils and accessories. No wonder it's easy to lose track.
In recent years, the sport of foiling has experienced a real boom thanks to wings! As technical development has also progressed enormously, we want to give you an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of different foils in our Foil Guide.
Are you looking for a simple introduction to the world of foils? Then be sure to check out our wing foil guide for beginners.
Below, we delve a little deeper into the world of foils, highlighting the technical differences as well as the advantages and disadvantages of various foil concepts.
The different types of foil
Wir kategorisieren Foils nach der sogenannten Aspect Ratio (AR), was auf deutsch so viel wie Seitenverhältnis bedeutet. Unter Aspect Ratio versteht man das Verhältnis des Quadrats der Flügelspannweite zur Flügelfläche, oder der Spannweite zur mittleren Flügeltiefe.
Foils can generally be technically divided into three different categories. But beware, this distinction is not entirely clear-cut, but rather fluid. The classification within the foil sport is roughly as follows.
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The classification within the foil sport is roughly as follows.
- Low Aspect (3-5 AR)
- Mid Aspect (5-7,5 AR)
- High Aspect (7,5-12) AR
Here's a comparison for you: In aircraft construction, values of approx. 2-20 are common. In foiling, as can be seen above, we tend to move in a range between 3-12.
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Low Aspect
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Mid Aspect
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High Aspect
A higher aspect ratio is hydrodynamically more efficient, as additional drag occurs in the area of the wing tips due to end vortices. The higher the aspect ratio, the lower this drag. Winglets have a similar end vortex drag-reducing effect.
However, the elongation also increases the inertia around the roll axis (longitudinal axis). In addition, thin, elongated surfaces create greater technical challenges in terms of structural stability.
Driving characteristics & areas of use
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Low Aspect
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Low Aspect Foils
Low aspect foils are well suited for beginners as the wings, which usually have a thick profile, produce a lot of lift even at very low speeds. Beginners will also appreciate the low overall speed.
If you build smaller wings for advanced riders with low-aspect geometry, the result is very maneuverable wings that can be ridden very agilely in small, slow waves.
The disadvantage of this is low efficiency when pumping and general performance. For this reason, wings are also less common in advanced freeriding. Freestylers never actually use low-aspect foils, as the achievable jump height is too low due to the low basic speed.
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Mid Aspect
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Mid Aspect Foils
Mid Aspect foils are now the most common type of foil in wings in general. From beginners to advanced freeriders, everyone will find what they are looking for here, as the mixture of stability, maneuverability and performance is not too much for anyone and is still sporty enough for most riders.
The range of use of Mid-Aspect Wings really does extend from freeriding to waves and freestyling. Every skill level will find suitable wings.
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High Aspect
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High Aspect Foils
As the basic level of users has risen, the High-Aspect Wings have continued to develop in recent years. And here too, the range of applications is diverse!
Coupled with a profile that is not too radical, even the sporty intermediate will find a suitable new toy here.
Large representatives of this group (1500+ cm²) are excellent light wind wings or dock launch wings.
The medium sizes (1000-1500 cm²) are suitable for almost every area of use.
Sporty freeriding, moderate wave riding and freestyle maneuvers can be coaxed out of these wing foils.
In the smallest class (500-1000 cm²) you will find the most radical and fastest wings on the market.
Even the sporty advanced rider will quickly get to grips with them and anyone up to the absolute professional can find a suitable wing here. The range of use covers speed/slalom as well as medium/large waves, the most radical freestyle maneuvers and even a sporty freeride range for light riders.
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Beginner
As a rule, beginners should get on best with masts of 60-80 cm. Some surf schools also use shorter models - but these are only really useful for a short time, so you shouldn't buy a mast that is too short at the beginning. Very short masts are also occasionally used in extremely shallow areas.
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Advanced Freeride/Freestyle/Wave/Pumpfoil
For advanced riders, masts between 70-90 cm are the standard. Masts around 70-80 cm are the efficient choice for dock launching.
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Pros Freestyle/Wave/Slalom
It is very rare to find masts under 85 cm among very good riders. Lengths of up to 110 cm are also not uncommon in the speed range.
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Beginners
A beginner's foil layer should not be too short, usually 65-80 cm depending on the other settings of the foil. This makes the foil more stable and slower in its reactions and therefore easier to control.
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Advanced Freeride/Freestyle/Wave
In this group, the most common fuselage lengths are between 60 and 70 cm.
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Pros Freestyle/Wave
In some cases, very short fuselages of around 50 cm are used here, which facilitates fast, radical maneuvers and pumping.
Stabilizer for foils
In general, it can be said that the stabilizer must fit the front wing and the overall foil. Larger front wings usually have larger stabilizers with thicker profiles. By swapping a stabilizer for a thinner, smaller stabilizer, you can get some extra speed and manoeuvrability out of a rather sluggish, larger wing foil.
Chims or similar options can often be used to adjust the performance of foils on the stabilizer.
