Foilboarding adventure

We are fielding more calls every day about foilboarding. And so have posted here a short video and accompanying story to give even more information about this newest rush on the water.



Mat Colefax - First foilboarder in Australia:

Heres an update after having ridden the foilboard intermittently for over 6 months in many various conditions, including very gusty wind sessions at the Mambo 2007 event in Merimbula. There it was absolutely apparent out of hundreds of kiteboarders ONLY Mat on the foilboard and undersized Bandit kite was hooking upwind. It really blew us away how once up and foiling you could glide through lulls as there is so much less resistance than normal boards. Mat wanted to test the foilboard in the gustiest conditions we get with offshore SE winds coming over a large headland and so when the conditions were right (wrong haha) we rounded up a chase boat and headed offshore. Although the wind was gusting from 3 to over 15 knots and would normally have made it impossible to go upwind even difficult to just stay on top of the water, the combination of Carbon Carafino foilboard and smaller than normal Bandit kite was super smooth and easy to ride. When the wind lulled you keep gliding for way longer than on any other board. And going upwind was incredibly easy at angles we could hardly beleive!

In fact it was so much fun in what otherwise would have been crappy conditions that even after the chase boat left the foilboarding continued, which almost turned into disaster as after succesfully riding back upwind to shore the surf and current sent everything a bit pear shaped. Luckily however it all turned out OK with a surprisingly tough foilboard and kite surviving a slight detour.

So the scoop is that foilboarding opens up a whole lot of conditions that would otherwise be dissapointing. Light and gusty winds, long upwind tacks, open ocean or gusty lake exploring. What are you waiting for get in touch and get on it. email@m8kite.com

11-Feb-08 5:44PM

foilweb1.wmv   Foilboarding video