Kitesoul Magazine #21 International Edition

we open our eyes and our minds to find inspiration
in our own sport but also often in other sports, other
industries and simply in nature sometimes. If you
want to be more specific, when I work on a new front
wing I know I have a set of parameters I can play with
to achieve the desired characteristics: area, aspect
ratio, section profile and thickness, twist, etc. I can
play and adjust any of them to reach a number of
different compromises and my job is to find the right
compromise to meet the demand. I also need to tune
the wing to make sure it will work with the range of
stabilizers and fuselages that we have in our range
and keep everything plug and play.
IN THE LAST FEW YEARS WE HAVE SEEN A PROGRES-
SIVE DIFFUSION OF THE FOIL THROUGHOUT THE
WORLD INVOLVING NOT JUST PROFESSIONAL RID-
ERS, BUT ALSO ENTHUSIASTS. THE KEY WORD IN THE
INDUSTRY SEEMS TO BE "ACCESSIBILITY". HOW DO
YOU WORK ON IT?
Foiling was reborn 4 or 5 years ago through the development
of a racing scene so these early foils were
targeted at performances only and were rather tricky
to handle for a beginner. This is why anyone who has
tried to get into foiling a few years ago will tell you
that it was super hard. But we have done our homework
and we have learned how to design and make
foils that are easy and still perform well. The size
of the front wing is a key parameter together with
mast length. A shorter mast will really help in the
early stages and a larger wing will let you fly at low
speed before you get scared. So, you still need to go
through a learning process but it’s now much faster
than it was a couple of years ago. Having said that,
it’s always been critical for us to have a modular system
that lets you plug all the wings of our range into
a same foil so that a customer can start on a larger
wing and move on to smaller and different wings as
he gets better.