Lift Hydrofoil Boards - Rip in 6 to 10 kts.?!
 

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Damo LeRoy and Jon Modica doing their daily foilboard session off Jupiter, Fl in gnat sneeze breeze without a whitecap in sight. Photo: Damien LeRoy Facebook Page, https://www.facebook.com/damien.leroy.7?fref=ts


Damo tells me not only is it possible, he has been doing it off Jupiter along with a growing crew of foilboard riders. If it is blowing from 6 to 10 kts., they are out there. It sounds like foilboards are taking off with a vengeance. Case in point, Damo said that last year there were two foilboards at the Mondial du Vent in France last year, this year there were 40 in the race. He says that demand is exploding throughout the USA as well. It isn't just for the lightwind qualities but a good deal more, read on.


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Damo got the GoPro photo of the day recently with this image.
Image from http://lift.mhlcustom.com/index.html


Damo tells me the foilboard riding sensations are amazing. It can be light as anything and yet you are ripping at speed. It rides up wind very well too. The foil responds fast to control inputs and working up to jumping can be an interesting experience. He said that experienced kiters will have a good 45 minutes of bashing getting the hang of the board. The trick is to keep your weight centered over the foil and to not bend over. These can be counter-intuitive to experienced kiters so it takes some getting used to.

Damo rides MHL foil boards out of Puerto Rico and tells me demand for boards is intense. They are going at full retail, around $1850. as supply can't keep up with demand. This reminds me of the good old days, pre-2000 and four line kites, when I could usually sell my old kites rapidly for what I paid for them.



An intro to Lift Hydrofoil boards


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The Lift factory is located in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. More at the Lift website at http://lift.mhlcustom.com/index.html


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Damo and Jon rip nearshore in light breeze
Photo: Damien LeRoy Facebook Page


Damo started out foilboard kiting with 18 m kites but has gradually been reducing the size. Once you are on plane you need little kite force to keep you there relatively speaking. Then again getting on plane can take some experience at the low end particularly with a smaller kite. He is currently using a 13 m transitioning to an 11 m and this is for low end, 6 to 10 kt. wind kiting! He said you need to use line extensions to get your lines to around 30 m to increase the stroke duration and control.


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Photo: Damien LeRoy Facebook Page

Damo is working his way through tricks with the board including this amazing board off. He described jumping as a fairly tricky process, initially anyway. Your planning surface be feet deep so it isn't like you can just pop and up you go. Although as fast as the board moves in response to control inputs I understand things transition rapidly. You need to get the board closer to the surface before launching. He said landing is more forgiving than you might think in part due to the relatively small foil area.


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Photo: Chasin A Dream Photography Facebook Page


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An adept kiter can even ride these strapless!
Photo: http://www.damienleroy.com/


I asked how fragile the foil assembly is to impacts as I understand it is a composite material. Damo said he has beat his demo board pretty thoroughly with lots of bottom impacts and about 80 demos in a variety of conditions. He said a lot of folks are training initially behind a boat but he prefers to do it beneath a kite in part due to the higher tow/support angle helping with stability.


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Photo: Damien LeRoy Facebook Page


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Image from http://lift.mhlcustom.com/index.html


I asked what the most wind Damo had been out in with the foil boards to date. He said it was around 25 kts. on a 7.5 m kite. Given the rapid response and low power requirements, high wind kiting can be particularly demanding. He has learned that 10 kts. offers more than enough power to rip and much above you start thinking about rigging down from a 13 m in his case.


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Image from http://lift.mhlcustom.com/index.html

So, there is something new out there with remarkable riding and light wind demand properties. Foilboards are likely coming to a demo near you at some point in the future.


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I believe Damo LeRoy is a distributer for Lift Hydrofoils, so get in touch to find out about demos and acquiring gear. Photo from http://www.damienleroy.com/site/

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Damo just uploaded a video on Lift Hydrofoils with more insight into the manufacturer and products.





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boy would I love one of these! but the $$$$ is way up there!