Foiling Knowledge, wing foil
Mistral wing foil gear testing (and mishaps!).
Further to our recent testing of Mistral’s new foil gear in foilsurf mode we got the chance to demo the brand’s newly minted wing foil equipment. It’s been an interesting journey, having been involved at the conceptualisation stage to seeing fully fledged production kit. Experiencing and riding through the design process has been super insightful. And we appreciate the opportunity.
With a stiff SE breeze blowing it was into the brine with sunny, early spring skies to accompany. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the first run resulted in a crash. And not any old crash either… A bit of misjudgment with the water depth saw us clatter full pelt into a hard shingle/shale bank that features at one of Foilshop UK’s local spots. With kit stopping dead our rider carried on with full momentum. Only halting after sliding across a dried-out knife-like section, filleting the sole of his foot in the process! (Big thanks to Oli Lane-Peirce who snapped the accompanying pics and also helped get us up the beach, kit packed away and off for stitches).
Now don’t get us wrong. We’re not suggesting this is the best way to test the durability of a hydrofoil. Nonetheless, upon inspection, all component parts remained solid without any loss of integrity – a truly bomba product. The only damage was slight scuffing to the foil’s front wing. Unlike the rider’s foot, which required hospital treatment. Moral of the story: don’t ride too shallow when foiling!
As far as wider kit performance went, however, the wing itself is super rigid and stable with zero flutter when bigger gusts hit. Mistral’s Sabre foil lifts progressively and easily, remaining composed once at height. And the super lightweight Tempest board is fun to ride atop. Stay tuned for a full test report coming soon.
In the meantime keep your eyes peeled for the new Mistral foil gear landing officially. And check out the following articles from Foilshop UK’s Foiling Knowledge section.