2023 Hydrofoil Awards | See Which Foils Topped Our List

Jeff and Tucker are excited to announce their top foils for 2023. Hydrofoil is one of their favorite categories because of how it allows you to take your winging to the next level, and they've ridden every foil they could get their hands on.

1. Best Foil for Beginners

This was a close one, but we've agreed on the Cabrina Fusion as the best beginner foil in our shop right now. It's a quality design and it's easy to learn on, but it also offers quite a bit of progression. With regard to winging specifically, it offers a lot of glide in the high-end range for such a large foil. That has a lot to do with the thinness of the profile so it's not so draggy, and you can build that apparent wind.

The price point is good, and all Cabrinha's foils in the Fusion and H Series lines are compatible with one another. That modular design is important as you progress. You won't need to buy a different mast, fuselage, or stabilizer; it all works seamlessly, so this foil is very deserving of the top spot.

2. Best Light Wind Foil

While we haven't spent a lot of time on the F-One Jam, we've ridden it enough to know that it is the best one. There are other great options of course, and if you're already invested into one ecosystem, they probably make a really good light wind wing foil as well.

The Jam has got great low speed lift, it's very stiff, it's very playful for its size, and the speed range and glide are amazing to get you through those holes. There are a lot of variables to light wind winging, and the foil is a very important component of that, though there are some enhancements with downwind boards and wings where you can cheat and use your daily driver foil in a light wind environment.

Paired with a downwind board, the 1600 Jam is phenomenal, or the 1900 for a heavier rider or somebody that doesn't have that skill or technique yet. If you're riding a chunky, draggy board, the 1900 Jam is going to pop you up on the foil a little easier at a lower speed, but the 1600 is seriously fun to ride in addition to having that insane low-end ability.

3. Best Value Foil

The Cabrinha H-1200 might not be the right choice for everybody, but with the sale price right now and its performance level and build quality, we haven't seen anything like it in the past. Usually you're going to spend almost $1,000 on just the front wing for that setup, and we have a complete foil, mast, and everything included for under $1,000 right now. That's a pretty easy upgrade, especially for the beginner who picked up a Fusion and wants to progress into the H-1200 as a high wind foil as they start riding faster. It's a very high-end foil, and it's fully compatible moving forward.

It's a very versatile foil; you can surf foil with it, you can SUP foil with it, you can downwind, you can wing, you can wake foil, you can prone, and you can even dock start with it if you're not too heavy and have some practice. It's a pretty appealing foil for most riders, especially if you're on a budget.

4. Favorite Foil to Sell

We're returning back to the Cabrinha Fusion for the reasons we've already said: it's a phenomenal value, it's a great foil, and it's compatible moving forward. So many new riders are entering the sport right now, and this foil is something that is needed in our industry so people can get into it at a lower price and move to a higher performance as they progress.

It's not a foil either one of us would choose as our favorite foil as more experienced riders, though we do have a local rider who loves it and is one of the better foilers. There are plenty of people who can buy anything they want, and they buy a Fusion. When you factor in the value and that beginner to intermediate progression and its range of use, it's a clear winner.

5. Most Cutting Edge Foil

The F-One SK8 has definitely been the foil that most advanced riders have been calling about and requesting, without question. That is the hottest high-performance foil of the year, and all of us here in the shop love it.

It's versatile, it's built for high-performance wave riding, it's phenomenal for winging, it's a ton of fun surf foiling, and in the bigger sizes you can wake foil with it. You can even freestyle, but the people requesting it are hardcore wave riders.

In any kind of pitchiness, turbulent water, or when it's raging out there, the SK8 is going to be smooth, and to able to roll it and surf it is absolutely incredible. When we got on it, we were blown away. It's predictable and intuitive, and it helps you feel 10 percent better than you are, like F-One foils do in general. It's probably the most sleek, efficient system that we sell, but the SK8 in particular is such a subtle, refined design. Both of us were in love with the Eagle as well, but with the SK8 being a little more truncated and pulling the wingspan in a bit, it really unlocks a lot of that surfy, critical turn performance.

While the SK8 takes the number one spot, we couldn't get a consensus from all of our people, so we're going to add some honorable mentions. Cole and Ryan are both Axis freaks, so they wouldn't let us agree on the SK8 even though they love it. They had to throw the Spitfire out there, and it is a great foil as well if you're in the Axis ecosystem.

The other honorable mention goes to the Omen Operator. You can't buy it in our shop yet, but you will be able to soon. It's about the only foil that can compete with the SK8 at that level. It is quite a bit more expensive, but it's made in the USA, which is pretty cool. We'll have more on that in the future, but since we did ride it and it was available through Omen in 2023, we'll include it as an honorable mention because they did do such a phenomenal job with that as well.

Those are our top foil picks for 2023. We'll see you on the water!

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