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A foil is no longer simply a foil. There are so many flavors of hydrofoil wings around these days and some really compelling reasons to have more than one at your disposal. The vast range in wing size, new designs, and how they complement your given condition or riding style can really expand what is possible when you are out foiling. In this blog, we are going to walk you through some good reasons and common choices to add to your kiteboarding hydrofoil wing quiver. Wing 1 - Large wing W …

A complete review of the 2018 and 2019 Liquid Force NV  In 2010 the Liquid Force Envy led the charge with a bold new three-strut hybrid design. It was faster than the standard bow kites of the time. It bridged the gap between the heavy freeride kites and the fast performance kites. It was something special as it was user-friendly and performance oriented, something hard to find in one kite back then. In 2019 we have two versions available, the V8 and the V9. The NV led the charge with the …

A review of the 2019 Slingshot RPM Slingshot is hyping up the new RPM hard and their videos are hilarious. However, they do leave some questions at hand. Namely, what can you expect from the new RPM, and how does it differ from the original? More importantly, are they fixing something that's not broken to get it back on your radar? We'll cover all of that and more in this complete review. If I had to sum up the new RPM in three words it would be, "smooth, consistent and grunty", but that do …

Last week on Sessions, we made our way to Brazil. In that special two-part episode we spent a week in the Village of Taiba. We caught up with Cabrinha's newest international rider  Lucas Arsenault and talked kiteboarding gear with him. The following week, we visited the kite park league down in Icapuí.  While there we filmed with two of the industry's hardest-working riders, Colleen Carroll and Sensi Graves.  While filming, it occurred to me that these riders are …

How to Pack your Hydrofoil for travel Hydrofoils can be difficult to travel with at times. They are awkward, oftentimes sharp, and can be easily damaged. The kiteboard industry has not come up with a definitive plan to help you with that issue quite yet. Luckily, we package foils for travel every day in our warehouse and our globetrotting crew has a couple insights that will help you with your next foiling vacation. #1 Keep your packaging By keeping your shipment packaging, you have a way to …

There are various ways to connect a hydrofoil to a foil board. The Plate System Alloy Standard (90 x 140mm) The most common today is the plate system. Connecting a hydrofoil to your board is simple using a plate mount. However, you need to make sure they are compatible with regard to their bolt pattern, or spacing between the screws and nuts. There are two primary bolt patterns that have emerged as the standards. We will call them the "Alloy Standard" and "Carbon Standard". Alloy Foils Fi …

Hydrofoils for action sports generally consist of a front wing, rear wing, fuselage, mast, and board connection. The front wing, board connection, fuselage, and mast get a lot of attention as ways to change the accessibility or performance of the foil. Most often the rear wing is viewed as a package deal with the front wing. While the standard rear wing does most often suit the front wing, changing the rear wing can also have some beneficial effects on your experience. In this blog we will exa …

All wakestyle is freestyle but not all freestyle is wakestyle. This is a video I’ve been meaning to do for a long while now, but I’ve put Versus on hold the last few months. It’s a common question I hear and there are a few opinions floating around on the topic. Kiteboarding borrows from a lot of sports! There are plenty of crossovers, from surfing and wakeboarding to snowboarding. And of course there is the unique big air aspect of our sport. It’s one of the most …

The kiteboarding back roll with style  The Back Roll is often the first trick new kiteboarders learn. The thing is, as exciting as they are, at the end of the day, they don't look that great on their own. Now, add a grab. The Tail Grab is the easiest grab to pair with your Back Roll. It's also one of the better-looking grabs. For this playlist, our aim is to help you add a bunch of safe, good-feeling, easy tricks. These will improve your riding and style fast. These are non-inverted, si …

Last time on Sessions, we were exploring Taiba, a small fishing village in the northeast of Brazil. We caught up with a couple riders to chat about gear. First we linked up with Lucas Arsenault from Cabrinha to chat about his transition from the  Chaos to the FX. We also did a bit of filming with Machu Lopes of Duotone. You can read up on their gear and catch their rider segments in part one. After spending a week riding and filming at the local lagoon, it was time to head south to the ki …

The roast beef is arguably the best looking grab you can pair with a back roll, especially if you follow the tenets of style from our first video in this playlist. It might look like a difficult grab, but it’s actually really easy if you learn the muscle memory of the grab first. This is a trick you can master hooked in and cross over to your unhooked riding if you really want to up your game. The secret to making this trick look good is keeping the kite low and letting it pull you throu …

Learn how to Pump Your Foil There are a lot of new skills to learn with foiling but the most frequently asked about is, “pumping”. Videos online show talented athletes pumping back out to the lineup, off docks, and around boats; pumping certainly draws some attention to the sport as well as lots of questions. Everybody wants to pump it up, but how is it done? The short answer is, “technique, practice, and/or immense talent”. Let's take a look at some ways to “pump …

Full breakdown of the 2019 Slingshot RPM, including how to set the kite up for different conditions, what pigtails to use, how hard to pump your kite... Additional clips: https://www.instagram.com/as_the_dodo_do Pick up your new 2019 RPM …

The Cabrinha Chaos vs. the FX The Cabrinha Chaos vs. the FX The northeast of Brazil has long been a destination for freestyle kiteboarders chasing perfect wind, flat water and warmer temperatures. It's just one of those locations where conditions always deliver. While it's not the easiest place to visit, it's well worth the effort. I've always had fond memories of Taiba as it's where I got my start with video and kiteboarding. Back in 2012 I left my career to help my good friend Chris Bobry …

Over the last few years we’ve been testing all the hydrofoils extensively- with the kite, behind the boat and in the waves. In that time, most of our staff has progressed from complete beginners to advanced riders. We’ve noticed that as we progressed there were different things to consider when choosing which foil to learn on, which foil to progress with and which foil to use for different sports. With there being so many options and styles on the market, we wanted to make you …