Latest News, Blog & Videos

Whether you've been watching dock start videos on repeat or you've already face-planted into the water a few times, this guide is for you. Dockstarting a foil is one of those skills that looks deceptively simple from the shore, and then humbles you fast once you're actually standing on the dock. The good news? It's highly learnable, and the progression curve gets a lot friendlier once you understand what actually matters. Here's everything you need, from dialing in your gear to the pumpin …

North Foils, in collaboration with North Sails, has designed an innovative program to help beginners master the art of wing foiling. In this session, led by North Foil Pro Instructor Jeremiah McDonald, participants will learn the essential skills for tow foiling—a crucial step in gaining confidence and control with a foil board. Tow foiling introduces riders to the unique sensation of flying a foil above water. It helps them build foundational skills for balance, steering, and weight dis …

In collaboration with North Sails, North Foils has developed a comprehensive four-step program to guide beginners through the exciting journey of wing foiling. Step 1 focuses on learning how to handle the wing—a crucial skill that sets the foundation for a successful wing foiling experience. Jeremiah McDonald, North Foil Pro Instructor, breaks down the essential techniques in this introductory phase. Mastering Wing Handling 1. Inflating the Wing The first step in handling the wing is p …

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 …

The Self Rescue is your ace in the hole when it comes to kiteboarding.When in doubt, if you’re in trouble you can count on this method to systematically get yourself and your gear back in safely. When it comes to foilboarding, the process is mostly the same but there are some subtle differences. I originally intended this video for riders who already know how to do a self rescue but it occurred to me that a full recap is always a good idea. I’ll break down all the steps below and t …

Foilboarding is the newest and fastest growing aspect of kiteboarding, without question. The rapid advance of riding styles and equipment is a hard thing to keep pace with. As a result, we get a lot of questions. Since most of the people getting into kiteboard foiling are already kiteboarders, a popular question is, “How will my kite(s) work for foiling?”;  A legitimate question!  The kite you have/choose will have certain advantages and disadvantages for your riding and …

If you hop onto our website and look at the listings of available foils, you might be pretty quickly overwhelmed. Just like the rest of us, you're probably wondering which foil combo would be great for your personal needs. Foilboarding is exploding; and with it, a lot of gear has been developed. We've got so much to offer with so many different uses, we thought it would be helpful to break all that down all our foils into three separate categories. Freeriding Powered freeriding (yes, we expla …

Welcome to the beginning of our knowledge center. While we're building out this new category on our webpage, we'll be pairing our Foil Friday videos with these extensive blog posts. If you have any questions, be sure to let us know in the comment section of the video.   Have you ever seen a pelican soaring inches above the water? Smoothly cruising the shorelines, unaffected by the choppy waters below, pelicans are a frequent sighting at many beaches. If you have ever seen one, you h …

Differences in Hydrofoil Sports Foilboarding has recently exploded in popularity within the kiteboarding community. With a remarkably efficient design, hydrofoils allow riders to cross into that sub-10 knot threshold while still having a ton of fun. The same logic has been applied to surfing, SUP, windsurfing, and wakesurfing. Riding above the surface of the water, a foilboard gives you the illusion of what can only be described as floating. For kiteboarders in light wind areas, or other wave ri …

Surf Hydrofoils: Carbon vs. Aluminum. Whats best for you? In the  foil board game, there are two basic construction techniques: Full carbon and Aluminum Hybrid. Carbon is the lighter, less durable, and generally more expensive technique while Aluminum tends to be heavier, more durable, and less expensive. Which construction method is best for you comes down to a few considerations. The first consideration for most newcomers is often the price. Getting into a new type of riding can give peop …

How to Learn Hydrofoil Surfing So you want to learn to hydrofoil surf? Congratulations! We too have caught the foil bug for all of our board sports. Surf foiling is truly a one of a kind experience that makes even the most marginal days into magical sessions. Aside from the silent, smooth, and effortless glide, surf hydrofoils tap into the most powerful part of the wave just beneath the surface. This allows you to keep momentum and connect sections on the smallest wave. Step 1 – Learn to S …

Ryan H on Foilboarding I’ll admit it, when foils first came out I was one of the first people to badmouth them wondering why anyone would want to foil, saying it looks super boring and that very few people would get into it. Fast forward 4 years later and most my summer sessions are being had on a foil. So what changed? Well, like most kiters out there, I want to ride anything once or twice. Even though I was talking down the latest board to ride I still was planning on trying it once or t …

The “New Foil Guy” 3rd Session / June 20th, 2017 It’s been a month since I’ve gone foiling—my bad. We’ve had an unseasonably windy spring, with much more time in the surf than usual. I make no apologies—riding in the surf will always win over everything else for me. With that said, I did have a great session on the 30” mast this last time out. Part of me wonders if that will be the longest mast I’ll need as I only plan on kite foiling in ligh …

Conquering the First Foil Session 1st Session / May 16th, 2017 I’m not an early adopter for many new things, except for kiteboarding. When kite foilboarding first hit the market, I was pretty neutral about it. Didn’t hate the idea—didn’t like the idea. It just was. This morning, I had my first session on a foilboard, and wow—I had no idea how much fun I was missing. Winds were around 15 mph, which was plenty for a North Neo 12m to haul my 190 lbs around o …

Slingshot Foil Academy: "Taxi Stage" Like with many of you, the kite foilboarding bug has bitten me as well. And as you may already know, the Slingshot “Foil Academy” is a great place to get started. Thanks to Alex Fox, and his team, the online tutorials are well thought and easy to follow. The Slingshot Hover Glide foil system is easy to assemble and disassemble. I was able to switch from the full-size mast to the 15” mast in just a few minutes. After assemblin …