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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 …

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 …

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 …

This trick is really awesome, it’s tons of fun, it keeps you blasting upwind without losing any ground, and it’s also going to lay the groundwork for some more advanced tricks such as the duck tack with a stance change, as well as carving 360s. Those are some of my favorites; they’re tons of fun, and are always a crowd-pleaser. This is going to lay the groundwork and build some skills for that. The prerequisites for this trick are found in some of our previous videos. You& …

The Gybe with a stance change is the second transition you should work on in your hydrofoiling journey. It's not the most difficult transition but this one is going to take some practice on your end. Don't get to discouraged and have fun with this one. As with all hydrofoil tricks, don't try to recover from a fall. Go with it and commit to the fall.   Before you try you should... Nail the heel to toe and toe to heelside transition - see previous videos Ride both natural and unn …

This video will kick off a new series of videos showing some foil trick tips that you can look to learn in your beginner and intermediate stages of kiteboarding. We will be trying to drop one of these every week or so for the foreseeable future. So... keep an eye out.... and get ready to progress through some basic techniques and tricks. The Heelside to toeside transition  This week we are going to start with a familiar obstacle for new foilers...your first tacks. I speak with new …

The best “do it all” foils Hydrofoils have effectively entered most action watersports these days. If you, like most of us at the shop happen to partake in multiple watersports, choosing the right foil can be a difficult decision. Some of our hydrofoils are useful for a specific purpose while others seem to blur the lines between sports to make a truly excellent jack of all trades. Let's take a quick look at what makes a good “do it all” foil. What wing size is ri …

The printable steps are at the bottom of this blog  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 smal …

The printable steps are at the bottom of this blog  Learning to sit on the foil is one of the first tricks everyone wants to learn. It's not that intimidating, it looks awesome and its really fun to try and incorporate this into transitions later on Step 1 – Practice getting low  This isn't a trick you want to just dive into. You'll want to work your way into it progressively. You can start by building muscle memory and squatting while riding. Simple bring your knees to your ch …

Best 2019 Hydrofoils For You  With the explosion of hydrofoil sports and new designs for 2019, even experienced riders are left with some questions. In this blog, we’ll go in-depth covering the differences between foil options, and discuss how to choose the best foil for you. I’ve done my best to title each section appropriately so you can skip to the point if you are in a hurry. There is a lot of info here so you may want to bookmark it for later reference. Weight and Price Wei …

Let's Chat: 2019 Slingshot Hydrofoil Wings 2019 is an exciting year for hydro-foiling. The variety and abundance of choices in the current market are sure to have a product for every circumstance and budget. However, that also means that the dizzying confusion of product names, measurements, and uses makes choosing one a confounding affair. Slingshot, for instance, has two foil platforms for 2019 with a combined 10 wing choices. Hover Glide Wings The least expensive of the platforms is the Hov …

The Story Behind "Sessions" Welcome to "Sessions"! I'm just a dude from a kite shop making videos and testing all the gear, one session at a time. A year ago, I started working with two talented individuals, Blake Olsen and Crystal Veness. The goal was simple: put out the most thorough and relatable kiteboarding trick-tips online and produce the most informative and useful kiteboarding travel guide on YouTube. One year later and we're working hard and having a lot of fun creating useful content. …

Working at MACkite has some unique benefits. Working with friends in an industry that we are passionate about makes most days feel less like “work”. The huge amount of demo gear available is also well appreciated by our staff. However, it is hard to monetize the value of our “Board Meetings”. Our "Board Meetings" are not the typical drudgery that is associated in most workplaces. Rather, it is a meeting of employees where we can go play and test gear during work hours. …