We're here at the RYA Dinghy show
This is the Moth, behind me.
This is like the original Foiler, you know the one we all saw, watched it on YouTube, high speed, all the crashes, all the carnage.
So its kind of like the king of Foiling right now. So we're going to have a look round the show. See all the other new boats that are here.
Some of them have been around a few years. And see if any of the new Foilers can take the crown.
So, the WASZP, Duncan this is the 700th boat globally. Whats going on in the UK team.
We have 75 boats, we've got a new circuit, we had one last year, its grown this year. We're going to have a lot more boats sponsored by Zhik for the class so its all quite exciting to be honest.
And why would I chose a WASZP?
One design. I think this is possibly the worlds largest one design Foiler.
Oh, he's put it out there!
We'll have to fact check you on that.
Yeah, double check it because i am not aware of another one design Foiler as big as this.
700 Boats. We're going to keep going up and get bigger and better.
Pictures of the WASZP. So you've got 2 rigs?
Yeah, 2 rigs, 8.2 Sail and weve got a 6.9 perfect for my size or smaller, 65 kilos or lighter.
And obviously the 8.2 is better for the bigger people.
Its one design, the only thing you can change is the colour.
So why is the WASZP the single handed Foiler that I'm going to buy?
Because its one design. It's affordable brand for a boat. It gets you foiling. The passion that we talked about earlier. That moment of silent acceleration.
It's just an exciting boat and because its affordable people are getting involved and the class is growing.
Number 2 is the F101 and we've got Rob Andrews here to tell us all about it.
Robs, what's the USP of the 101?
I supposed the USP was that Alan used to teach Foiling mainly in Moths. Quite a lot of the Moth size and width makes it quite unstable.
So we wanted to come up with a boat that was far more stable. And would allow pretty much anybody could get into foiling.
And as their Foiling develops they can move on to racing Moths and things like that
But when you're learning this is far easier to learn on than a Moth or a WASZP or any of the unstable Foiling boats that are out there.
But it's not just beginner, can you sort of do your Foiling career in it once you know what you're doing? Would it still have the wow factor with the high speeds and everything?
Yeah, absolutely. You can do Foiling jibes, all of that.
Sustain flight, and we're now racing them.
So have you got any fleets anywhere?
There's a fleet in Mar Menor in Spain. So they tend to stay their for the winter.
Where its always a bit warmer than the UK.
And now we're starting to build up dealers, we've concentrated on dealers. So we've now got about half a dozen dealers around the world.
They're starting to build up little tribes.
And the other thing about the F101 is we tend to have lots of shared boats so you can go to another tribe without taking your boats and share boats and still have events.
so we like to go to cool places.
Build the community that way.
We are with Shaun and the Skeeta.
So apart from an excellent name, what has the Skeeta got that makes it stand out from the other Foilers out there?
Its basically really good for entry level Foiling. And from what we've noticed on the water its really good at a performance level as well.
So it's got 2 rigs, plenty of options for plenty of people to sail it. Its a wide hull. Old style Moth design.
Basically its not very tippy, so when you're sailing in ocean mode its very easy to drop the foils.
If it gets very windy or very light, its very easy to sail home.
And the control systems on it are very simple.
Cool, so i can learn to foil in it. But once I'm up and running, been sailing for a year am i still going to get thrills and skills on the Skeeta?
Absolutely, they've done a really good job on the rig and the set up inside the boat.
So it's simple but its awesome in the performance end. So theres people that can Foil tack it Foil Jibe.
Its fast, huge wind range. Gets foiling in 7 or 8 knots and then keeps going so
Whats the weight bracket? Its fast, huge wind range. Gets foiling in 7 or 8 knots and then keeps going so
Up to around 85-90 kilos from what we've seen.
Sort of top end. And then there's a smaller rig for the lighter sailors.
We're with Dave. who is here with his Boat of the Year 2018.
Tell us. What have we got?
Well we took all the things that we loved about the Moth and used it to make it possible for my friends to continue sailing.
So that was the motivation for it. I've been sailing high performance boats since i was a little kid. Ive been building and sailing fast race boats since i was 5 really.
And as it went on i was immune to a lot of factors in play. I was a boat builder so I had great kit and had the ability to repair it and work on it and I had great support.
But my other friends, who came up in Optis with me, were better than me at sailing to be honest, left.
Because they didn't have the money, the time, there was no avenue for them to stay in the sport
and I struggled to build fleets of performance boats and I failed.
What I realised was that a lot of it can be dealt with technology.
Because there's the attainability financially, skill building wise, maintenance wise, storage and actual fun.
Again and again as you grow, you need a boat will actually be a space for you to develop skills. And reward you as you grow.
So you may not be very good. And the boat needs to be able to forgive you for that as you continue to learn.
So the ting we found is actually of all things the hydro foil, which is supposed to be some sort of high end cutting edge tech that is a pinacle for you to aspire to
is actually a vehicle for you to get there.
UFO, huge wind range you can go out in, lose power, gain power with its fancy widget up there.
and Foils that you can launch really easy and drop.
And its cheap.
And now we have got this beauty, the Flying Mantis.
Last year we had our first production boat. That still had some development work attached to it.
but now we have full production boat which we see here. Its really the super yacht end of the market for us.
Which is why we have it in brilliant red. And its really quite something to look at.
So can you learn in this? Or do you sort of move into this once you know what you're doing?
Its very much designed as an easy Foiler so you can start it off. One of the unique things about it is its two boats in one.
So it can be sailed as a conventional trimaran with a dagger board.
Lift up rudder at the back. Get used to the boat, where all the controls are and how it feels.
And swap into it, these Foils, 2 foils at each end. And then learn to Foil.
And it is very stable because of the out riggers. Gives you stability, pops you up rather than just chuck you in the water.
And because its a bit bigger, a bit more volume, does it have quite a big weight range on it?
It's designed for people like me, taller heavier sailors. It'll do up to about 120 kilos in weight.
And youll get foiling in what at 120 kilos?
Well i need to do a lot more lessons myself in learning it but it will Foil in about 6-7 knots boat speeds so it's getting up pretty early and that's because of the large wing under the foil.
We've been around the show ans seen a whole range of Foilers. There is something our there for whatever price budget, kind of sailing you want to do and the weight you are.
Im not sure if any of them have the same following that the Moth has got.
It sounds like theres a lot more boats in the pipeline that will be coming out over the next few years.
So watch this space and see if any of them can take the crown off the Moth.