Search
Close this search box.

The 5 advantages of riding a carbon foil

Table des matières

Carbon foil or aluminum foil? We give you the advantages of riding with a carbon foil!

The rigidity

One of the first advantages of a carbon foil is its rigidity. Rigidity brings a certain feeling, certain sensations that you won’t necessarily be able to feel with other materials.

By way of comparison, if we take, for example, a carbon foil with the same stiffness vis-à-vis an aluminum foil, an aluminum foil will have to be thicker to have the same stiffness as a carbon foil. This will reduce the profile of the foil as much as possible, giving you a better glide and a better feel when you’re riding.

The lightness

The second major advantage of carbon foil construction is lightness. In fact, there are two major advantages to this. The first, of course, is that when you get out of the water, you’ll be glad to have a lightweight material to get back in.

The second big plus of this lightness is also for taking off when your foil is underwater. Having something lighter underwater, will allow you to take off faster, get airborne more quickly and even afterwards on a more freestyle practice to be able to jump higher.

By way of comparison, carbon foils are twice as light as aluminum foils. So overall, a carbon foil will weigh between 2.5 and 3.5 kg. An aluminum foil will be heavier, weighing between 5 and 6.7 kg.

The durability of a carbon foil

The third major advantage of a carbon foil is its durability. It’s true that today, and it can happen, rubbing a stone or anything else with your foil can lead to scratches appearing, particularly on the front wing. The advantage of carbon is that you can sand it very lightly to remove these scratches.

In the same way, if you’re really looking for performance, sanding before competitions or even if you really want to shoot the breeze with your buddies and see who can go faster: a little sanding will really help you accelerate and go even faster when you’re riding.

0 maintenance

The fourth big advantage of a carbon foil is maintenance. In fact, unlike aluminum foil, there’s no need to use any special products on it. No tef gel or any other product, we’re really talking about something you can simply go in the water with. No need to clean up after the session, and no corrosion!

Invest for the long term with a carbon foil

The 5th major advantage is the financial aspect, and in particular the long-term investment. If you compare a carbon foil directly with an aluminum foil, the carbon foil will be more expensive. However, with the first two advantages, durability and maintenance, carbon foil can be refurbished. This is a service we also offer our customers. Those who want to upgrade their foils can send them back to us and we’ll refurbish them. They can sell it second-hand and start again with a new foil. The second aspect of long-term investment is that there are different types of deformation between materials. The disadvantage of aluminum is that what’s known as plastic deformation can occur. This is a deformation where, when the material is deformed, it will not return to its initial position. So once the aluminum is deformed, which can happen when you’re sailing, there’s a lot of stress, and the mast is deformed. The mast is then no longer usable, which is not at all the case with a carbon foil. Find our wingfoiling guide.

AFS product expert

Need some advice?

We’re here to provide comprehensive answers and guidance to assist you in making the right choice.
Antonin

AFS product expert

Need some advice?

We’re here to provide comprehensive answers and guidance to assist you in making the right choice.
Antonin

The equipment is made of carbon

Cart
Close
  • No products in the cart.
Click outside to hide the comparison bar
Compare

NEWSLETTER

Your subscription to the mailing list has been registered

Caractéristiques techniques