I’ve been seeing different brands advertising that their foils can breach wingtips and continue to be ridden. What characteristics of the wing allow it to recover and which types of foils can handle it? I’ve seen guys do it on the GoFoil NL wings but I am curious about the science behind it.
Here’s a foil that comes out of the water and immediately gets back on foil upon re-entry.
I don’t know the science behind it at all. But nick from lift talks about it a bit on the lift episode of the progression project podcast.
Gofoil nl. Takuma kujira. Cloud 9 f32 lift ha. A claim to do it well.
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take a look at this video to get an idea of the problem:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzEySSgnvfi/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_video_watch_again
I think the Kujira is solving it with the tubercules which prevent the evolution of the aeration running along the length of the wing.
I think the GoFoil NL works because it has a lot of sweep-back of the leading edge, so the aeration can’t evolve from the tip to the root.
It might also have to do with the foil cross section being designed for a gentle stall characteristic
After watching the video of a wing breaching and then cavitation get along the leading edge, I am wondering if that is why Humpback whales have scalloping features on their pectoral fins. The great size of their fins moving through the water would warrant evolutionary efficiency and cutting turbulence in that fashion would make sense if that is what the scalloped edge does. I was surprised to see that cavitation and the tenacity of that air pocket which probably decreases lift. Somebody have a flow tank and camera setup?