So, I am going to start by buying a foil. I don´t really fancy making one myself since it is one variable I don´t want to have to mess with. At least at the start.
I am thinking about buying one from the few suppliers on Alibaba. Which type should I get though?
This is always a good site too Foils & Masts — Force Kiteboarding
I have not heard of Alibaba though. Looks like great prices!
https://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?fsb=y&IndexArea=product_en&CatId=&SearchText=hydrofoil
I’ve also ordered it. Awaiting delivery.
Hi @MaxMaker, I think SUP or surf foil is the answer to your question in the headline, not kite foil 
@moggieuk and @smarm this foil setup from Alibaba looks good.
Can you please report back once you receive your package?
Personally I’m most interested in the mast. Is it strong enough? Is it hollow so that 8awg wires fit? Can it be attached properly to the fuselage and base plate?
@PB1 Hi i found this on IN, https://forcekiteandwake.com/collections/masts-fuselage
Maybe this can help 
Of course, will do. I did have a discussion with the supplier and the mast is a hollow aluminum. Obviously no idea about strength yet but I have to believe that it would allow for 8awg wires - at least I hope so because that’s what I’m planning to use together with a water pickup for ESC cooling…
i wonder could you laminate a layer of carbon on the alu mast to strengthen it up.
I think making a mast is the easiest part of the hydrofoil.
You can, but keep in mind that carbon fibres are a lot stiffer than aluminium extrusion. If you can get a good bond between the laminate and the aluminium, the laminate will take most of the load.
Yeah this is true! Could end with the carbon cracking!
PB1 as promised. My foil arrived (a few days later than expected). The quality is quite reasonable given the low price ($265 + shipping). They did get the color wrong, but that’s easy to fix. The mast is quite narrow but thick gauge aluminum and feels very stiff. The connection with the front wing could be tighter – since I don’t envision ever disconnecting, I think I’ll epoxy the mast/wing joint for a bullet proof connection (shown with my finger). The connection to the base plate is very solid. The mast is hollow, but in 5 separate channels. It looks like I can just get 8awg wire with thinner insulation through the 3 larger holes – my super flexible 8awg welding cable wont’ fit though. I’m going to use the small front most channel as the water pickup tube.
The only surprise (other than color) is the wing size. It is smaller that reported on Alibaba with front wing of 57cm x 15cm and rear of 42cm x 9cm. Definitely a kite surfing set up – I was hoping for a little larger wing. Fingers crossed.
What you received looks very much like the picture of the red foil that you ordered from alibaba. Its a very medium aspect wing. What gave you the impression that it would be a lower aspect?
The three openings in the middle of the mast there, does it retain those shaped channels through the entire length of the mast? Or does it open up to one large chamber?
The foil dimensions on Alibaba were different here
front wing size: L65cmW21cm
Rear size: L45cmW12cm
The extrusion channels run the entire length.
Have you foiled on your wing yet?
I bet they measured from the most fore point on the nose to a straight line drawn between the most aft points on the corners of the foil.
Yeah I got a pull behind a boat on my '17 rocket foil. Was going 10mph. I feel like I could have gone a bit slower, but was my first time on foil.
Recieved mine and have exactly the same feedback.
For the price, I can’t complain. I’ll have made some more progress over the next week so can comment further then.
Hi there, long time lurker here, finally starting my build!
I see that everyone are suggesting to use SUP/Surf foils, but I didn’t see anyone suggesting the following SUP foils:
(sorry, I didn’t look what other companies have to offer, I’m sure there are more).
Can anyone share their insights about the options above? How do they compare to the LF Rocket for our purpose?
Do you see a situation where a foil is “too slow”, meaning you can’t ride it as fast as the propulsion allows you to?
the ss hoverglide is not a popular option for us because the mast is filled in a plastic polymer and cannot be easily routed to run phase wires through it.
The LF inpulse wing is more in line with what we’re looking for in e foil use. This is a low aspect wing and can get up on foil at lower speeds, around 10mph.
Not a whole lot of people using the impulse just because its a new model. There are deals out there for the rocket foil, which makes it a better value proposition right now. The rocket foil has the low aspect wing we’re looking for and a good workable mast to run wires through. I was thinking about this the other day and with the new shapes of surf foils coming out, I wonder how useful they are for our application. I understand that in surf, where speed generation and pumping are important, the new shape lends well. But for powered propulsion systems, a larger thicker wing would just lend to more friction in the water and since we don’t need to pump the foil, the advantages of such a shape are lost to our use case.
There are ways to make a setup generate less lift. If for example you’re 100 pounds and feel that the propulsion system is generating too much speed and causing the foil to just fly out of the water, you can shim the rear wing to generate up force and thus causes the front wing to generate more down force and results in a more level ride and less lift.
