Never Tried Foiling? Here's Everything You Need To Know

What Are All the Parts of a Hydrofoil?

First up, fairly straightforward, the board is what you stand on. The longer the board, the more stable it is, but you will sacrifice maneuverability. The opposite end is true, too: The shorter the board, the more agile it is—not in a skatey sense—you are just able to turn or pivot more easily. But you lose a lot of that stability.

If you're starting out, don't make the same mistake most surfers do and go too short too soon. Assess the wind and conditions in your local area and make life easy on yourself. When you're ready and you have a better understanding of the many nuances of foiling, you can move to something shorter with a bit more whip about it.

Next, attached to the board is the mast. This sounds very grand, yet it's just the pole attached to the board, usually made of carbon or alloy. The rigidity of your mast is important, as it impacts the overall performance. Stiff masts are usually thicker and heavier—the stiffer the mast, the more stable the board will be. Thin, stiff masts are out there, but you will pay a premium for them.

Then there's the length. For beginner foilers, you can look for a shorter mast in the 40-to-60-cm range. Yet, you are probably better off going for a medium mast. If you pick up foiling fast, you will likely want to move to a medium-sized mast anyway, in the 60-to-85-cm range. These are great for general-purpose foiling. The longer masts, 90 cm+, tend to be for racing or can be for choppier waters once you're feeling more confident.

Attached to the mast is the fuselage, a bar that connects the front and rear wings. These are usually matched to the wings you buy. A shorter fuselage is more agile but less stable, and a longer fuselage is way more stable and suited to beginners.

Perhaps the most critical part of your foil setup is the front wing. This is the part of the board that allows you to lift above the surface of the water. When starting out, it's best to go for a larger all-around wing. This will give you more lift, stability and better performance when going slower. Then there are much smaller and thinner wings, which you will eventually want to progress on to, giving more speed and less drag.

The stabilizer wing sits behind the front wing and helps with the handling of your foil board. It is usually paired with the front wing.

Where To Use a Hydrofoil

Have you ever looked out at your local and the spot just looks super fat? Or maybe it's stacked to the horizon and losing energy as it lands to shore? What you need is a hydrofoil to get you out the back and pump into these non-breaking waves. From here, you can angle the board down the line, hop out the back, pump around and do it all again. Some high-tide spots that dump to shore and are not surfable suddenly become viable options for foiling and not turning tail and heading home. Foiling can also open the possibility of surfing some weird set-ups that you might have balked at before.

Before heading out on a foil, it's worth noting the crowd factor. Most foilers will stay away from the busy spots, so as to not cause injury or take every wave way before stand-up surfers catch them. If you're thinking of moving to a foil, it's worth learning away from a busy line-up and on a smaller day at a set away beach, until you can handle the conditions. Hydrofoils can also be used over long distances, downwind over flat water, which is a different setup from surf foils.

The best thing when beginning with any type of hydrofoil is to learn to surf it first along a quiet stretch of coast. Once you're comfortable, you can work on pumping the board after you have finished on a wave to get you back out to sea. There's no set way to learn, though, but if you're coming from a surf background, it's probably best to walk before you run, get used to the difference between surfing and foiling and then work on pumping through open water.

Mechanics of Foiling

Much like surfing, where you keep your back foot over your fins, you want to make sure your back foot is over the mast of your hydrofoil, with your front foot roughly just over shoulder-width apart. Pumping is similar to surfing, where you can shift your weight back and forward to generate momentum, though you will find you have to get into a much better rhythm on a foil, so as to not bog the nose. And bog the nose you will. There is no getting around this.

Paddling out is exactly the same as your regular surfboard. Jump on and get those arms working. It might go without saying, but even when paddling, the mast remains in the water. Do not paddle your hydrofoil upside down. That feels like an intimate accident waiting to happen.

As for catching a wave when starting out, do so exactly the same as surfing. Paddle in, pop to your feet and get your weight over your front foot instantly. Bend with your knees, not your waist, and feel how the board moves through the water. It will feel different from regular surfing the first few times of getting to grips with it, especially as you have to get used to little to no resistance from your board being on the water, versus in the water. Once you do, it will become second nature and much easier to catch unbroken waves.

What Is an eFoil?

An eFoil is a foil surfboard that is controlled by you. It combines all the above aspects of foiling but has a form of electronic propulsion, meaning you eliminate the need for pumping between waves. Efoils are usually more expensive, due to the tech in them, and can be much larger than your usual foil to appeal to beginners. Whichever way you choose to learn to foil is just fine, always be considerate of your fellow ocean enthusiasts.