home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- Newsgroups: rec.windsurfing
- Path: sparky!uunet!newsgate.watson.ibm.com!yktnews!admin!news
- From: bcwebb@watson.ibm.com (B. C. Webb)
- Subject: Re: Weird Windsurfer/Hydrofoil Thing
- Sender: news@watson.ibm.com (NNTP News Poster)
- Message-ID: <1993Jan26.144007.24228@watson.ibm.com>
- Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 14:40:07 GMT
- News-Software: IBM OS/2 PM RN (NR/2) v0.16 by O. Vishnepolsky and R. Rogers
- Lines: 27
- Reply-To: bcwebb@watson.ibm.com
- Disclaimer: This posting represents the poster's views, not necessarily those of IBM
- References: <1993Jan25.144836.16027@newssun.med.miami.edu> <1993Jan25.212729.20515@bnr.ca>
- Nntp-Posting-Host: bcwebb.watson.ibm.com
- Organization: IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
-
- In <1993Jan25.212729.20515@bnr.ca> Heybc writes:
- >In article <1993Jan25.144836.16027@newssun.med.miami.edu>
- >dbrown@newssun.med.miami.edu (Daniel Brown) writes:
- >>I went out this past weekend and saw the oddest windsurfer: it had
- >>four long, thin skegs coming from the the bottom, two near the
- >>stern, two near the bow. (Actually, this is only an approximate
- >>description because I was a little too far to make it out exactly.)
- >>
- >>When he started moving fast, the ENTIRE board would lift out of the
- >>water, sort of like a hydrofoil. The board would clear the water
- >>by nearly a foot and a half (tail and all)!
- >>
- >>
- >>Does anyone have an idea what this thing was?
- >
- >I've seen ads fro hydrofoils you clamp onto a board.
- >Two Pieces: A single V foil on the front,
- >and a pair of side by side V's on the back.
-
- I talked to somebody who had a hydrofoil board about 8 years ago. He said
- it was disappointing, it did start to fly in about 12 knots of air but
- at higher speeds it tended to become unstable as one end or the other
- hopped out of the water on even small waves. It's possible better
- foil designs have helped since, but there is always a conflict between
- enough start-up lift and the need for less lift and drag at speed.
- The guy said the board ended up no faster than a regular board with a
- narrower weather range.
-