July 12, 2022
Foil Drive
June Newsletter 2022
Didn't catch our Monthly email update from June? No worries, find all the info here! Another month has flown past and once again we have some awesome things to share with you! Welcome to the June edition of Monthly Updates! Take a look through some awesome content from creators around the world, trying their hand at Foil Driving, check out some new accessories and discover our first Stockist Highlight!
Creator content
We are really blessed to have a growing, supportive community of customers and creators around us. If you follow us on Social Media, you may have already seen some of the content this month. Check out the videos below and be sure to send them all some support!
Click the title to watch now!
Top. Oskar Foil - Down wind review
Bottom Left: Wake Thief - Hybrid Efoil review
Bottom Right: Dominic Hoskyns - Smaller board use case
NEW ACCESSORY
This month we added a stack of new masts to our range of Motor Pods. You can check out the full list of compatibility here - Starboard, Fanatic 2022, Neil Pryde, Liquid Force and the new Axis masts amongst some of the newbies! Earlier in the month, we posted a poll in the Facebook Foil Drive Owners Group to gauge interest on two accessories we use in our warehouse. One of which in now available on our store, the Foil Drive Battery Checker.
Thanks to popular demand, the Battery Checker is available as a simple, compact device to check your battery percentages.
Take it with you (Not in the water!) to check which of your batteries has the most charge, or use it at home to see if you've reached storage level without having to run down to your shed to plug it into your kit.
STOCKIST HIGHLIGHT - HI-TECH SURF SPORTS - HAWAII
We now have 19 Stockists scattered across the globe, each of which we work closely with to provide the best service possible to our Foil Drive community.
Each month, we'll be featuring one of our stockists and allowing them to provide some insight into their store and their roots! First up is Hi-Tech Surf Sports in Hawaii. Giampaolo and the team at Hi-Tech have been with us since September 2021, just a few months after our first release, and he's taken the time to give you the rundown:
I moved to Maui from Italy in 2001. I first taught water sports (mostly windsurfing and surfing) and in 2009 I started working for Hi-Tech, the biggest surf shop on the island, located in Kahului. We also have locations in Kihei, Paia and now Kaanapali, but it's the Kahului shop where you can find the foil gear, including the Foil Drive.
When Alex Aguera came out with the first GoFoil SUP Foils (around 5 years ago, I think), I immediately jumped on them and struggled like everyone else. Unfortunately, there was no Foil Drive at that moment, but I was lucky enough that the first SUP board I converted to foiling, by installing a Tuttle Box, had a windsurfing mast track that I previously had installed for sailing on waves in very light wind days (A Starboard 7.4 POD). That's how I actually learned how to foil, as windsurf foiling offered me a lot more time on the foil than SUP foiling. I remember I was pretty much by myself at Kahului Harbour (Occasionally Ken Winner would show up to test some foils too). If you go now, there's tons of beginner wingers instead. So when the Foil Drive came out, I was already an advanced foiler and had done something like 30 attempts at SUP foiling downwinders.
At the time I was using a massive foil like the GoFoil GL220 and with it I could occasionally take off, but it was so slow that I wasn't getting anywhere. When last summer I first saw a Foil Drive in action (Mark Ribkoff on the Gorge), I immediately wanted to get one on order to facilitate the take off. That's when I contacted the team and started buying units for the shop.
It was an immediate success, and not only I could take off at ease at any time, but I could also use a much smaller foil and board, so that once flying, it was easier (and more fun!) to follow and ride the bumps. Things got even better lately thanks to the PLUS and its lighter batteries. I'm now at the point that I do Foil Drive assisted SUP foiling downwinders with a 725sqcm front foil, which is something I would have never been able to take off without the assist, not even with a proper SUP foiling downwind board. I was also able to go down in board size as I'm now riding my 5.0x90L Wingboard. To summarize, the Foil Drive allowed me to completely bypass the issue of taking off in a downwinders and focus on the performance aspect of the riding.
Image thanks to Tomoko - Maui Tomo Snap Shots
You can also support Giampaolo and Hi-Tech here:
Facebook Instagram Youtube
NEW BLOG POSTS
You've more than likely already seen these pop up in your emails, but in case you missed it... Check out our new blogs released this month: Cleaning and Maintenance Foil Drive Lithium Batteries Explained
This month's photo below is from Hayden in NSW - Riding a Fanatic board with Axis Foils!
That's a wrap for June! From everyone here at HQ, we want to thank you for your ongoing support. We can't wait to see more of you out in the water!
Paul, Ben and the team; Jamie, James, Emma, Eleri, Sarah, Caitlyn and Angela.
