Crazy Foil SS20 Foil Preview
Brand: Crazy Foil
Name & role of person answering: Serge Fraser, President, Crazy Foil
Has the foiling hype weakened? Can the sport exist beyond a niche market?
Not sure. It may stay a niche market..
Kiteboarding and windsurfing laid aside, which one of the following has the most potential: SUP or surfing?
SUP and surf are even more niche markets than kiteboarding and windsurfing. Foil SUP and surf are very difficult to master, they happen at lower speeds and involve shallow waters. We see these more or less at the same market level.
The 2-in-1 board system (foilboards that can be ridden as a regular SUP/Surfboard) has vanished in favor of foil specific boards. How so? What are the defining features of a foilboard (SUP and prone foilboard)?
For barefoot, you just need attachments to the board to make a foilboard. It can be a track system or a box (usually thick boards). For footstrap application, it is a little bit more complicated because the position of the foil has to be well aligned with the position of the foot strap. This situation reduces the flexibility of having a board that can fit any foil. So maybe at the end, riders prefer to have dedicated foilboards. It secures the rider when spending the money.
Foil designs are getting abundant: small waves, larger waves, pumping friendly, stable vs responsive… Please guide us through your range?
Entry level foils, mostly stable and we cover all speeds, from surfing to kiting. We make to enjoy, not racing. We believe that foils are there to extend windows of opportunity for every watersport. So far, we haven’t worked hard on pumping models, because we think it looks very nice on YouTube, but is the niche of the niche of the niche… J
In addition to the premium carbon offering, more and more hybrid solutions are launched (alloy, fibre)? What is your take on those constructions?
If you are not competing, we think that carbon fibre does not make that much of a difference for the price it demands. We are still working on affordable solutions that will provide the best ratio between fun/money.
Safety remains an issue for the sport’s development: how do you handle those concerns (technically & education)?
First of all, everybody has to understand that it remains an extreme sport. We do recommend baby steps: learn with boots if possible, then straps with a helmet, then barefoot with helmet. Everybody has to understand that the most dangerous, by far, is foiling barefoot.
Brand Previews
