2015 Foiling Week – A five day festival of foiling

by Jonny Fullerton on 9 Jul 2015 Foiling Week 2015 came to a close last weekend after a five day festival of foiling in superb conditions at Lake Garda. The weather really turned it on for three days of fast and furious foiling with Lake Garda an eclectic mix of foiling craft.

The sun came out every day and the pristine clear waters off Malcesine proved a big hit for the visiting sailors. The early morning Peler from the North switches off around lunchtime to make way for the afternoon Ora from the South which blew in 12 - 18 knots almost every day. Add the occasional summer thunderstorm in the mix and you have some awesome foiling conditions.

The Kitefoil Invitational proved such a hit amongst the visitors that international kite rider Marvin Baumeister is keen to organize a major kite event in Lake Garda as early as next year.

“The circuit is growing in strength and if we come here in Summer it doesn’t get much better, it’s not only a place that has really good conditions for some very fast racing, it’s also the panorama and the scene here just adds that extra element.”

Winner of the Long Distance Race, kiteboarder Torvar Mirsky from Western Australia agrees: “I have had a lot of fun here, this Foiling Week concept is great, the venue is great, the organization is spot on so we have had such a pleasant time.”

The Moths and Flying Phantoms enjoyed a series of 10 fast and furious windward/leeward style races over the first three days followed by a Long Distance Race at the weekend to test their speed against all the other craft.

Gurvan Bontemps (FRA) Flying Phantom Series
It is very good conditions here for the Flying Phantom foiling boats. Full foiling on the start, upwind and downwind. The lake is very flat and with a breeze of 17 - 18 knots it’s really good. This is the first time I sail here on Lake Garda and I love this lake! Fantastic.

The prototypes on offer ranged from foiling windsurfers, to the S9 cat, Mirabaud, The Vampire Project (White Bear) and everything in between. Sailors were able to test sail the foiling craft with many experiencing the thrill of foiling for the first time: “It has been amazing how simple and smooth is to start foiling on the 'Vampire' and also how much fast it is! Foiling is now my new fever!”

Designers, builders and suppliers roamed the boat park to analyse the craft on display and sample foiling products on offer.

The Foiling Week forums offered the unique opportunity for delegates to hear from highly experienced individuals from a mixture of backgrounds including naval architects, designers, engineers, builders, circuit organizers and sailors and exchange ideas and views at the ‘Round Table’ sessions.

Andrew ‘Amac’ McDougall
“Foiling week just rocks, because it brings sailors and designers together to exchange ideas and of course race at a beautiful spot.”

Marc Menec (Innovative Solutions and 3D Engineering)
“The forum, the organisation, the team, everything was great. I really enjoy meeting all those foiling people and it was also very constructive.”

Presenters came from a range of foiling backgrounds be it in Kiteboarding, the launch of a foiling dinghy (the Waszp), Multihulls (The Flying Phantom Series), C Class (Little Cup) Offshore projects (IMOCA 60, ORMA 60) larger Multhihulls (MOD 70) the Americas Cup (AC34/AC35) and a whole host of prototype projects. Designers discussed their projects exchanged views on foils, hydrodynamics, fluid dynamics, foils and the future of development.

Friso Bergsma (Hydrodynamicist/CFD specialist)
“Thank you very much for the Foiling Week. I’ve enjoyed the event a lot. I hope to see you in one of the next editions.”

Foiling Week has proved so successful that the date is soon to be set for next year and other venues have shown interest in hosting future Foiling Weeks. Future events will be advised in due course.