Foiling Week: The Data Behind the Fastest Foiling Classes
by Cyclops Marine 27 Jun 00:30 PDT
27 June - 5 July 2026
Hattie Rogers in her International Moth © Mark Jardine
Foiling Week is flying high. Hosted by Fraglia Vela Malcesine, Lake Garda, the world's premier foiling regatta is a true celebration of speed, innovation, and life above the water.
It's amazing to watch, but for the unacquainted, it can sound like you've stepped out of sailing and into a different sport.
Yet, there are some consistencies across every class: the sailor(s) who find their fastest settings and repeat them most often are usually the ones who win the race.
That's where Cyclops data comes in. These classes are at the edge of what's possible, they're optimised to the nines, so have a natural synergy with upgrades like Cyclops wireless load sensors which help them squeeze out every bit of performance they have available to them.
A Cyclops sensor, most commonly installed in the Vang system and connected wirelessly to a Vakaros Atlas 2 display, allows a sailor to hit & repeat their fastest setting on screen - racing in fast mode.
When changing gears or modes, adjustments can be made accurately as the sailor can see the values change with a quick glance at the Vakaros, allowing them to get their head out of the boat to concentrate on tactical decisions.
Once the race (or training session) is done, they can use a tool like Vantage Sailing App to look at speed, heel, and load side by side, picking out the moments when they were fast and identifying patterns in the load data for constant improvement.
Cyclops sensors were born in the data-driven arena of the America's Cup and owe their DNA to that unique environment of rapid innovation. Similarly, data-driven foiling has helped many Cyclops sailors, like Dylan Fletcher, Ruggero Tita, Hattie Rogers and Enzo Balanger to titles in foiling classes and then onto big things in the America's Cup and SailGP.
"A game changer in sailing."
- Dylan Fletcher on Cyclops wireless load sensors
"One thing load sensors helped me understand better was how I compared to the amount of vang the male athletes in the fleet are pulling on. In turn I realised my system didn't allow me to pull a comparative amount of vang load on. After modifying my system, I was able to verify with my Cyclops that I was achieving comparable vang loads. I saw a big performance gain both physically (not having to use as much energy as before), and technically (with my sail set up)."
- Hattie Rogers, who regularly challenges for top podium places overall (against male and female sailors).
With a common mindset, between the most advanced, data-obsessed fleets, driving performance to the extreme, and innovators like Cyclops, it's no surprise that load sensing has become so instrumental across foiling classes.
With this in mind, Cyclops is very proud to be supporting Foiling Week. Cyclops expert Ben Hazeldine is attending post-racing de-briefs alongside inaugural Women's America's Cup champion Giulia Conti on Monday and Tuesday. He'll be walking sailors through some of the data from the day and discussing how it's being used to secure performance gains on the water. Cyclops will also award three prizes to sailors during these briefings.
Speak to a Cyclops expert about how to harness load data to boost performance, or take a closer look at load sensors for the foiling classes here.