What are the benefits of Foil Drive in the surf?

[@bdwelle43]

Great interview, illuminating rundown, thanks!

[@chrispewkreme]

Paul Cooper! I first learned to foil where he was always at. It’s absolutely unreal seeing him launch airs and shred turns. I was pretty dead set on a jet ski but you need training and a trailer and maintenance and gas and a friend. I’m for sure gonna get a foil drive when I can afford it.

[@Piros181]

Great interview

[@JS-sy8mo]

I got an efoil but now that I’ve had it for a couple months it seems like foil drive makes a ton of sense. Surfing a 70lb efoil is totally possible with the folding prop, but it’s not ideal.

[@leapnlarry]

Im coming into OBX for 3 weeks to kite and wing foil today. I have watched a lot of videos about foil drive but the big obstacle is the cost, at over $5K its not a cheap way to spend time in the water, add that to the at least $3-4K already invested into a board, foil, mast, leashes we are talking close to $10K total investment. I am trying to justify the expense by dividing the cost by hours on the water, and then it looks better. I have been windsurfing for over 40 years, kiting for over 20 and only winging for the last year, so adding a new expensive sport at almost 60 years old is a big decision. Thanks for sharing this interview. Larry

[@haldanemartin3642]

Its perfect for us older guys. I dropped the cash 3 months ago and i am loving it! No regrets. (I also kitesurf, wingfoil, and emtb and this is my favourite toy) If you divide the cost by the amount of waves you will catch then the numbers really start working. This is a 10X wave machine!

[@rnetsch]

Wave count is off the charts, on waves that no one else wants. For me it’s been fantastic.

[@REALmattnuzzo]

Yeah if you have the time to session, the foil drive is the constant of what you can do almost every day in all conditions. We do teach foil drive lessons so you could come take a lesson while you are here and decide if it’s right for you.

[@REALmattnuzzo]

Paul sending it!!!🎉🔥

[@walterbunso3675]

What size mast?

[@kovz910]

Love it! Do you know what mast length and pod position he is riding?

[@paulcooperfoils]

Unifoil Progression 800 mast. 12cm cable

[@kovz910]

Got it, is that a custom cable? Looking at picking up a unit and the cables start at 15cm, then 20cm. Any recommendations? Coming from prone and wing background, riding east coast US so conditions similar to Hatteras. Thanks!

[@paulcooperfoils]

@@kovz910 there’s a 12cm version with the new V2 motors.

[@JetSurfingNation]

Foil drive is an amazing system

[@paddleboarddog]

The modular batteries to get around TSA restrictions sounds like a good idea :D

[@REALWatersports]

Stay tuned, we will have them hopefully by the end of this month but if you hop on our email list we will notify everyone

[@scp8412]

total weight of the foil/board/ drive unit?

[@REALmattnuzzo]

Paul is riding a pretty small custom board and foil so my guess is this rig with battery and foil drive is about 22-24 lbs. I’m riding a 40L carbon board, Armstrong rig with a 980 or 1080 and max power foil drive and total weight is 25 lbs. The complete max power FD system adds about 12 lbs to a foil.

[@scp8412]

@@REALmattnuzzo not too bad!

[@windaddict]

It's the first time I see someone foildriving with footstraps. I thought you needed to adjust your feet when you switch from powered up (feet forward) to foiling with the motor out of the water (feet backward)? Axis FoilDrive boards don't even have footstrap options. But I like the idea of using it with footstraps as I am used to them from wingfoiling.

[@REALmattnuzzo]

Good questions. As you get better at FD, you will be keeping your feet in the same spot and just shifting your body forward or backwards. You can also take your back foot out of the strap while you are not on the wave and that shifts your weight to in front of the mast. Straps can give you more power and control but will be a bit more technical. Good boards for FD that have inserts are the KT Drifter 4, Armstrong Midlength, Appletree Slice V3. In Paul's case, he is riding a tiny board so your feet will be in the right spot or wrong. Bigger the board, bigger the sweet spot so you will probably move your feet around a bit.

[@windaddict]

@@REALmattnuzzo thanks for the detailed answer!

[@mikepatton2042]

So beautiful 0:04:02

[@rnetsch]

Foil Drive has ruined my life

[@benjaminboyce2156]

Any other prone foilers out there that think motorized surf craft of any sort should not be in any lineups? Maybe I’m in the minority, and maybe I should be more open minded. But foiling loses its magic for me if there is a motor involved. And I see so much bad etiquette from people with foil drives….

[@joshku1990]

hi mate , at foil drive its our mission to educate foil drive users with good etiquette, unfortunately there is always going to be people that abuse its power. just like with regular surfing when foiling first came along and still to this day people are anti foils as they catch more waves. now there is foil drive and it is another craft people dont like as they catch more waves. foil drivers need to go to waves that arent as populated and have respect to other water users

[@REALmattnuzzo]

Yeah you are right about there needing to be proper etiquette. Having the FD buzzing around can be really arriving when you are trying to enjoy nature and surf with your family or friends. We are doing our best to share that message and teach foil drive customers they right way to do it. The beauty of FD is that you can go ride in conditions and locations that no one is surfing.

[@Megahegs]

The are classed as a personal watercraft in nsw Australia, so they need to abide by the maritime legislation as regards to distances away from people and other vessels.

[@mackash]

Benefits for an actual surfer? Not much. Its like comparing skiing vs skateboarding. Motocross vs rally car. Kayaking vs jetski. Skimboarding vs wakeboarding. Similar actions, but still nothing alike. And one is affordable and easy to set up, the other is ridiculously expensive and convoluted. Its not surfing. Looks like fun, but is it worth it? I think id have more fun on a $5 blow up surf mat and 3 ft surf. I reckon it would become boring after 5 rides.

[@joostgolsteyn3193]

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