Why I'm Switching to a Monofoil - Triton T1 Review

In this video we take a close look at the Triton T1 set-up (monowing and mast). I discuss my experience on the T1 after the first few sessions, who the T1 is for (and not for) and some pros and cons of this kite monofoil.
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Gear we use + discount codes: www.ourkitelife.com/p/gear-we...

[@howleyboy3664]

New gear is awesome and is great for the sport. Thanks for that.

[@kippywylie]

Thank You. I just ordered the complete Wing Mast and Board from Chris. Been foiling for a decade, and for the last 4 years on a 633 & 679 setup. Ready for some change.

[@s2oooo]

So if you have a track move it backwards. Or shim the back edge of the mast to wing connection 👍. Glad you liked it.

[@supericeman2222]

Great info there guys! I have been kiting next to you guys for several sessions now at the point. I'm going to introduce myself next time your out. The Triton looks very interesting.

[@OurKiteLife]

Please do, looking forward to meeting you :)

[@eaglechiro]

Where are you kiting looking for a place to learn foiling

[@manfredanderson2080]

Great honest review of innovative product

[@OurKiteLife]

Thanks Fred 😊 you’ll have to try it!

[@SimcoeAce]

I've had a few sessions on the T1 so far. As others have commented, it's surprisingly easy to use ( assuming you are a reasonably experienced foiler already). It water starts easier than any other foil I've used. A little more squirrelly to ride initially - more pitch and roll sensitive - but it doesn't take long to start to get comfortable on it. Gybing is not much more difficult than a regular foil. I found four switching challenging at first - kind of like learning foot switches over again - you have to find the sweet spot to balance the foil. The foil is very smooth, quiet and drag free. It's not a super fast foil, but fast enough. It does turn very tight which can be useful in light winds allowing you to keep tension in the lines. As far as self rescue is concerned, I had no problem putting my Peak 4 6m on top of the board. Laurie may have struggled a bit with the bulkier Soul, but it's definitely doable. You can push the foil down so that the board is flat on the surface. A very floating foil means you do have to actively body drag up to the board when you fall off.

[@davidtomasetti8520]

It’s good to see that the foiling world is open to new design concepts

[@E620SE]

That concept is at least 30 years old and I don't think it's the most efficient for water

[@davidtomasetti8520]

@@E620SE the concept maybe but this is the first time its been used on a production hydrofoil for personal use. I do agree with that assessment on performance. I was more commenting on the fact that people are willing to give these new shapes a try. I’ve been working on surf hydrofoils for a long time and while people always thought they were cool, very few wanted to try them. The airplane shape foil has taken over as the main style for good reason. But there are plenty of forms out there that will work.

[@rmatson]

Thanks for the review. Much appreciated. I’m new to foils and very intrigued. Would you say this changes the landscape for foils? Or is it more like one step forward?

[@markusbroyles1884]

Love your reviews Lori ~ Aloha

[@OurKiteLife]

Thanks Markus 😊 Aloha

[@Mgamito]

It is nice, it is high quality but far from stable. I bought one, I tried a couple of times and it was easy to start riding but does not help once you trying new tricks. It is nice to see new concept but this is not the future

[@andrewpipitone1572]

Its had to get honest opnions most are neutral.

[@clinton1020]

Glad you got to try one then buy one. Yes they are super smooth with less turbulence having only one trailing edge. I've done over 1300km on my T1 and really like it, super fun carving about.

[@OurKiteLife]

Wow, that’s a lot of km! Awesome to hear you like yours :)

[@glike2]

Some advantages not mentioned: * Less cavitation tendency due to lower lift coach efficient (reason for smoother ride) * Induced drag should be about equal that of a traditional bifoil design of the same span * Profile drag could be equal or more, specs or test data needed to confirm

[@andrewjamez]

As in any " flying wing" design, they cam be more efficient during optimum speeds but are much higher drag in turns any aggressive changes in pitch. They will never perform as well as a high aspect wing and tail

[@r5photography]

Thank you!

[@bwise8112]

I ride one. It is super fast, turns on a dime and same low stall speed as my sabfoil 633. Really fun wing.

[@OurKiteLife]

Agreed - it’s a lot of fun. Excited to progress with it :) cheers!

[@cbundus]

Been riding mine since May. Absolutely love it. So fun turning. Downwinding with the t1 is so addictive. Incredible wind range. I've had the opposite experience with kite size. Maybe it's my progression with the new wing but I find I'm now using smaller kites to foil. Good job on the review.

[@OurKiteLife]

Thanks! Good to know about kite size. So far most of my sessions were with the Soul 8 but looking forward to trying it with smaller kites (like the Peak5)

[@kountchev1]

does the carbon 91 cm mast by MOSES /SABFOIL work for the triton?

[@stijnbrinckman]

@@kountchev1 I ride it with an adapter on my moses/sabfoil mast. I now switched to cedrus mast. The adapter is for sale (Europe)

[@fonwoolridge]

Excellent!

[@kippywylie]

Foot Switches? How are your foot switches with this setup? I would like a balance between a lively wing and ability to complete my foot switching. I'm many years into strapless wave foiling, mostly on larger Moses 679 & 633

[@clemdar]

Interesting concept. I'd love to give it a try just to see how it feels ! I wonder if you can prone foil it ? And maybe even pump it ? I guess it's not that good for it as it looks fairly thick

[@IRWE905]

There are videos of Tow Foiling the T1 from Maui

[@TritonFoils]

Please email us at [e-mail]. Maybe we can connect you with a demo unit.

[@whenitswindy7034]

would love to get a ride on one. Looks fun and different

[@OurKiteLife]

Definitely worth a shot if you can find one to demo :)

[@TritonFoils]

Please email us at [e-mail]. Maybe we can connect you with a demo unit.

[@JT-Works]

Great video, I would be interested to see a monofoil on an eFoil setup.

[@paulhipsley6593]

I'm working on getting one setup with a Foil Drive Plus now...

[@kippywylie]

@@paulhipsley6593 I have a Lift. Wondering if the adapter plates offered can facilitate putting this thing on my Lift efoil

[@TritonFoils]

@@kippywylie Yup. Lift adapter coming very soon!

[@geokite]

Recently got the wing and the board from Triton. Haven't ridden the wing yet (waited for the adaptor from Cedrus), but the board is really nice. Curious about your thoughts on the board.

[@OurKiteLife]

Nice! I can only compare it to my last board which felt too long (130cm) when paired with the Triton wing. The Triton board is so much better. I don’t have any pitch issues like I was having with the previous board. I was concerned it may be difficult to adjust to a smaller board but it wasn’t an issue. I also love the board for travel.

[@MattLV]

Awesome review. What matching board did you order?

[@OurKiteLife]

Thanks! I ordered the 86cm T1 foilboard

[@bigtone667]

They are definitely a fun foil.

[@krispewkrem3]

Future of kite foiling perhaps? Not sure how it would do prone.

[@apfrogerio]

Have you ever come to Brazil northeast beaches?

[@clementfouet2888]

to answer, like in plane I don't think so, but I defenively want to try !

[@yurcchello]

hi. what is the difference of regular hydrofoil vs e-hydrofoil (with motor)

[@paulhipsley6593]

I'm curious about the high buoyancy of the wing. Are you unable to sit and straddle the board when you are winding up your lines during self rescue? Is it so buoyant that it is tipsy and hard to sit or lie on the board? I would think that if you could lie on the board you could put the packed up kite under your chest and paddle in. How will an even smaller board change the self rescue? Please let us know when you get your smaller board and do a self rescue. We love your channel and videos, keep up the good work.

[@OurKiteLife]

I only have the one self rescue to speak from so take it for what it’s worth. I tried to put the wrapped kite on the board and keep it under my chest as I swam but couldn’t manage to keep it there. Not the best pack job though if I’m honest. There was a decent amount of current (tide was going out) that didn’t help me either! As for the smaller board - not sure that will make self rescue any easier 😄 but that wasn’t the reason for choosing it. Maybe we’ll do a follow up video after I’ve got more sessions with the complete setup.

[@irf888]

The Sabfoil 633 setup will float on the side too, you can sit one the board like a surfboard (but I'm 82kg). The main issue which happens when crashing is if you crash and drop your kite at the same time and the board while floating on the side is perpendicular to the wind - the board will travel sideways and even a little upwind away from you while the kite (if an LEI kite) drags you downwind. By the time you relaunch you can be a few 100m away from the board in a short space of time. With a foil kite you have a chance to swim to the board but in 16+ knots the board laying sideways can travel faster than you can swim. The key for when a crash and kite drop happen simultaneously - just get your board straight away then work to relaunch once you are with the board. I learned the hard way several times trying to relaunch the kite first, then it was too late and had to either swim or be rescued, especially if I couldn't relaunch the kite. Hope this helps anyone reading. Regards.

[@kippywylie]

It is a concern. I remember a few years ago when the early versions of the Moses 633 came out. I immediately snatched one up and loved it, but when I'd rescue on a light wind kite falling day?..... The pocket board and floaty wing immediately raced way upwind and I needed to flag down a rescue boat for my long gone board

[@TritonFoils]

I have no trouble straddling our 86cm T1 foilboard. U just gotta be a little more responsive. The good thing about the T1 is that when the wind starts dieing I can usually pump it home.

[@BrendanCurrin]

Kind of a solution to a problem that doesn't exist? Also limited because you don't have the ability to swap wings for different conditions...unless they are going to bring out multiple wings and then it is prohibitively expensive. I've never looked down and wished I didn't have a stabiliser....plus brands like Axis have sooooo many stabilisers that you can make your foil setup feel completely different for $200 and use the same front wing for multiple applications. New tech is always a good thing I guess and might lead to other ideas.

[@TritonFoils]

Brendan, the big advantage for the T1 is not having to switch wings or stabs. It goes fast and slow. I use it on the lake and on the ocean. In big waves or ankle biters. Big wind or gentle breezes. It is never overpowered. Its my go to allrounder. Try it!

[@chavachase9300]

Question, where is your normal spot in Canada. While I am in Canada I want to visit.

[@OurKiteLife]

We are in PEI - there are multiple spots here :)

[@irf888]

Hi. Thanks for sharing the video. So interesting, I want to try, let me see how much it's costs to get one to the Southern Hemisphere! Regards.

[@crusher2u]

They are available from Dr Surf in Australia. (Part of the southern hemisphere).

[@irf888]

@@crusher2u Hi. Many thanks, and we are in the same state, never heard of Dr Surf before. Thank you!

[@crusher2u]

@@irf888 Dr Surf is actually me. Feel free to contact me anytime. Might have some other kitesurf gear to interest you too 🙂

[@irf888]

@@crusher2u Excellent, expect a call tomorrow.

[@user-cj8uv7xz4o]

Hi guys, are still using your Triton foil a lot? After almost a year could you comment on when you ride it rather than a regular foil or not? Thanks Drew

[@OurKiteLife]

Hey Drew, tbh we haven’t been foiling much in the past year at all. We moved to PEI which has stronger winds and pretty shallow kite spots, plus I broke my ankle at the end of last year so wasn’t kiting for a few months. That being said, the handful of times we have foiled since making the video it has been with the Triton and we are happy with it. Just can’t say that we have spent a ton of time on it. Sorry I can’t give you more insight than that!

[@user-cj8uv7xz4o]

@@OurKiteLife Thanks for the quick reply. I hope your ankle has fully recovered. It must have been very difficult being away from kiting for so long.

[@jeffg4686]

What happens if you fall from 60+ ft high ?

[@OCEANBOUND1]

so you rode the mast in the middle, I take it that's the same spot you ride your other foils. have you tried riding it all the way back?

[@OurKiteLife]

Haven’t tried all the way back. Wasn’t the best clip of positioning but it’s not in the centre but slightly back.

[@finfoil8544]

@@OurKiteLife you should definitely try it all the way back, it'll allow you to put your feet further back closer to your front strap.

[@OurKiteLife]

Thanks! I’ll give it a try next time :)

[@Vitcodb]

Can you pump this?

[@jjouh]

I would say high aspect front wings are the future. Very large aspect with no stab are drag machines.. also we can see the front wing angle is poorly adjusted as your board is always pointing up (not parallel to the sea).

[@robinmordasiewicz]

This wing is very very fast. The nature of the wing at low speeds is that the angle of attack makes the board look like it’s pitching up, but it levels out quickly as you gain speed.

[@TritonFoils]

Julien, ride one and you'll find stabbed foils are the drag machines...like riding on sandpaper. Second, board angle has nothing to do with it being poorly adjusted. Perfectly trimmed it rides with a positive 2 degree AOA. If u don't like the positive AOA (which I prefer in waves) then throw on our shim set and level the board out. And high aspect wings have all kinds of disadvantages like turnability.

[@TheKitestyle]

Hey Julien everyone gets it wrong sometimes, don't stress, but in this case everything in your comment is wrong. Try one yourself, they are the opposite of draggy, the most alive foil you can experience. As for the nose up, I love the positive AOA. I ride a 78cm pocket board and the T1 is the easiest and most enjoyable wing I've tried with it, particularly getting the take off right, there is no climb & stomp or stall to balance, it just goes where it's told. That size board isn't usually forgiving on a touch down, which happen occasionally in the ocean. I kept bouncing off the water and riding away, couldn't figure out why till I read that Triton engineered it that way, as they ride pocket boards as well.

[@fluiditynz]

Triton is semi-correct that the high attack angle is not an adjustment issue, it's out-of-factory in it's Pizza box like this. The riding angle is more complex. Triton use very high wingtip reflex which is fantastic for reducing tip vortex but pointless and draggy at high speeds. Because of the high wingtip reflex(I haven't tried one myself but I design so I know this stuff), the wingtips are only a bit angled in lift and avoiding stall, while the centre portion is angled very high and yet avoids stall. I've made my own wings with this feature, but high aspect. For a delta, wingtip vortices are normally a killer but they've avoided this by following Ludwig Prandtl's revised wing lift distribution curve to blend out the lift towards the tips like birds do. Whatever Triton tell you about it being a speed machine, there's two stark raving flaws in their marketing sales pitch: 1. drag is proportional to the square of velocity, this is a killer for low aspect high area wings. 2. The wingtip reflex is great at low speeds but draggy at high speeds. So you won't see a high aspect foil's rider with the board at an angle like this because the high aspect foil with traditional ellipitical wing tip loading design will stall out, it needs more speed to evade stall. But when you ride that high aspect foil, like for example an Axis ART series, it will reward starting patience with awesome glide. Still- I prefer my own foils, mainly because I designed them for ME to ride!

[@TheKitestyle]

@@fluiditynz speed is relative, what do you call fast? I have owned a race foil, but never really enjoyed it. I have owned very big slow foils that were fun on waves, stable, and great with small kites. I have also owned an ART 899 and lots of other axis foils. For me a foil that easily gets up to 18-21kts and cruises there is as fast as I want to go. Water gets hard above that. I call that a fast freeride foil. I'm not a fast foiler but the T1 does that for me, similar to my old Moses 550 or my current axis HPS700, but with far lower take off & stall speeds. Others claim 25kts top speed, but I've never had that with any freeride foil. These are the numbers to your theory. If a foil shoots up to 20kts & cruises there all day it doesn't feel draggy to me. As far as AOA I think you've missed the point, the board is angled nose up relative to the wing. It's not that the wing is flying nose up. It's just the nose of the board and therefore you can shim it out if you ride an oversize board.

[@stephensinnhuber8401]

Awesome. I got one 4 weeks ago but still havent had a chance to use it! Among other things covid got me :(. Nice to see you love i though.

[@OurKiteLife]

Hope you feel better and can get out with your new T1 soon!

[@stephensinnhuber8401]

@@OurKiteLife please write a review of the board as well when you get it. How big is your board in this video?

[@OurKiteLife]

Will do :) current board is 125x45cm

[@simonjandrell5897]

thats amazing less bells and whistles to as they say

[@Xfuera]

I love the look of this, but I honestly just don't get it. It doesn't like to be boosted, isn't as fast as a regular set up. Have Triton just tried to re-invent the wheel a bit here? Has this moved foil tech forward? After 2 years on RnD I'd just expect something that is 'better' than the current foil set up.

[@JetSurfingNation]

I wonder if it can be used for efoils as well ?

[@martinw4380]

Why not

[@kippywylie]

Someone here in Seattle is efoiling a Lift with an adapter that Jim Stringfellow created. Review is that it is fun..... But some loss in battery time session

[@alfonsocanfora8598]

Sthelt technology👏

[@jyk4]

I think T1 is too expensive because there are no others on the market =P $1349 USD when gong normal foil setup is 309,00€. I'll wait until gong deliver mono foils.

[@OurKiteLife]

Fair point - it will be interesting to see other brands introduce monofoils and what they're priced at

[@Lack0]

There's the spleen monofoil / acrofoil for 700€. Actually that was first and T1 came second

[@irf888]

Hi. Excellent point. I agree.

[@crocodile172]

So it is for intermediate/advanced hydrofoiler, but you cannot go fast, you cant jump and it cost 1200$ without mast ??? Meanwhile you can purchase good Sabfoil setup for 1800$ including carbon mast. Hmm. Interesting. I would consider if it would be appropriately priced...

[@OurKiteLife]

You can actually go pretty fast on it - just not racing speeds. You can also jump on it - just not repeated big air jumps. There are a lot of advantages to the T1 as mentioned in the video but obviously it’s not going to be for everyone. There’s no foil setup that will make everyone happy - you’ve just got to find what’s right for your preferred riding style and budget :)

[@TritonFoils]

It can go 24-25knots down to walking speed. And we are releasing a "jumping" monowing this week.

[@crocodile172]

@@TritonFoils And how much will it cost? I'm just saying I cannot really see any benefits of monowing over regular wing+fuselage+stabilizer if it would remain in this price range.

[@bluecrabweb]

Why ride this mono foil vs. one of the other brands? my take was, you don't have to worry about a fuse or stab? Has winging caught on up there yet?

[@OurKiteLife]

Not having to worry about fuselage and stabilizer is only one plus - but I would say the turning and carving, smoothness and overall feel is what I like most about it. I also want to progress into kite foiling in the waves so the T1 makes sense for me. Winging is definitely catching on in Toronto. As for PEI, not so much (that we’ve seen anyway) - but that’s likely due to the main spot being pretty shallow - you can only foil on high tide or if you walk waaaay upwind.

[@jameshoben2950]

That wing is almost as big as my twin tip😢

[@noah.s-w]

I love my T1. Can’t wait for the matching board to arrive! (It didn’t work well with my Dwarfcraft) It’s a great compliment to my racing setup when I want something more playful. The speed range is quite amazing - you can hover super slow or speed up to 20+. The Triton team is super responsive to questions as well.

[@OurKiteLife]

Great to hear :) also can't wait for the matching board!

[@paulhipsley6593]

I'm curious as to why it didn't work well with your Dwarfcraft. Was it the size or the volume or something else, please elaborate...

[@noah.s-w]

@@paulhipsley6593 when riding my Dwarfcraft 110 with Triton mast and wing, I could hear what I can only describe as “creaking” under my feet. Triton confirmed they had the same experience with their Dwarfcraft. So I would look for boards with carbon reinforcements.

[@ieism1]

@@noah.s-w Thanks for reporting that, kind of strange that it doesn't do that with any other wing. I have the 110 too and was thinking about the T1

[@noah.s-w]

@@ieism1 I agree. One theory is the T1 mast plate is much smaller than my Lift, so maybe that’s putting extra torque on the rails. Or maybe it’s just putting pressure in a particular weak spot on the 110.

[@anfauglir56]

Sorry but I keep my windsurf board, I could fall asleep otherwise. Maybe when I'm older.

[@CoEnHe]

а сколько такой фойл стоит в РФ ?

[@alexr9341]

2:23 обычный кайт уже летит на глиссаже

[@VK-pl1nd]

seams to be like a directional, with under connection :)

[@Tobeon2]

So, it will be very good/fun for kite foiling provided that the wind is consistent. I really do NOT want to paddle back the way you had to! 🤣😂 How about Wing Foiling. Do you think it will work for wing foiling too?

[@fluiditynz]

As a wing foiler and hydrofoil designer myself, I'd point out the comment from the lady doing the video, this wing is not fast and for it's area and span, its lift is more equivalent to a smaller area high aspect wing. She also advises a bigger kite than normal is required. For winging this translates into tired arms and poor glide. On a kite you're tethered so drag isn't so much of an issue. If you are light and strong, this could be a teaser into learning to monofoil with the aim of getting good on this and then switching to a high performance mono but I think it's still a false start. You're going to have more longevity out of a setup with ultra short fuselage and ting rear wing than from this. So it's forte is kiting, but do you really want a slower, less nimble kite to power it? It's a mono so you can show off, tell people you ride mono, but it's design mimics the stability of a full foil with it's long chord and huge sweep back. They don't show it, but there's a lot of tip twist in the wing tips. That's great for cruising at high wing loading. It has a niche appeal but from my investigations of it, the sales hype is a lot better than the product.

[@kountchev1]

@@fluiditynz have you actually tried the product?.....

[@fluiditynz]

@@kountchev1 Before you read my answer, look hard at a Trition side on. Now to answer: No, but I have read a lot about it's performance and filtering out the manufacture hype, what we have is a nice low speed low aspect ratio delta using Ludwig Prandtl's second paper's design on distributed span load, (Like bird's wings) to make what would otherwise be a horrid design into a usable design through wingtip reflex. I recognise the wingtip reflex because it was me that republished Albion Bowers investigation into the technique on kiteforum several months before Triton released their foil. And I recognise the less hyped up reviews because I've designed my own mono a couple of years back and then tubercle foils and early this year, I wrote the software to make my own high wingtip reflex foils and I made them, but in much higher aspect than the triton. So though I haven't ridden the triton, I have plenty of data points to deduce when I'm seeing accurate or inaccurate reviews of the triton. I know what riding high wingtip reflex feels like because I enjoy it in my own high aspect designs. What does bug me, is that only the honest reviews don't suggest the wing for winging, only for kiting. Because no one wants significantly more drag foiling when you're holding the wind wing, kiting it's transferring through your harness so you just use a bigger kite.

[@michelcote]

They are like flying wings for aircraft, they have their place, advantages and drawbacks. I think the fuselage is here to stay. I may be wrong, future will tell.

[@omgwtfbbq4792]

Nicest part about this one is no sharp edges. That's what has me most scared when riding my foil in the event of some freak accident...

[@kippywylie]

True. I just this week purchased a new Moses stabilizer that is razor thin and dangerous sharp. I'm fairly certain that one accident in a dry suit winter session I'd be suffering

[@pubfixture]

Canadians love their delta-wings, eh?

[@martask1951]

Nothing new or secret. There is used autostable airfoil as on flying wings instead of standard airfoil. For example EH 3.0/12.0 instead of Clark Y, S3021,.... I 've been thinking about it since I saw first hydrofoil board. It is nice to already see it in the action not only in theory. I would try wing with negatives for maybe better or smoother angle of attack characteristic.

[@chasman33]

Less is more

[@mrmonkeboy]

Now try three wings, or six wings or zero wings.

[@OurKiteLife]

Zero wings? Pretty sure I’ve tried that before 😋

[@mrmonkeboy]

@@OurKiteLife just a mast? how did it go?

[@0xhexdec]

@@mrmonkeboy for 3 Wings, see the Horue Libel xD

[@ben3989]

How about a biplane that gets you up on foil and then you ride higher on the mast and get the upper foil out of the e water. Brilliant!

[@akinfar]

Had a bunch of fun trying this wing out. Thanks for posting your review, have you tried the x1 yet? - kzbin.info/www/bejne/m3K4cnucpb19ack

[@OurKiteLife]

Nice :) haven’t tried the x1

[@ianbardon8581]

I will stay a wave rider on my twin tip thanks.

[@OlegILICHOFF]

Такая форма не стабильная для новечков

[@crocodile172]

Ну они как-бы и позицируют этот продукт не как для начинающих.

[@tettok8431]

Not a future but a choice…

[@pakorabako4515]

Tak ale to tylko kopia Monofoil Spleene . kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZeUknt_dt93mas

[@belawhitesnowwaterfall4781]

Jesus christ..these guys are still sooo behind...foiling hasnt even taken off with what is possible...it is almost the technology industry is reversing and stalling the process...add flex...various sizes...many fins...more small fins...oh not to mention manta foils and other things....backwards backwards backwards...it is like ferrari developing a new door handle to open a door on their car in a NEW way...appoling

[@spqba747]

never seen more biased review channel. your opinions on sponsored products are worth next to zero imo.

[@OurKiteLife]

Sponsored products? We were sent this as a demo (meaning we don’t get to keep it, nor did we receive any payment for the video). I liked the product so I bought it.