Originally Posted by Karl_Brogger
Originally Posted by Jake
I don't want to continue to prolong this fight - but making a quality symmetric curved foil is incredibly more difficult than making a straight one. The tooling alone requires a lot more material, engineering (with quality software tools), and time.


I don't understand this. Yeah you'll have a bit more aluminum(or whatever metal they make molds out of), and a bit more time into drawing it, but 4 axis machining is nothing new. The actual laminating tools themselves can't be that different. You will pay a premium for the machining as not every hick machine shop with cnc capacity can do it.

I realize you're covering the cost of all the R+D to come up with a final product with all of subsequent parts that come out that mold as well.

What could be more complicated about laying up material in a curve, vs in a straight line?

I honestly know next to nothing about boat construction, so there's my disclaimer.


Imagine the larger size of the machined plug required to make a curved board. The material between the curvature in the plugs has to be solid. The plugs are quite large this way. The molds will be much larger in comparison to a flat board so they have a flat surface on which to sit while being worked on. Rigidity is also quite important in any mold and it will require more consideration for the curved item. I wouldn't be surprised if the tooling cost for a curved board wasn't 3 or 4 times the cost of a straight board's tooling not considering the trunk.

These boards are also quite long. Considering how heavy the I20 boards are and the different kinds of loads the F20c boards are under, I think they're pretty marvelous.

OK, so floating isn't THAT special...but a board that can lift a 360lb boat and two sailors while under sailing load and still be light enough to easily float in water is pretty cool.


Jake Kohl