OK...so how did they get the L boards down into the hulls? Can they be slid up from underneath?

Hobie figured out how to 'foil' a long time ago, yet it never really caught on as a racing class.

Can any of you older guys who were active 'back in the day' of the Hobie Tri Foiler shed some light on some of the issues? I remember seeing a fleet of them, once, at the Wildcat regatta, but they looked like a real pita to put in the water, and weeds on the foils were always a problem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXSgZCDVWOM

Stick with it, at about 2:37 it shows some of the design concept and the L foils, and how the ski at the front adjusts the up/down lift. It also shows Russel Long going 43 knots in his "Long Shot" during a speed run in France, in the ditch and a two up regular version going 35knots at the end. But I notice all the video speed shots are done with good wind...on FLAT WATER. Great for a lake.

I'd love to have one here on my lake, but I'm not convinced a 'lifting' foil, if C boards or L boards, is going to be fast on lumpy water, in the kind of racing we do in the ocean or lage bay. All that porpoising up and down can't be fast. You may get a small burst of speed when you come up, but when you nose dive back down, it could get ugly. They'd have to come up with a device to controld the AOA to yeild a steady ride over rough seas.

Anyone know where Gregg Ketterman is today? I wonder what he's up to, design wise.