if you apply a hydrophobic substance on foils, would that allow air to cause cavitation more quickly?
Air doesn't "cause" cavitation.
Cavitation results when the local pressure on the foil surface gets below the water vapor pressure and bubbles of water vapor form and explosively collapse - which is a real problem on propellers (the force can erode stainless steel). On catamaran foils - not so much, if ever.
What most people think of as "cavitation" is actually ventilation - the local foil pressure drops below the surface air pressure and draws air down from the free surface. And since air is 1000 times less dense than water, the foil loses it's lift.
A hydrophobic coating is probably going to promote the ventilation process, since the surface tension will create a natural crevice for the air to bleed down the foil. Wetting agents would have the opposite effect.