FORUM: FOIL AND FLEX !!!

An interesting subject in which we ponder on the interest of flex when Foiling. If the rigidity of the Mast seems essential to feel and control its Foil as much as possible, the question is asked about the possibility and the interest of having flex on the Fuselage or the Stab. L’Ours, as a designer, had developed several proto types a few years ago which went in this direction and shares with us his opinion on the question.

“Hello,

in my opinion, flex should be banned. It is used as a shock absorber for an overload within our sports, and therefore sometimes justified. But flex is very often the justification for poor technology or imperfect technical solutions. So we must distinguish between two uses of flex: 1/ I’m in an anarchic and uncontrollable environment: flex is a form of automatic response to this environment by smoothing it out. 2/ I’m on soft material because the manufacturer doesn’t know how to do otherwise. In case 1 flex is therefore a quality that needs to be worked on. This case 1 represents 2% of the cases of flex. What you also have to distinguish in flex is: A/ adaptive flex. B/ Flex as a consequence. Flex A, which I call adaptive, is a measured and desired response to a problem (case 1). The flex B is a consequence not controlled in the material which will decrease the performances. The control of the flex is therefore essential. Why do I have it? Does it intervene when I want it precisely ? Is it controlled ? If we take a step backwards on the analysis, we should see that the Rider is adaptable. This is what makes all the difference with aviation for example. The load can be amortized by the pilot himself. So if the machine is also flexible, the control of the conjugation of the two in an anarchic environment is more a game of dice than the finesse piloting. This is why I say that my first reflex is to say that flex is to be banished. Once this has been stated, we can start working. In this case, on a foil, we tested proto types of this template a few years ago. Palmifoil in particular. It was a failure every time.

Thanks”

Shaper: Patrice Guénolé and GONG-GALAXY.