There’s no doubt foiling classes are capturing people’s attention. You may have noticed the growth in foiling craft at your club, local beach, and on almost every type of watercraft possible, including kiteboards, dinghies, wingboards and windsurfers. You may also have enjoyed watching foiling boats in events such as the Americas Cup and SailGP taking place around the globe and streamed to millions of viewers online. 

Only a few years ago foiling may have seemed out of reach for most club sailors, but now it is one of the fastest growing disciplines we’ve seen in years. The Olympic Sailing program now has 50% of all medals in foiling classes. Outside of the Olympics, foiling classes now represent the bulk of modern professional sailing options, as well as becoming commonplace in non-competitive environments and the mainstream format of modern sailing. It won’t replace more traditional forms of sailing craft, but foiling is here to stay, it is a lot of fun, and it has already been embraced by parts of the sailing community. 

With increasing interest in foiling, equipment has progressed enormously in the last few years. The cost of entry level equipment now makes foiling a more accessible and attractive activity for recreational and performance sailors alike, who want to get involved and get out on the water on various foiling craft. 

Foiling is also having a positive impact on participation and retention. Foiling disciplines are attracting new groups to sailing clubs. People who may have participated recreationally are now joining clubs to participate in racing and training programs, and there are now more reasons for younger members to stay at clubs to participate in the fast classes. 

Over the next 12 months Australian Sailing will be releasing a series of articles and resources, as well as piloting several on-water events and training opportunities to assist clubs to activate foiling initiatives around the country. In parallel to this, AS are developing a suite of foiling courses and coach education resources to encourage entry to these exciting classes. 

We can break the foiling disciplines into 4 distinct classes, each with their own specific set of skills required, but all sharing the common trait of flying above the water on a hydrofoil. These 4 classes are: 

·       KiteFOIL         

·       SailFOIL          

·       WingFOIL        

·       WindFOIL         

In this first article we begin to explore KiteFOIL and the benefits and considerations for a club to get involved, should they choose to do so. 

KiteFOIL racing is a fun activity and could be a new way for your club to grow and retain membership and participation. The resources required to run KiteFOIL racing and training, is the same as any club would already have to deliver club racing and training activities for dinghies and windsurfers.  

Supporting KiteFOIL development and racing at your club is an involved process and may mean that your club needs to embrace new or different ways of doing things to see it succeed. The benefits of this, however, is the attraction of new (generally younger) members who are drawn to the excitement and high speeds of the class or are already participating in other kite disciplines. Developing kitefoiling at your club can also assist with retaining existing members who may be looking to learn a new skill, or bring the excitement and passion back to their sailing that they may have lost over the years. Developing kitefoiling will also offer a new pathway opportunity for youth members who wish to pursue performance orientated goals. 

Given some of the differences to more traditional classes and the risks associated with traveling at high speeds, Australian Sailing has developed an introductory framework for Clubs to assess the suitability of the class to their location.  Not all clubs will be suited to hosting KiteFOIL racing.  We encourage interested clubs to refer to the AS KiteFOIL Racing and Training Handbook, to assist in deciding whether they may be able to integrate a foiling based pathway, focused on the KiteFOIL Class. Your AS Regional Manager or Clubs Services Officer will also be able to assist. 

Click here for the Kitefoil Racing: Club Framework Tool 

Case Study: Largs Bay Sailing Club   

One such club to have embraced kitefoiling is Largs Bay Sailing Club (LBSC), in South Australia.  Below we asked Commodore Nicholas Neale a few questions about why LBSC decided to introduce the Kitefoil class to their club over the past season. 

Why did LBSC introduce kitefoiling at the club? LBSC introduced kItefoiling into the club’s programs because something had to change, for years sailing every Saturday in a structured format worked really well. These days, with weekend work taking over and the price of boats not getting cheaper, we had to add something else for our members to have a go at but also keep them at the club. We have such a great facility at Largs and the club rarely gets used on any day other than a Saturday for sailing, so to have it open all weekend with sailing on one day and kiting the next how good! The community sees it and discovers it’s the place to be on a sunny weekend. 

How & when did LBSC begin the journey to include Kitefoil as a class at the club?  A few years ago we ran some kite racing but it didn’t really continue and was just a one off. Since then Australian Sailing have jumped onboard supporting both the club and the new Adelaide Kite Racing Club (AKRC), from there we have seen the program grow into monthly racing and coaching clinics throughout the 2020-21 season. That success will grow again this upcoming 2021-22 season as Kite racing events are already in our club program and on our website. 

What does the current LBSC Kitefoil Program look like for the upcoming season? The program will consist of 5 monthly events throughout the 2021-22 season, as mentioned above. Covid-19 pending, we are also hosting the National KiteFoil Series on November 6 and 7. Alongside this event we will also be hosting the SA State Championships for KiteFoiling, so if the National event doesn’t happen due to border closures, the hope is the SA States will still go ahead. 

After a successful season 2020-21 with regular racing, members through SailPass and clinics; it was decided at the LBSC AGM on May 28th 2021 that a change to the clubs constitution will be made to create a Kiting Membership. This membership is not just aimed at kiters themselves, but also at their families. 

What are the benefits of introducing Kitefoil as a class to the club? I think the biggest benefit will be for Youth when they finish school and are studying and their weekends are tied up with typical youth life. Kiting could be a great option for them where they don’t have to commit to crewing or steering their own boat, and they can rock up monthly and join in for some racing. I also believe that the feeling of foiling will appeal to many sailors, youth and older and might see some regular sailors take up kiting and continue sailing. 

Any challenges? And how have you overcome them. One challenge has been teaching the kiters rules of the road, they have grown up kiting in a relaxed ‘do what you want’ manner. The racing atmosphere not many of them have witnessed, so just getting them to understand start procedures with flags and horns has been a little challenge. But they have all done very well and come a long way with it. 

What’s next – for the class at LBSC? I think the plan will to run a successful Kitefoiling season this year. Now that membership is sorted, run social events and have kiters and sailors together. The next goal would be to have a coach employed by the club who could support them with coaching during the week, but I think that’ll be a focus after this season. 

If a club is not sure they meet the KiteFoil Racing and Training Framework recommendations in the handbook, please contact your Australian Sailing Regional Manager or Club Services Officer. Complementary to this handbook is a KiteFoil Training and Coaching Handbook for Coaches and Sailors, and a KiteFoil Pathway Guide. All documents are available on the Australian Sailing resource hub.