Tech log, workshop notes, Hood reports.
Straight from the bench in Hood River. No press releases.
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Custom fuselage geometry: putting the mast where you ride
Two fuselages of the same length can ride completely differently. How OXZA specifies a custom fuselage by three measurements, how the builder works, and how to order one.
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FEATUREDWill it run? Wind, time and fetch for downwind foiling
Bump size comes from three inputs: wind speed, how long it has blown, and how much open water it crossed. Read all three and you know the size and the foil.
READ →OX Loop: a knotless leash loop for every foil board
The OX Loop is a continuous Spectra leash loop rated to 15,000 lb. No knots to tie, on and off in seconds, tight and clean at the plug. Coming soon, $9.99.
READ →Downwind foil speed: the bump is faster than the set
Deep-water crests run twice as fast as their set. That is why bumps overtake you, why dead downwind is slow, and how bump period sets your foil speed.
READ →Where parawing came from, and what foil it needs
A ten-minute talk on where parawing started, plus what the foil under it actually has to do — mast length, frontwing span, and which REVSTAR parts carry it.
READ →Built, ridden, shipped: the wing and its eight years
A hand wing was built in a Hood River shop, put away, taken out and flown on a foil in 2015, and sold in 2019. The first of those dates is still contested.
READ →The Fuel: a wing drawn around one rider's megaloop
The Fuel arrived in 2002 and stayed in the line for over a decade. In 2009 it became the first Slingshot kite designed around a single rider — Ruben Lenten.
READ →The 2013 sweep: a wing brand's best year on paper
Readers voted it best brand, a team rider took best male rider, and three of its riders filled a podium at Cape Hatteras. All in the same twelve months.
READ →What the split strut does to an inflatable wing canopy
In 2002 Tony Logosz stopped sewing the canopy over the top of the tube and put the strut into the span of it instead. US7032864B2, and why it caught on.
READ →The Open-C wing shape that won six world titles
The RPM arrived in 2010 and became the first Open-C to win a world championship. Youri Zoon took two titles on it, and then Carlos Mario took four in a row.
READ →One valve, every strut: the wing that inflates itself
You used to pump every strut of an inflatable wing on its own, in the wind. Tony Logosz made the leading edge the manifold. US7140576B2, and what it saved.
READ →The first foil, drawn eighteen years too early
Tony Logosz designed Slingshot's first hydrofoil in 2000. Foiling did not reach a mainstream audience until around 2018, which is a long time to be right.
READ →Both hands on the wing: the bar and trim line patents
Two filings on one April day in 2005, granted four years later. They are also the only kite patents in Tony Logosz's record with other people's names on them.
READ →Why a small foil stabilizer shim changes so much
Fuselage length gives the stabilizer leverage. The force it makes is the other half — pitch control is force times lever arm, and a shim moves the force.
READ →Why the fuselage decides how your hydrofoil rides
The frontwing gets the attention, but fuselage geometry sets the distances between frontwing, mast and stabilizer — and those distances decide the ride.
READ →Don't judge a foil wing by area alone
Two hydrofoil frontwings with the same area can ride like different sports. Span predicts roll and turn; profile decides the speed range. Read area last.
READ →True ride height: forget the number on the mast
Most foil boards are around 13 cm thick, and every one of those centimetres sits between your feet and the foil. Two numbers describe a setup honestly: true foil height, and true rider height.
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