Absolutely! That was one of the craziest races ever. We could barely see the shore and the waves were very big.
Yeah, that was rad. Rodney decided to run the race despite the storm and I don’t think half the people showed up for the start. There was also a fallen tree blocking the entrance …
That was definitely a memorable race.
You can say that again. We literarily surfed down the coast. Isn’t it interesting who SUP never became popular amongst surfers, unlike foiling.
You have some decorated people among your riders. Starting with the legendary surfer like Tom Carrol or Jeff Clark, the big wave pioneer from Maveriks. Then you add the two finalists from the Americas Cup: Jimmy Spithill (Luna Rossa) and Peter Burling (Team New Zealand / 2021 winner). How did you get all these people on the team?
Hm … it’s really quite simple: “Make extremely good gear and people want to use it.” (Laughter) So Jimmy and I met through a colleague in Raglan. I was on a business trip to our factory and flew trough Sydney. I took a whole load of gear for Jimmy and I gave him a little introductory course behind a boat. He was pleased and immediately enthusiastic – so he became part of the “Armstrong Team”. I had a marketing plan with the Americas Cup 2021 in Aukland in mind anyway and so it was also a lucky circumstance. We also had Peter Burling with us, who is also a big foil fan himself. So both skippers were riding on our foils when the Americas Cup was with us. That was really great for us.
Wow, that’s a great connection.
Yeah, that was cool. But I also took care of it and got them the gear they liked. I mean, they can get any gear they want, but they liked mine.
While we’re on the subject of the Americas Cup and now that the boats are also foiling: What can a foil manufacturer learn from the Americas Cup guys?
Oh! Absolutely a lot, that was worth its weight in gold. But I was also lucky because I knew a couple of boat engineers who were already working for Team New Zealand at the time and helped me develop our first foil systems.
At the moment, it’s simply that we are well connected in this world and we get a lot of tips and inspiration from the race boat engineers. But the systems on the boats are very different from ours. They have all the foils very far forward on the hull because the rudder is in the back and the boat has to be lifted in the middle.
But … with our new “Forward Geometry” boards we have copied a lot from the Americas Cup boats. Their main point where it needs the most lift is in the middle of the boat. Why is that? Because the center of the boat is where the foil can be most efficient. The rudder at the back to steer the boat.
We still want directional stability, of course, so that’s why we have the mast further back, but if we put the mast further forward, there are some advantages in the performance of the board. That was something that came directly from the Americas Cup guys. They said, “Put your foils right in the middle of the board! What’s there to think about? That’s where the center of mass is, that’s where the leverage has to be.”
You are telling me that your new boards have the foil box in the middle?
Well, not exactly in the middle, but quite a bit further forward than everyone else. That’s why we call this series “Forward Geometry”. To do this you have to redesign the tail of the board, we also have a very long foil box so you can put the mast way forward. Now you have the mast between your feet and therefore a more responsive board.
This also means that the board in front of the mast is shorter. This changes the mass distribution in relation to the mast, which drastically reduces the swing weight. That’s why everyone wants to ride the smallest board possible when foiling, but when we’re swinging, we still have to lift off the water. So we need a certain volume and that has to be packed somewhere. So if we put the volume behind the mast, we have a big board that feels like a small board.
Highly interesting –you learned quite a bit from the world of sailing.
For sure.
What was the biggest moment when a light bulb went on?
Biggest moment on the next page.