Full closure! Nothing works anymore. Two mates have just set up their freeride foil equipment on this wonderful little spot on the lake between a shed and dense tails. Now the 9.0 sail with the 520 mast is blocking everything here, it seems twice as big as my usual 7.0 foil freeride sail and the board with the foil mounted is constantly lying around like a piece of the Berlin Wall. It's almost impossible to put it to one side for a moment, because in some positions you can't even reach the second loop in the confined space. Nevertheless, after five minutes, the rigging is done, it wasn't actually that difficult with the right moves, the camber folds up properly, the trimming forces are - let's say a sporting challenge.
More about Olympia and iQFoil:
- iQFoil: The Olympic windsurfing equipment in detail
- From courses to medal races - the mode in iQFoil
- iQFoil in self-experiment - Meeting with the monster
- Sebastian Kördel on material and preparation - "The pressure is extreme"
- Theresa Steinlein - Interview with Germany's Olympic starter
- Sail, foil, mast: how to trim the iQFOil material
As I wade through the shallow water, I can feel with every step how the large maw - sorry, the wide mast sleeve - greedily slurps up water. I have to hang my 82 kilos on the uphaul rope with full effort and perseverance until the sail - very slowly - comes out of the water. No question, the monster needs to be tamed first. But is the board even floating yet? Or am I sitting on the bottom? In any case, the almost metre-wide platform floats so stably on the water that you can hardly feel the difference. Apart from the fact that the sail is really big, I'm completely relaxed and well balanced. I fan the first small gust, maybe nine knots - there is no stickiness, hardly any resistance to be felt, the 196 litre volume alone seems to lift the board with ease, the sail loads up with every further fan, half gliding, half flying, the set accelerates like you will never experience with a freeride sail, before it then takes off completely at an already very good speed.
iQFoil with fin is possible, but pointless
The fact that the iQFoil was attributed less favourable characteristics in the first reports a few years ago is certainly also due to the fact that the board was initially heavily advertised for use with a fin - which simply doesn't work well. This was a clever move for the Olympic bid - as a guarantee for races even in events with constant storms. In the meantime, however, the pros are foiling confidently even in 30 knots, iQFOiL events are not cancelled due to too much wind - and hobby surfers fortunately have a free choice of equipment. In eight to 13 knots of wind, I hang on the harness almost like a foresailor on a sailing boat - far out and with the longest ropes I could find in the test arsenal - but they should feel much longer.
The speeder experience is gigantic!"
The lake is empty - for the third day now. Only a few wing foilers are still alternately drifting and fluttering like desperate butterflies on the surface of the water, some with very good, many with moderate success. The nine square metre sail, on the other hand, regularly accelerates towards well over 30 km/h in an estimated ten knots of basic wind with light gusts, with 40 km/h in sight and very easy to control with the 900 front wing: the speeder experience with the racing material - between stand-up paddlers and sailboats rocking on buoys - is gigantic. Even if you feel a bit like a passenger on a speeding truck, the whole set is reassuringly stable.
Jibing on the iQFoil requires a different technique
The large and very pressure point stable rig keeps the nose under control, much better than expected and even better than a smaller freeride sail. The long fuselage also ensures that all movements around the transverse axis (up and down) are dampened and have enough time to react. The feet are safely tucked into the comfortable light straps and the wide tail with its long leverage gives a feeling of superhuman control over the considerable foil forces. On light touch downs, the board bounces back up with a good rebound like a flat thrown stone without slowing down too much.
In gusts, however, the mental strain increases abruptly: taking your foot out of the loop and dangling forwards like a monkey is an instinctive survival tactic, and in gliding wind gusts, the needle immediately hits the 40 km/h mark. Then comes the challenge. We enter the jibe at speed - and it happens exactly as the experts had feared: The sail is slow to hoist, gets in the way, and the board touches down. But instead of losing control, the board continues to glide very stably without any tendency to tip over, and even the first unfortunate jibe ends safely and under control. Here too, the large width obviously provides more safety than you would expect.
surf summary of the iQFoil test:
After three days of self-experimentation, the monster became the smiling monster. Of course, if you are less than 1.90 metres tall, you hang on to the sail like a jockey on a Scottish cold-blooded horse. But at least in the ideal wind range, the set conveys an extremely sporty, "Olympic" feeling with a very stable flying position. And there remains a great deal of respect for those who are still able to hold on uncompromisingly even at well over 19 or 20 knots - when the real monster awakens.
