SELECTING A FOIL
There is a large range of kite foil equipment available to beginner, intermediate and expert riders. Depending on your progression level, choice of style and need for speed, your equipment will have small design changes that make big differences to performance. While they all vary in some way, all designs contain a mast, fuselage, front wing and back wing (stabiliser), and attach to the board with various attachment systems (tracks, kf box, tuttle box, deep tuttle, etc.)
BEGINNER / FREERIDE FOILS
Beginner foils generally have bigger wings and stabilisers, and are usually shorter and fatter in appearance (low aspect) with a thicker profile to encourage early foiling and low top speeds. They are generally made of alloys or strong carbon composites with durability at the heart of the design. They also usually pack away quite easily and offer boards with large amounts of flotation or touch down area. A shorter mast (<90cm) is common on learner foils also and can greatly assist your initial foiling lessons. These foils are perfect for cruising, accessing light winds, and learning tacks and gybes.
INTERMEDIATE / FREERIDE FOILS
Intermediate foils have slightly smaller surface areas and higher aspect ratios. Often with curved wings and optimised profiles, they allow access to stylish freeriding and 'freeracing' with exhilirating performances for those keen to give racing a go as well. Many past generation race foils are now considered to be intermediate foils (e.g Spotz2, Taaroa Sword 1). These foils are a logical step from beginner foils as they generally transport well, are durable and offer progressive performance whilst still being forgiving enough to allow you to perfect advanced manouvres. They are generally carbon fibre but there are some models that use advanced composites and hybrid (alloy/carbon) technology.
ADVANCED RACE FOILS
These foils are made for high end racing in mind. The front wings are often long and skinny (high aspect), have minimal surface area and use extremely thin profiles to maximise top speed. They also have long masts (103 -110cm<) with small and light boards to maximise racing performance. These foils aren't designed with learning foilers in mind. They are more delicate than other types of foils and less forgiving in nature, with a high speed needed to get foiling. These foils are created to achieve top end speeds and the best angles into, and off the wind. With such uncompromising performance, these foils shouldn't really be considered until the basics of foiling, tacking and gybing are mastered on easier to use foils.