How to maintain your carbon foil?

Our carbon foil is a jewel of technology. Many people say that a carbon foil does not require maintenance. However, to optimize its longevity and performance over the long term, a minimum of maintenance is required. Checking and maintaining your carbon foil will allow you to optimize its performance in the long term. In this article, we will list all the tasks to be carried out to properly maintain your carbon foil.

A carbon foil requires a minimum of maintenance!

1. Check that your foil is aimed at before going sailing.

Before each session, check that your screws are screwed in tightly. If you have sand in the thread, clean it before screwing in to avoid damaging the thread.

2. A foil is an underwater aircraft.

A foil is like an underwater plane. Any encounter with an obstacle underwater leads to a more or less significant weakening of your foil. You have to think like an airplane. If a plane hits a cliff, there’s bound to be damage. A foil is not built to hit an obstacle. Keep this in mind to keep your foil running smoothly. Especially if one end of the front wing touches an obstacle. The lever arm on the mast will be very important and even more so if there is a large wingspan and if the speed is high.

Tips: Stop far enough away from the board to avoid touching. Especially if you have a very light carbon foil (1.5-1.7 kg for the mast). This means that it is foamed and therefore the amount of carbon is less. It is therefore more fragile. Stay away from buoys that can become entangled with your foil and damage it.

3. Rinse & Dry

Whether you’re sailing in fresh water or at sea, rinse your foil from time to time. There are probably oil residues or whatever. Rinsing your foil properly will prevent these deposits from deteriorating the glide of your foil. The same goes for sunscreen. If you have put cream on your face, avoid touching your foil. It is a fatty substance that will therefore deteriorate the efficiency of the water flow on the mast profile or the fins.

Tips: After rinsing with clean water, wipe your foil with a soft cloth which will allow you to check it on all these seams. And thus see that everything is in good condition. In addition, it will prevent the cover from getting moldy.

4. Scratches

Any scratch on a front or rear fin brakes and slows down your foil. The flow of water is disturbed and more or less interferes with your speed and/or stability. Of course, if you sail at 15 knots of speed, you won’t feel any difference. The higher your speed, the more you’ll feel these scratches.

Tips: Avoid putting your board on the rail while resting on the front fin. Stop a little further from the beach to avoid scratching your fins.

5. Snags on the front or rear fenders

There are two ways to get bumps on the foil fins.

The first case is when handling your equipment on land. You drop your foils on the ground or you don’t have to position the foil with the board in the axis of time and in high winds, the foil pushes the foil and makes it fall on the end of the fin.
The second, you’re sailing and you didn’t pay attention to the depth. You’ve hit an obstacle, a rock or whatever.

Tips: Fin snaggers happen all the time through carelessness so when you get back to the shore, stop further away and swim a bit to get off or back to the shore.

Always put your foil on the beach in line with the wind to avoid a gust pushing the mast to the side and tipping the foil to the side.
Put the protective covers back on when your foil stays on the spot. This will prevent damage to your wings in case of contact with the ground. In the same way, when you disassemble your mast from the board, put the mast cover on to avoid damaging it.
20% of the drag comes from the ends. So pay attention to the tips of your front and rear fenders.

6. How to avoid heat damage?

The sun can be an enemy of your foil. The carbon mast is usually black, which means it absorbs a lot of heat in a very short amount of time, whether it’s in direct sunlight or in your car. Epoxy resin cures at temperatures around 70°C. If your mast is left in direct sunlight, it is very easy to reach these temperatures and the resin may soften, losing its effectiveness. The same is true if you leave your foil in the car, it will overheat and the epoxy resin will no longer work properly.

If this is the case, we advise you to let your foil cool down before going sailing so that the resin cools down and the mast regains its properties. If you don’t, you risk damaging your mast, especially with lightweight masts that are foamed and therefore have less mechanical strength. If the resin loses its effect, the mast will be even softer and will gradually become more brittle

7. Disassemble your foil if you're not using it

If you are not going to use it for a long time, disassemble it and store it in its cover to avoid damaging it or putting shocks on it, especially in your garage.

Tips: disassembling your carbon foil allows you to check it and do a check-up of the different parts , especially if you don’t use it for a long time. Remember, a foil is an underwater plane. An airplane pilot checks each item before taking off. It’s the same in foiling. Check your foil, avoid any real trouble while sailing.

In Conclusion

You have invested or are going to invest in an expensive carbon foil. This investment pays off in the long run if and only if you take care of it. Then in this case, it can serve you for many years. If you have bought a rigid and durable and well-built mast, then maintaining it well will save you money and allow you to keep it longer. A Ferrari needs maintenance, as does a high-modulus carbon mast .