Two thumbs up!

Here is an informative link about the F101 that I found recently:
https://sailracingmagazine.com/memb...could-the-new-f101-be-the-peoples-foiler

I just learned today that F101 boats go into real production in July and that one of the first four made will be coming to the U.S., two to Italy, and one remaining in England. They will be featured at Foiling week (next week) in Garda, Italy where you can try one out for a demo ride.

I could totally consider one of these.... I am going to PRESUME that it is much easier to operate in non-foiling mode than a moth? As a beginner I suspect 90% of my time will be in non-foiling mode.

I also suspect that once foiling it will be similar in difficulty to a moth, except I do see a screecher so maybe there is one more line to adjust while flying?

I'm digging into their website to see how complicated setup and travel is with it. If I can strap it to the roof of the SUV and roll it on the beach, it would save the huge issue here of parking a trailer somewhere....

we have a ton of sea grass floating or just under the surface in our bay and occasional tons of it in the gulf too - this twarts most people who try to foil around here (on hobie tri's or other moth type vessels)

is it different down where you are Jay?

You know how a beginning course is usually labelled (subject) 101, right? Well, that is how this boat got its name; short for Foiling 101. The design brief is to make foiling easy - not just easy while actually sailing, important as that is, but also easy to rig, move about to the water and back, derig, and transport. I did not learn that lesson until after being involved with the Flying Phantom 18 - great boat to sail but what a PITA for the rest. The F101 weighs just a little more than an A cat and the 2 piece rig is very light and easy to handle. The boat comes with its purpose designed and built trolley to move it about and store easily. Two years of design and development have led to an all-around easy foiling experience.

The genesis of the boat came from the Pro Vela group teaching/coaching people to learn to foil on moths. They realized from experience that if they had a boat like this then people could spend all of their time learning to foil instead of most of the time swimming. (to an earlier comment, that is why the boat was being sailed in Spain during development) It is being built in England by the same group that designed, build, and sell the Whisper foiling cat. Andy Green mentioned the F-101 a few days ago in and AC interview as an example of a boat bringing foiling to the everyday sailor. Here is a recent British radio broadcast interview of one of the two main guys behind the boat which is very informative: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p054qc8f

It looks very cool, and fast, but it seems kind of pricy compared to the $7600 for the UFO if you just want to get into foiling.

Agreed, if you just want a boat that foils, hard to beat the price of the UFO. After that consideration, there is hardly any comparison between these two boats. And have you looked around at new boat prices of all kinds? Hard to find anything that is not pricey. Considering that the F101 is nearly all carbon, has been highly refined, and includes the dolly that makes it so easy to use, it compares very favorably to anything reasonably similar.

I have read and seen photos of two sailing the boat. It originally was intended as a single-hander and then a "1+1". Now the foils seem to work so well that it looks like they are able to reliably foil with two in under 10 knots. I think that opens up a lot more value and opportunity so that you can share the fun, especially with those who may be a little less naturally adventurous. I am eager to get to sail one to learn more.

Checkout www.fulcrumspeedworks.com

I was on the water with the Clarks and this boat at Newport Foil Week last September. I think that any of the foil boats are a good thing and any design that makes foiling very easy is even better. That is why this one and the F101 deserve attention.

+1 on that.

I like the concept of "1+1" on the 101, as I can get the little hooligans up and comfortable with foiling before someone puts it in their head that they have to learn how to sail an Opti (shudder)

In my opinion, most boats are pretty easy to steer these days, so anything I can pull strings on while they pull the tiller can work. They have a good time on Waves.

Yes, I am mixing the multihull kool-aide for them. Call me a bad parent

Jay, I don't have children, at least none have come looking for me yet, but if I did I would definitely steer them into sailing and nudge them into performance sailing. Today that means foiling or boarding (or iceboating up here but you still have to sail in the summer) and since I am too old to learn kite sailing that means foiling. The F101's design brief sounds just right to me. I met some other older sailors at Newport last September who were: 1) way more optimistic than me, 2) less patient than me, 3) dumb as rocks, or 4) something else because they purchased a Moth so that they could go foiling. They were at Foiling Week because that went so badly for them but they still wanted to go foiling. I had sailed a 29er maybe 10 years ago and that was enough acrobatic sailing for me to already know that I should not even attempt the Moth so I had an advantage in making that decision.

Long-winded way of explaining that I think you are not a bad parent and I would likely do the same. I might encourage kite sailing once they were older kids since that can be done on soft and hard water, snow, and on the hard and all the gear can be transported in the trunk or the rooftop. But then they would still have to get a foil board so they would foil either way!

"The foils should be retractable so that the boat can be launched from a regular trolley in shallow water"
Mike, any info on this trolley?
videos? pictures?

I did see a little trolley picture/rendering on their website... I was hoping it would double as a road trailer, too so I can unhook it from the truck and drag it on the beach thereby removing the hassle from the police about having a trailer parked on the road..


So it would have to be aluminum with some sort of fat street tire, light enough to move around in sand, but sturdy enough to travel at 45 mph (local roads)

So you plan on getting one?

I can't wait to come down for a ride (or you can bring it up here)

leaning heavily toward something like that or the UFO... Love the trimaran I have right now as it carries up to 5 crew... but it doesn't foil and I can't move it on beach wheels

You need bigger beach wheels!
or just add them to your tri

I was considering something along those lines (beach wheels for Fboat) if only to make it to the EC launch point.

You can see the trolley they designed for the boat (they went through 3 iterations before being satisfied and it comes with the boat) on their FB site and lots of other photos and videos. Look here:
https://www.facebook.com/foiling101/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE

Thanks Mike