IFLY FOILING Adventure

ifly15 – can’t wait to sail again

First time ever foiling by dinghy sailor with the iFLY – a breathtaking experience. For enjoying the pleasure of foiling the iFLY, you do not necessarily need to be a young gun, athlete or equilibrist. Having never sailed on a catamaran and without any trapezing experience, Laser sailor Ivo from the Netherlands travelled to Garda for his individual iFLY coaching session. He was hoping to experience some foiling, but rather 2Up, together with his coach on the iFLY. Things turned out to be so different… After an impressive fast learing curve, Ivo found enough confidence to be foiling single handed. He achieved not only flying downwind, but also full foiling upwind, during his first day of trapezing. In the beginning, he preferred to stay seated on the trampoline, which allowed some nice foiling downwind. It is not a single case. During iFLY test sessions and at coaching of new iFLY owners we experience similar breath-taking success on regular skills. Read some testimonials:

Philip Walker, recreational / family sailor from Switzerland, Lake Murten: « As a mid-40 year-old with 3 young children, a busy life, moderate fitness, some past but no recent sailing and windsurfing experience, but absolutely no catamaran experience; I watched the same iFly15 youtube videos you have, I eyed the price tag and then for a long while I just sat there on the fence with excuses. When was I really going to find the time to sail the thing, was this not just an expensive mid-life crisis toy, was I even going to be able to sail it, how was I going to get it out of the harbour without crashing, could I right it if I capsized, what if I could not control it? The indecision was my comfort zone, not taking the plunge into the unknown was in my safe place. And then I finally took the plunge, I deserved something for me, and those youtube videos just looked like too much damn fun! Still feeling like this could be an expensive mistake, Michael came to assemble the boat, and to be honest gave me a crash course in all things catamaran. We went out on the water together, the two of us out on the trapeze, and for several glorious runs we foiled, I was immediately hooked! Several weeks later came the tough part, just me, 11-15 knots of wind, white caps, and my iFly15. The excuses and fears came back. Last time it was easy, but that was all Michael, he isn’t here now, this time it was just me. Apprehension, fear, the unknown. I followed the steps in setting the boat up, got the boat out without incident and despite my fears multiple foiling runs, out on the trapeze, speed, whining sound of foils in the water, the full monty! I capsized once and that was not because of being overpowered it was because I lost my footing, and righting the boat went smoothly and without incident. The secret of the iFly15 is it is a highly technical machine made to be easy to sail and incredibly accessible. It is compact with not too much sail area and it is very easy to take the power out of the sail and to comfortably sit in an upward position and catch your breath. Safe and in control, on my first day alone out on the water I finally understood what a great boat this is, and I absolutely love it. »

Taylor Benjamin Anderson, Hobie cat recreational sailor from Miami, after his first flight on iFLY: « I am at a loss for words to properly convey the feeling of sailing your boat but here is my best attempt: As a casual sailor with an average working knowledge of boats, I was extremely surprised how familiar the ifly 15 felt when I jumped on it to demo the boat in February of this year. I grew up sailing the Hobie family of catamarans but never raced and had never sailed a foiling craft but was immediately impressed by the self-leveling technology of the vessel. Michael, the inventor and builder assured me that I was able to focus on sailing the boat and not to be worried about trimming the foils. With just these few words of encouragement, I jumped on the ifly and found the boat to sail exactly like a traditional Hobie or Narca. Michael raised the jib, I brought her onto a broad reach and she really came alive. The vessel slowly raised above the chop, it was not jerky or scary, just a smooth ascent and then speed. We were clipping along at at least 15 knots with no slapping hulls or the violent jarring when sailing in a fresh breeze and open water. The deck was stable with lightning quick responses of the boat from any trimming of tiller or sheet. It was an experience I had never felt or fathomed and I had only been on the boat 10 minutes! Michael was extremely patience and passionately shared his creation with me for several hours. This boat makes a seasoned sailor feel like they are experiencing sailing for the first time. It is an almost indescribable feeling, the ultimate harnessing of the wind. By the end of the afternoon, I felt confident that I could handle the boat alone and cannot wait to sail it again!!