The Pierra Manta wins the Inosport 2026 award

On 11 June 2026 in Voiron, France, the Inosport jury awarded Alpinefoil the prize in the Equipment / Sports Goods category for the Pierra Manta pumpfoil, our long-distance wing designed for riders who are simply reasonably fit.

The Inosport 2026 trophy, Equipment - Sports Goods category, back home facing the Belledonne range.

Inosport, the sports innovation award

Inosport is the competition run by the Pays Voironnais district to reward innovative products and services in the sports industry, from prototype stage to the first months on the market (inosport.fr). INSEP, the French national institute of sport, and the Pays Voironnais Basket Club are partners.

The 2026 edition marked the return of the on-site event, at the Henri Chautard sports hall in Voiron. 53 entries were submitted and 40 innovations were on display in the showroom on awards day, in front of the jury, partners and visitors.

Our entry was number 46, with a simple promise: flying above the water with no waves and no wind, powered by your body alone (showroom entry). The jury selected it in the Equipment / Sports Goods category.

Damien Chaboud on the Alpinefoil stand at the Henri Chautard sports hall, trophy in hand, with the Pierra Manta, the Hawk mast and the Pocket Pro 78 x 42.

The award-winning project: long distance for everyone

The Pierra Manta started from a personal observation. Damien Chaboud, founder of Alpinefoil, discovered pumpfoiling in his fifties and wanted to go far, from dock to dock, without a marathon runner's fitness. The answer had to be technical, not athletic.

Development took several months:

• Measure. We designed our own miniature data loggers (accelerometers and GPS) to quantify the energy spent, the climb and glide angles, and the amplitude of the movement.
• Model. A promising first prototype lacked efficiency at low speed. A new hydrodynamic profile was validated in CFD simulation before the final prototype.
• Build. The wing is made in our workshop in the French Alps, with robotic machining and moulds produced in-house.

The result shows in the numbers.

These figures are not estimates. Our R&D tool, Pumpfoil Analyst, publishes side-by-side session data for the Pierra Manta 1760 S and the 1600 XS: pump power in watts, frequency, amplitude, angles and glide phases. The 1760 S is measured at 145 W, in 12.1 °C water; the 1600 XS needs a little more power in exchange for more speed. See the 1760 S vs 1600 XS comparison on Pumpfoil Analyst.

The project goes beyond the wing. To make every watt reach the foil, we worked on the whole chain: the one-piece 78 cm Hawk V3.12 mast in UHM carbon, and the Pocket Pro 78 x 42, the first pumpfoil board built in UHM carbon. A board that flexes can absorb up to 20% of your pumping energy: the Pocket Pro, light and very stiff, is designed to cut that loss.

The Pocket Pro 78 x 42: a clean deck, an exposed carbon bottom and its two mounting tracks.

The Pierra Manta on its Hawk Carbon V3 mast, ready to leave the dock.

The name brings together three references: the Pierra Menta, a summit in Savoie and a legendary endurance race, the manta ray for its glide, and our Alpine roots since 2007 (Pierra Manta page).

On the water: less effort, more distance

A wing that needs half the power changes the way you ride. Pumping becomes slower and wider, the body stays upright, pitch control is smooth, and take-offs are easy, both dockstart and freefoil. You can restart from almost anywhere.

A few concrete benchmarks:

• Damien, 55 and an ordinary sportsman, covered 5 km in 21 min 30 s a year and a half after he started, and holds runs of more than 8 minutes at around 135 beats per minute.
• Hugo rode around the southern part of Lake Annecy non-stop, on a Pierra Manta S, an Ultra Short fuselage and a Hawk V3.1 mast.

Proof on the wrist: 5.02 km in 21 min 35 s, 14 km/h average, 19 km/h peak.

Designed for riders with average physical abilities, the wing also shows its full potential in the hands of fitter riders. It is aimed at people who already know how to pump: to get started, the DK 1360 uses the same gliding profile.

Also worth watching: Pierra Manta, my best run.

Three innovation awards in 2026

Inosport is not the only distinction this year. The Pierra Manta 1760 and the Hawk V3.12 mast also won Artinov 2026, the award for innovative craftsmen, and the Grésivaudan call for projects. Alpine Design, our engineering office and workshop, had already won 1st prize at Artinov in 2013 and a special Inosport prize in 2014.

Thank you to the Pays Voironnais, the jury and everyone who supports us (official list of winners).

In the press

• SportEco, 12 June 2026: report on the event, a showroom of 40 innovations, reverse pitches and the list of winners, including Alpine Design for the Pierra-Manta pumpfoil (in French).
• Inosport, official website: 2026 winners and entry no. 46 for the Pierra Manta (in French).
• Hiceo, 11 June 2026: a look back at the event, 53 entrants, 40 exhibitors and a photo gallery of the ceremony (in French).
• Playgones: article by a fellow winner, with the full list of winners (in French).
• Inosport and CMA Isère on LinkedIn: posts about the winners, including Alpinefoil, supported by the Chamber of Trades since its early days.

Discover the Pierra Manta

The Pierra Manta 1760 wing fits all our fuselages thanks to the 4 offset screws connection, compatible since 2010: you keep your mast, fuselage and board, and only change the wing. Only the aluminium mast is not stiff enough for it.

The Pierra Manta project gear, piece by piece or as a ready-to-fly pack:

The complete pack: Pocket Pro 78 x 42, Hawk Carbon V3 and Pierra Manta wing.

A question about sizing or setup? Write to us: the maker answers.