Erwan Joffroy from Watersportszone, former editor-in-chief of Wind Magazine and Kiteboarder, and founder of the Watersportszone YouTube channel, had the pleasure of testing the Modular wingfoil in both aluminum and carbon versions. In this test video, he shares his impressions of the foil, its performance, and its strengths.

The Modular is above all a wingfoil designed and manufactured in France to last and combat obsolescence.

We invite you to check out the Modular test and his opinion on the subject.

For the MODULAR, we started with a blank slate and decided to establish entirely new foundations for this foil.

The foil has revolutionized watersports and has exploded in popularity over recent years with a variety of practices: Wingfoil, kitefoil, surf foil, SUP foil, pumping, wakefoil, and more.

The observation is simple: most of us have become multi-discipline athletes, and our budget isn't infinite.

So, why not start fresh and design a modern, modular foil that accounts for all these practices while establishing new design standards?

• Mechanics
• Performance
• Weight
• Flow optimization
• Budget

Alpinefoil initially started as a mechanical and composite design office with the companies Alpine Design and DCE Engineering. Our specialty is designing, inventing, innovating, finding solutions, and manufacturing foils in France for everyone, as well as for other companies in the marine industry.

Since 2007, Alpinefoil has been designing foils and has been awarded multiple times for its innovations: in 2013 with the ARTINOV prize, in 2014 with INOSPORT, and in 2020 by ALPES IS HERE.

In 2013, Alpinefoil designed the first production aluminum kitefoil to lower production costs and make the sport more accessible. Six months later, the first titanium/carbon hybrid kitefoil appeared, solving issues of corrosion and mechanical resistance for the most demanding users.
In 2016, Alpinefoil added a sacrificial anode to its aluminum foils to improve corrosion resistance.
In 2016-2017-2018, Alpinefoil became the French Champion in kitefoil on the Engie Kite Tour.
In 2017, Alpinefoil developed a robotic head for sanding during the manufacturing of foils.
In 2018, the first Windfoil A1 models were introduced, bringing a new approach to windfoil accessibility.
In 2021, Alpinefoil created the first Pocket kitefoil board, built like a foil wing, weighing only 1.9 kg with extraordinary rigidity.
Since 2007, we have gained in-depth knowledge of hydrofoil wing profiles, allowing us to push both the lower and upper performance limits of foils.
In 2022, version 3 of the robotic head went into production.

Our mastery of eco-design is reflected in the design and manufacturing of our foils, including our molds and packaging, allowing us to guarantee a MADE IN FRANCE quality that is environmentally friendly.

Many of AlpineFoil's innovations have been adopted, helping make foiling accessible to a wider audience.

Today, with the MODULAR, everything has been revisited. Only Alpinefoil’s signature orange color, the passion for gliding, and technical expertise remain.

The first and one of the most important points is the mast. Current aluminum masts are poorly suited for Wing/Surf/SUP practices.
They are often too heavy, too flexible, too fragile, too inefficient, or hindered by ventilation, which throws us off balance and prevents us from enjoying our foil smoothly.

• The sensations

The second point is glide. Many riders come from windsurfing, windfoiling, or kitefoiling.
Currently, the discipline that offers the most performance and glide is kitefoiling, but today, wingfoiling has completely evolved. What we're looking for is to achieve the same glide as kitefoiling but adapted to the wing and its specific constraints.
It was only logical that our experience in designing kitefoils would be reflected in this new mast. Our goal is to bring the glide sensations of kitefoils and windfoils to wingfoiling.

• Upgradeability despite obsolescence

Additionally, aluminum masts are rarely upgradeable: it's impossible to substitute an aluminum profile with a carbon one, as the attachment method must differ.

For this reason, in the foil market, upgrading from an aluminum to a carbon foil often requires replacing the mast, the plate, and sometimes even the fuselage, significantly increasing the financial gap of this upgrade to well over 1,000 euros.
With the Modular, upgrading to a carbon mast costs only 629 euros. Considering that 70% of riders eventually want to switch to a carbon mast, this option is financially attractive.

Coming back to the Modular Carbon mast, we had several problems to solve during its design:

Weight, stiffness (due to the use of foil wings with significant weights) and ventilation (sudden stalling of the mast while navigating).

We had to create an entirely new profile. This began with a flow study, followed by RDM (Resistance of Materials) modeling to optimize the internal structure of the mast in order to achieve the best mechanical performance in torsion and bending.

• Weight and Stiffness

For the carbon version, we used HR carbon, whose elongation modulus (stiffness level) of the fibers is much higher than that of standard carbon: 256 GPa compared to 160 GPa. We employed various fiber orientations to achieve a high level of performance. Several technical tests were conducted.

Precise measurements on our test bench allow us to accurately quantify the performance gains of the mast.

Indeed, we sometimes hear that aluminum masts are stiffer than carbon masts. This is true when the carbon used or the amount of carbon does not match the performance of an aluminum mast. It was therefore crucial to conduct these bending and torsion tests to demonstrate a noticeable difference with the carbon mast. The stiffness gain measured on the Modular version compared to an aluminum version is 27%; this difference becomes apparent quickly, especially when we start using larger wings. The gain is also evident in responsiveness during firefighting maneuvers or turns. The carbon mast returns energy that improves take-off in light winds and provides additional efficiency during pumping.

The weight reduction between the carbon mast and the aluminum mast is 30%.

Based on the experience gained over the years, our fuselage incorporates the principles that made the success of foils with the first aluminum fuselages dating back to 2014: reliability, accessibility, glide, and stiffness.

Why an Aluminum Fuselage?

For a manufacturer like Alpinefoil, which masters carbon, why not use a carbon fuselage?

There are several reasons:

The main reason is reliability.
A fuselage undergoes enormous forces in all axes (X, Y, Z – torsion, flexion, etc.). Carbon is made up of fibers that perform very well, but only in the direction of the fiber.
It's very difficult to arrange the fibers to handle forces in all directions, except by layering multiple fibers, which leads to a relatively thick and less hydrodynamic fuselage.
Furthermore, carbon’s significant stiffness hinders resilience, which is crucial for a fuselage enduring extreme strain. The fuselage is located in one of the most stressed areas. Imagine a wooden dowel with a chisel on one end (the mast) and a 1-meter board attached to the other end (the wing). If you pull on both the chisel and the board at the same time, the wooden dowel breaks in the center, where all the stresses accumulate.
Carbon doesn't handle repeated torsion well and will eventually delaminate when subjected to high stresses, or it will develop play in the assembly. We've learned this the hard way in the past.

Which is better? A carbon fuselage with a risk of breakage, or an aluminum fuselage that you can control the oxidation of with regular maintenance?

The second reason is respecting the alignment of the foil’s wing connections.
A misalignment of just 0.1 degrees on the stabilizer or the front wing can significantly impact the foil's performance. A carbon fuselage is molded, which requires finishing, trimming, and sanding, introducing a level of variability. Therefore, it's nearly impossible to maintain such tolerances.
Aluminum, on the other hand, is isotropic, meaning it can handle stress uniformly in all directions. Aluminum is resilient and can withstand high forces, deform slightly, and return to its original shape, unlike carbon.

The final point concerns the inserts for wing and stabilizer attachment.
It's very difficult to achieve a long-lasting bond for threaded inserts in high-stress zones with carbon construction.

Manufacturing

The fuselage is machined from a block of laminated aviation-grade aluminum, and the machining is done in the direction of the material's lamination to further enhance the fuselage’s flex resistance.
It is manufactured using a machining center that offers precision down to hundredths of a millimeter. Afterward, the fuselage undergoes the same finishing process as the masts: polished for better glide and anodized for improved corrosion resistance.

Technical Choices

The mast-fuselage connection is made via an embedded triple Torx screw system. Since 2014, this type of connection has proven to provide a high level of reliability and stiffness. By avoiding intermediate parts between the mast and fuselage, we eliminate the loss of stiffness caused by assembly and potential play between these components.

Embedding the mast directly into the fuselage allows stress to be absorbed on the exterior of the mast rather than inside the mast profile, further enhancing stiffness.

The fuselage is equipped with a sacrificial anode, which protects the foil from corrosion more effectively (as is done on boats). This small detail increases the production cost but significantly improves the foil's durability.

The fuselage's profile is optimized for glide, torsional and flex resistance, and weight, resulting in a foil that is both lightweight and stiff.

Wing-Fuselage Connection

In 2010, Alpinefoil conducted a study to choose a connection that would offer both portability (evolution potential) and rigidity. At the time, we couldn't foresee using foil wings as large as 1800 cm², but our study proved accurate. This connection system has made it possible for all of our foil wings to be universally compatible with all our fuselages, regardless of the practice: kitefoil, wingfoil, windfoil, etc.

The four-screw staggered attachment (offset from the central axis) is an Alpinefoil feature that provides 80% more torsional stiffness than a standard inline attachment.

This universal attachment allows us to offer you a foil that isn’t subject to obsolescence, enabling the use of all types of Alpinefoil wings, even those dating back to 2010, and guaranteeing the future compatibility of your foil.

By examining the foils on the market, we realize that many brands never anticipated these evolutions, with some changing their systems multiple times, completely cutting compatibility with their own range of foils.

The real strength of the MODULAR, beyond its technical features, is its MODULARITY.

The Masts

The standard carbon mast lengths are:

• 75 cm (surf foil, SUP foil, wingfoil)
• 83 cm (wingfoil, kitefoil)
• 95 cm (kitefoil/wingfoil)

Super stiff, very light and highly durable, a real upgrade for the aluminium version

The Mounting Systems:

• US Rail Plate: Compatible with AlpineFoil wingfoil/surf foil boards and other brands with a standard US Rail box.
• KF Box (Kitefoil Box): Compatible with AlpineFoil kitefoil boards and other brands equipped with a Kitefoil Box.

The Stabilizers:

• Standard (298 cm², 476 mm wingspan):
  This stabilizer is ideal for beginners, offering maximum stability and excellent low-end performance.
• Performance (236 cm², 405 mm wingspan):
  The foil becomes more agile and responsive with better glide, suitable for intermediate to advanced riders.
• SHA239 (239 cm², 443 mm wingspan):
  This new Super High Aspect (SHA) stabilizer elevates AlpineFoil’s High Aspect (HA) wings, such as the Régatas (580, 850, 1100), the DWs (1680, 1370, 1180, 980, 840, 750), or the Cruises (1250, 1450), pushing them to their maximum potential in terms of top speed, efficiency, and maneuverability, while maintaining good stability and excellent low-end performance.
• SHA188 (188 cm², 443 mm wingspan):
  The smaller sibling of the SHA239, it pushes top speed and maneuverability even further. It requires more technical control in waves and choppy water, but the upwind ability and speed are impressive.

To choose your wing well, contact us by text message, email or phone!
We will guide you based on your level, size, and preferences.

DW RANGE: Downwind freeride, surf in swell, cruising, and pumping suitable for Wingfoil, Surf foil, SUP foil, Pumping, and Windfoil

• DW1680 (1680 cm² - 109 cm wingspan) HA - High Aspect
  The super light wind Wingfoil starts from 8 knots with a 6 m² wing; it's possible! The DW1680 is Alpinefoil's INNOVATION that revolutionizes Wing in light winds.
  It is probably the first wing specifically optimized for this practice. With its wingspan of 109 cm, its High Aspect design, and its new profile resulting from Alpinefoil research, it offers a high glide that generates a lot of apparent wind, making jibes and tacks super easy.
  Wingfoiling in light wind becomes a pleasure! Ultra accessible for both experts and beginners. It’s also a great downwind wing for connecting all the small swells or trying out SURF Foil, SUP Foil, or even PUMPING.
   
• DW1370 (1370 cm² - 109 cm wingspan) HA - High Aspect
  From 10 knots of wind, it takes the glide concepts and profile of the DW1680 while maintaining the same wingspan but with a narrower chord and an even higher Aspect Ratio. The glide is very important on this wing, with an excellent lift-to-drag ratio.
  The wing starts very early in Wingfoil and offers exceptional glide. It performs well in both light and strong winds. The surf in swells is fabulous, and the wing retains very good maneuverability. It allows for reconnecting with all the small waves and responds immediately to the slightest pressure in pumping. Jibes and tacks become a formality; the wing glides and lifts with practically no traction needed.
   
• DW980 (980 cm² - 93 cm wingspan) HA - High Aspect
  This wing ideally complements the DW1680, DW1370, Cruise 1450/1250, or Regatta 1100. It retains the fabulous profile of the DW series, which starts very early, glides well, and responds immediately to pumping. The DW980 has been optimized for maneuverability by reducing the wingspan. The turns are tight, and the wing has superb glide. It provides a lot of length in jibes and excellent speed. Like its big sister, the DW980 starts very early from 13/14 knots with virtually no limit in strong winds. The unique feature of the DW series is their consistent front foot pressure, which varies very little regardless of wind strength and speed. Super responsive, it allows for surfing, slowing down, and accelerating strongly. Jibes are easy, and tacks are astonishingly simple for its surface area. The wing continues to lift even if you slow down a bit too much.

CRUISE RANGE: Super accessibility, freeride, waves, downwind, surf in swell, cruising. Suitable for Wingfoil and Windfoil.

• CRUISE 1450 (1450 cm² - 91 cm wingspan) MHA - Medium High Aspect
  The Cruise is a super easy wing, very progressive and highly maneuverable, perfectly suited for beginner or progressing riders, with good glide for its surface area. It allows for tight turns and makes it easy to slow down to learn jibes. It is a wing all about smoothness and forgiveness, it can tolerate a bit of all input mistakes. In swell, it is very playful and allows for short turns; it’s a pure all-purpose freeride wing that will forgive you everything. Its particularity is that it can achieve a very nice speed for its surface area, as the profile has been optimized for that.
   
• CRUISE 1250 (1249 cm² - 86 cm wingspan) MHA - Medium High Aspect
  We remain in the same vein as the 1450, with a lot of ease and tolerance, with even more glide, smoothness, and maneuverability.