In a groundbreaking development for the sailing world, Armstrong Foils, the innovative wingfoil equipment manufacturer, has secured design partnerships with both SailGP and America’s Cup teams, signaling a transformative crossover between recreational water sports and elite competitive sailing. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in sailing technology, as Armstrong’s expertise in hydrofoil design for wingfoiling is now being applied to the most prestigious sailing competitions in the world.

From Beach Sport to Elite Racing: Armstrong’s Remarkable Journey

Armstrong Foils, founded in 2018 by Armie Armstrong, a former windsurfing world champion from New Zealand, has quickly established itself as a leader in the wingfoiling industry. What began as a small operation focused on creating efficient hydrofoils for recreational riders has evolved into a technological powerhouse that’s caught the attention of professional sailing’s elite circles.

“We never imagined that our work in wingfoiling would translate to the highest levels of competitive sailing,” explained Armstrong in a recent interview. “But the fundamental hydrodynamic principles that make our consumer foils efficient apply equally to racing yachts—just at a much larger scale and higher speeds.”

The SailGP Partnership: Revolutionizing F50 Performance

SailGP, known for its high-speed F50 catamarans capable of speeds exceeding 50 knots, announced its partnership with Armstrong in late 2024. This collaboration aims to develop next-generation foils that could potentially push these already lightning-fast vessels to even greater performance levels.

The partnership focuses on three key areas:

1. Enhanced Stability Systems: Armstrong is applying its expertise in creating stable riding platforms for wingfoils to develop systems that maintain foil stability at extreme speeds, particularly during maneuvers.
2. Progressive Foil Shapes: Drawing from their experience with variable-condition foil profiles in wingfoiling, Armstrong is designing adaptive foil systems that perform optimally across SailGP’s diverse racing environments.
3. Material Innovation: Armstrong’s work with advanced composites in consumer foils is being scaled up to meet the structural demands of the F50’s larger foils and higher loads.

Sir Russell Coutts, CEO of SailGP, commented on the partnership: “Armstrong brings fresh perspective from outside traditional sailing design circles. Their experience creating foils that need to be both high-performance and accessible to everyday riders gives them unique insights into creating systems that are not just fast but also more manageable in varying conditions.”

America’s Cup Innovation: The Secret Weapon

While specific details remain guarded due to the secretive nature of America’s Cup technology development, multiple sources confirm that Armstrong has been contracted by two competing syndicates to consult on their foil design programs for the 37th America’s Cup.

This development is particularly noteworthy as America’s Cup teams typically work with established marine engineering firms or develop proprietary technology in-house. Bringing in expertise from the recreational wingfoiling sector represents a significant shift in thinking about foil design.

Industry analysts suggest Armstrong’s involvement centers around:

• Flight control systems that adapt technology from Armstrong’s consumer-level “auto-level” foiling systems
• Ventilation management techniques developed for wingfoil racing that prevent performance-killing foil cavitation
• Takeoff efficiency improvements that could give teams crucial advantages in marginal foiling conditions

An unnamed America’s Cup team member noted: “What’s impressive about Armstrong’s designs is how they’ve solved problems of accessibility in wingfoiling that translate directly to competitive sailing. Making foils that are forgiving enough for beginners but still high-performance has created innovations we hadn’t considered in the racing world.”

Cross-Pollination of Innovation

Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of this partnership is the bidirectional flow of innovation. While Armstrong is bringing fresh ideas to elite sailing, the company is simultaneously gaining insights from the cutting-edge computational fluid dynamics and structural analysis used in professional racing.

“Working with SailGP and America’s Cup teams has accelerated our R&D cycle by years,” said Armstrong’s chief engineer. “The simulation capabilities and testing protocols these teams employ are helping us develop the next three generations of consumer foils simultaneously.”

This collaboration represents a rare instance where a recreational water sport is directly influencing the technological development of professional sailing rather than the traditional top-down innovation flow.

The Technical Challenges of Scale

Adapting wingfoiling technology to the demands of professional sailing vessels presents significant engineering challenges:

1. Load Management: While a wingfoiler might generate forces of several hundred kilograms on a foil, an F50 catamaran or AC75 monohull produces tons of force, requiring completely different structural solutions.
2. Control Systems Integration: Armstrong’s consumer foils typically use mechanical systems for control, while racing vessels employ complex hydraulic or electric systems with computerized feedback loops.
3. Speed Ranges: Professional sailing vessels operate at nearly double the speeds of even the fastest wingfoilers, creating different hydrodynamic conditions.

Armstrong has addressed these challenges by assembling a specialized team that includes both recreational foil designers and veteran naval architects with racing experience.

The Future of Foiling

This unexpected partnership between Armstrong and elite racing syndicates points to a future where the lines between recreational water sports and professional sailing continue to blur. As foiling technology becomes increasingly central to sailing performance, expertise from adjacent disciplines like wingfoiling, e-foiling, and even aerospace engineering will likely play larger roles in racing yacht design.

For consumers, this means the wingfoils they purchase in coming years will benefit from technologies proven at the highest levels of racing. For professional sailing, it represents an infusion of fresh thinking that could lead to performance breakthroughs and more exciting racing.

As one SailGP team manager put it: “Ten years ago, nobody would have imagined that a company making foils for beach enthusiasts would influence the design of the fastest sailing vessels ever created. That’s the kind of cross-disciplinary innovation that keeps this sport evolving.”

Armstrong’s unexpected journey from wingfoil manufacturer to elite sailing technology partner demonstrates how innovation can flow from unexpected sources, reshaping even the most established competitive environments. As both SailGP and the America’s Cup continue their technological arms races, this unlikely collaboration may prove to be one of the most significant developments in high-performance sailing design of the decade.