Kitesoul Magazine #16 English Edition

80
KITEFOIL
Banga Foil, the Italian brand flies high
exciting project wasn't difficult.
KS_Who is behind the design of the Foil?
PP_It was necessary to aim high for such an
ambitious project, developing it with internal resources
was unthinkable. Luca and I, each one
for a different reason, have to do with the world
of sailing and of the America's Cup, so we involved
a group of people, both Italians and from
abroad. The decision of Luna Rossa to leave the
Cup helped us out as it freed valuable resources
for our venture.
KS_From the first version of Banga foil up to
today, what are the aspects that you mostly
had to keep into account?
PP_The complexities are diverse, the choice of
the profiles, the size of the wings, the length of
the mast, geometries, in addition to these there
are the rigidity and torsion related to the small
size of our foil.
Experience teaches that mathematical models
and computer simulations can only partly simulate
reality, therefore we had to create prototypes,
but these can be made only once the
moulds are realized. We made a few prototypes,
tested them in the water for many hours and
the final version began giving its results at the
competition in Gizzeria. Since then it has been
a boom.