Wing Design

[wakenup]

With five or six maybe more wing design and manufactures out there, how do you know
if your design infringes upon anothers design ? Do they need to be 10% - 20% different
in size shape or angles ? Is there any guidelines you guys follow ?

THANKS

[XtremeFoils]

Do you mean all 4 of us?

Yes, there's always a battle - but most of us have learned over time that it's not worth the headache to fight over this stuff. All wings have different characteristics. All riders have different needs. Some wings work better for some riders than others. Some riders are loyal to a certain company. Some riders always want the latest and greatest....

With that said, wings evolve. The developers all spend too much $$$ on R&D, and then try to recoup those costs in selling what we've learned. When it's all said and done, I don't think many people are making much if any money on the sport of hydrofoiling. At least I know I'm not. We are all here to have fun.

Wingletless wings are a good example. They were tried back in the day and weren't very successful. Garry finally brought them back when he got in this business, and they have taken off since that time. Did we all take his idea and modify it, yep. But even though the basic shapes of the wings are similiar, it's the profiles (curvature) that really change the ride. Granted we are learning a ton on what really works and what doesn't for our sport, but I think there is still a long way to go.

So when you say 10% difference, etc... there is no way of measuring that. In the end it comes down to .xls spreadsheets of frame counts, ability to combo, cleanup factor, testing, feel, etc.

Since there is no patent on any specific wing "design" except maybe AirChair's "curved" wings which no one is trying to reproduce, there are no patent infringements. Not only that, but it would be hard to patent a wing itself. Maybe a specific characteristic of the wing (vortex generator for instance), but the wing itself would be tough to patent I would think.

In the end we all learn what works and what doesn't, and we keep building on that. That's what keeps us progressing. In a perfect world it would be nice if all the developers could get together and put all the knowledge in one bowl... but the fact is we are all spending alot of money researching this stuff. We have to make that money back somehow in order to keep the R&D going.

Plus, competition is a very good thing. It's keep us striving to make a better product.

So I doubt I answered your questions, but it gives you my perspective.

Bryan

[EricR]

Yea.... What he said!

[wakenup]

Great perspective !

Thanks