Why don't SUP foils have "wing-tip" guards?

[supthecreek]

The stupid sharp tips on many SUP foils always bug me.
Why the heck can't we design a "safety tip" out of some firm moulded plastic, to dull the knife-like edges on these wings?

This picture of colas is a wake-up call for any would be foiler or foil company that doesn't want to end up on the wrong end of a lawsuit.

If high Speed aircraft can have wingtip gas tanks....
Why can't SUP foils have similar (shorter) wingtip protectors?

"Click" on the pictures so they expand and you can see the detail

[yugi]

http://tinyurl.com/mtrsh8c

[supthecreek]

Better... I have seen those and appreciated the different "less pointy" approach
but still looks to have sharpish leading edge that could be iffy when applied with force

[container]

drag, we are borderline as it is so every little bit helps

[PonoBill]

^^We have a winner. Lift increases as the square of the velocity, but so does drag. Never mind that you had to use a drawing of a jet from the 50's to make the point, you'd need another five mph to make that work. Plus, this is all in the earliest stages of development. How many years did it take before people built safe fins. And now that they're available, how many people use them? How many people buying the leading edge product would sacrifice performance for safety?

And good luck to anyone suing because they got hurt riding a foil. They'll do it on their own dime unless they find the world's stupidest, hungriest lawyer. In the unlikely event they prevail they'd find two guys and a dog behind the effort.

And aren't you the same guy that wanted to hurry up and die so you wouldn't have to ride in a safer car?

[supthecreek]

insults acknowledged.....so, end of discussion?

Just looking for a defensible reason why SUP foils must be so pointy.
I find it hard to believe that the drag issue could be overcome in a safer design with out losing needed lift and speed
Let's check back in 2 years and see.

The picture I used, was chosen for discussion purpose only .
Very easy to see the similarities at the wing-tip.... not trying to be cutting edge and all that.

Everyone sues these days... and if an alternative to knife-like foil edges can be found..... that would seem a reasonable negligence case.
Maybe no "deep pockets" at the end of the line.... but sucks for the defendant regardless.

No.... I do not like the future with self driving cars. Sorry if that also offends believers.

[Bean]

You done fucked up Creek, you should have used the Warthog

[yugi]

or


I think the North foil is pretty clever in the safety department and as good as you'll get. You don't want more drag than that.

[Bean]

Yup, just because it doesn't look like it can fly...

[PonoBill]

Insults? Really? Things must have changed in Massachusetts. I was just trying to show my love. 

You might note that I answered your question, both from a technical standpoint and a marketing one. Americans in particular, but people in general, won't pay a premium or trade performance for safety any more than they will pay a premium for "green".  Everyone talks about it, nobody buys it. So if you're developing a foil, the major concern is performance, and the secondary concern is performance. Maybe in two years performance will have peaked and someone will start selling safety--but I'm not holding my breath.

[surfcowboy]

I'll add this. If you notice the fall that causes that is the same one that can break your hip or leg or ribs even without a foil. When boards start to go, let them and get away, as you well know.

Someone will figure it out and I've been thinking of bagging mine with 1/4" eva like a surftech softtop. If they can surf and have edges why can't a foil? I'll bet they can.

[Bean]

One answer to foil safety might come indirectly from Gray's paradox.  Gray didn't believe that dolphins generate enough power to achieve the speeds they were observing.  Turns out they do, and then some.  (5500watts!)

While that is not relevant to foil safety, incidental observations about the dolphin's flexible flukes could be.

[supthecreek]

Ok... forget the Airplane wing-tip tank
it purely a prop 
Used only to acknowledge that things have flown... without knife-like edges.

Allow me to try another tack

Look at the little yellow blobs I placed on the SUP foil wing-tips.
They are also crap....
simply there to show the areas of concern to dull, or take the edge off
 
Coat the pointy bits with something to blunt the impact.

Maybe a 1/2" bead of some nylon/plastic 
just enough of a bead of something..... anything,  to turn body contact into a bruise.... instead of a gash.
Ok...purely for discussion
Think:
Dip the sharp foil wingtips in a plastic-like substance that builds up like candle dipping..... and creates a duller edge.

Is it possible that this could be done without altering the lift or whatever the knife edge does?
I think our pointy little heads should be able to find some way to take the bite out of these foils.

Possibly a coating of stuff similar to the material used in "Chair Glides"?

[Badger]

Why not just make the wing tips out of a softer material like the ProTech Super Flex fin?

Just the tips, not the entire wing. Soft enough that they have some give, but not so long that they cause the wing to lose shape.

https://salamanderpaddlegear.com/sites/default/files/Super%20flex-fin-Demonstration.jpg

.

[supthecreek]

I asked the same thing on Seabreeze and DJ put up this video


I like the "box wing" direction.... that looks awesome.
Hard to see in the video... but one on those rigs had two "box wings" ..... zero pointy bits.

Would that type of wing work for SUP?