Episode #46 - Gunnar Biniasch

Gunnar Biniasch joins us from his home in Fuerteventura to talk about:

- His intro into wind sports
- His role at Indiana Paddle Surf
- His board design
- The early days in foiling and how its progressed
- Kite foiling and Wing Foil racing

About the Episode:

Chapter 1 (0:00 - 9:35)
Introduction. Gunnar discusses where he lives on Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands and wind conditions for kiting, winging and windsurfing.

Chapter 2 (9:36 - 17:18)
Early career in kiteboarding, wing foiling development. How Gunnar got into kiteboarding and wing foiling, starting the brand Magma, developing early hydrofoils.

Chapter 3 (17:19 - 27:16)
Kitefoil and wing foil racing. Details on race speeds from the past to now, how hydrofoiling developed and changed the sport.

Chapter 4 (27:17 - 35:26)
Design process and building foils. How Gunnar designs foils, builds prototypes, testing methodology, using software and 3D printing molds.

Chapter 5 (35:27 - 43:16)
Indiana brand overview. How Gunnar started working with Indiana, brand headquarters, whole product range from boards to foils to paddles.

Chapter 6 (43:17 - 51:23)
Pump foiling design challenges. Key aspects to designing a good pump foil - durability, glide efficiency, fun factor. Differences from racing foils.

Chapter 7 (51:24 - 1:01:06)
Racing vs recreation. Breakdown of percentages interested in different disciplines, racing gear limitations. Freestyle progression and injuries.

Chapter 8 (1:01:07 - 1:09:01)
Favourite conditions and discipline. Changes over the years and enjoyment of different wind sports depending on conditions. Flat water paddling benefits.

Chapter 9 (1:09:02 - 1:16:53)
Future developments and direct to consumer. New foil and board designs, moving towards direct sales model to improve margins.

[fluiditynz]

Dang! I thought it was just going to be a product discussion from Gunnar but now I have to allocate the full time to listen to this podcast! As a wing designer myself, I'm always curious to look at other people's wing design ideas. From a raw novice at wingsurfing back in late 2020, I've did a lot of research and tried things including tubercles and pushed my own wing algorithims as a hobbist. To click through parts of the video and then hear Gunnar talk about his big 3D printer, I had instant empathy with Gunnar's R&D. There are a couple of custom design programs for wing design, finfoil is one of them. Personally though, I use OPENSCAD and do it all through algorithms. No doubt Gunnar has same issues as me with printing techniques, filiament type etc but I can imagine Gunnar doing same as me although I usually print the model, make a mould from the model and then lay my carbon in the model. I have learnt so much myself on foil design over the last 3 years and should perhaps have kept quiet about the Prandtl second set of equasions and their implications to wing design but not selling product myself, I cross published to Kiteforums and it's out there. Triton, Gofoil, Armstrong and F-one all using the technique to spread their foil's ranges and make them more fun. My focus has very much been front wings followed by stabilisers but currently I have a test infusion out curing in the garage for a partial mast mould and a full mould just about ready to go once I prove the infusion process. I use Axis fuselage but I don't think it's an ultimate design, there's certainly structural design aspects to it that I don't like. Gunnar's comment about keeping things fun is so important. Manufacturers are going for buzz fords like pump, race, down wind, race, sup but people forget that fun is one of the biggest things. High aspect isn't always the best solution. It's important also to question everything you are told in design. I've pulled in aerodynamic theories that weren't really right for the water, wasn't really this year that I felt like it was all coming together. I've contemplated CFD in the past but I found that there are too many factors that CFD misses. Those people who run CFD comparisons and think they have an optimised solution, I think they are missing a lot that needs trial, intuition and research.

[franpinyol]

Great interview.
It would be even better if Gunar showed his test environment, prototypes, etc.
btw, Indiana products seem to be well-engineered, but the branding, colors, mega-logos, etc. are not for everyone. I'd suggest the whole portfolio and brand needs some aesthetics refinement.

[peterheirmanster]

Indiana planning to go into direct sales through Internet: thus copying Gong and Takoon - according to Gunnar even Duotone wants to go direct. Gong must be eating the market (Gong turnover is about 35% of Duotone)