Behind the Design with Jerome Bonieux - Duotone Daytona

Hi Jerome, can you give our readers a short introduction about yourself.

I’ve been kiting since 2002 and was Mauritian freestyle champion in 2005 and 2006. I invented and patented the Click Bar in 2009 which then led to my introduction to the Duotone design team.

I was driven to help develop the Daytona, because I have a passion for speed foiling at speed. I love designing products and running a kite school in Mauritius means that I have a very good insight into what most riders are searching for, especially in a foil.

I really enjoy all other aspects of the sport and still practice big air, surfing and wakestyle, as well as contributing to the R&D process on products in the Duotone range.

What was the vision for the Daytona?

We wanted to make a premium, fast, full carbon foil that would perform well and look great. You could call it a "Freerace foil”.

Our vision of a two-piece design makes it user-friendly, just bolt on and go ride.

It had to have a plate connection system that would fit our current range of boards which allowed us to take advantage of the rails and give more tuning options.

What were the challenges you faced and how did you overcome them?

Finding the right manufacturer was definitely one of the challenges. We tried a few options but were not satisfied with the final fit and finish, so we kept searching. Eventually we found another factory, who’s team had quite a lot of experience making hydrofoils. From the very first prototype we were amazed by the quality. 

The other time consuming element was the fine tuning of the foil. Finding that perfect balance of minimising drag whilst maintaining ease-of-use was fundamental. It didn’t take long to find the magic recipe.

You partnered up with the America’s Cup design team. What did you learn together and what special features in the Daytona are from this collaboration?

Yeah that was great! They have so much knowledge in structural analysis and ran calculations for various scenarios which allowed us to pick the optimal design.

They specified all our layups so each layer of carbon is used once again, optimally. They also ran CFD analysis of our designs and recommended doing some changes based on their results. For example, the mast profile that they suggested has been terrific in cancelling the mast ventilation issues we were having on some early prototypes. This is important as mast ventilation is the primary causes for loss of control at high speeds.

Along with design, materials play an important role in the functionality, durability and efficiency of any product. Can you talk a bit about the Daytona and the materials?

In the case of the Daytona it is pretty simple, we have used 100% carbon fibre. As we all know, carbon fibre has a very high strength to weight ratio which makes it the material of choice for a hydrofoil.

Who did you work with on bringing the Daytona to life and what benefits did they bring to the table?

Jean Guillaume was with me throughout the testing process validating protoypes. He’s a good friend with lot’s of experience in foiling and loves to go fast. It was important to me to have his approval.

The guys from the Duotone team of course, Max Pajank, who is responsible of the whole foil program and Antonio Destino, head of R&D/ product manager. They make sure that we are always staying within the timeline, budgets and also that we are taking the right decisions when we do face an obstacle. They found the right manufacturer, through their contacts.

Then, the team from "Ixent", the consultants we approached to help us for all the structural and hydrodynamic analysis and design guidance.