From Simulation to Water
How do you develop a foil that combines glide, speed, stability and control, while remaining intuitive on the water?
Behind the way a foil feels and performs lies a complex system in which every parameter matters — and every parameter interacts with the others.
The development of the PHANTOM ONE began long before the first on-water tests. It started with a clear definition of its intended use, programme and target rider, before moving into modelling, numerical simulation and, ultimately, validation through real-world riding.
At the heart of the process, two areas of expertise came together: the engineering capabilities of D3 Applied Technologies, involved in the design and optimisation of the ONE, and the experience of Nicolas Goyard, whose ability to analyse what happens on the water helps bridge the gap between data and sensation.
We brought their perspectives together to understand how an idea becomes a geometry, how simulation meets real-world experience and, ultimately, how the Phantom feeling is engineered.
It starts with the intended use
Before discussing profiles, geometry or CFD, the first question is simple: what does the foil need to do?
In what conditions will it be used? For what programme? And by what type of rider?
“Whenever we start developing a new foil for Phantom, we begin by defining the objectives and establishing a clear set of specifications,” explains D3 Applied Technologies.
These initial questions guide the entire development process.
A downwind wing is not designed in the same way as one intended for surf, freeride or freestyle. The desired characteristics, target speeds and compromises will inevitably differ.
Once these objectives have been established, D3 can begin working on the first planform and section concepts, translating the intended programme into geometry.
Turning a brief into geometry
A foil is defined by a large number of parameters.
Chord distribution, dihedral, thickness, twist, sections and the way those sections evolve from root to span...
Each has its own purpose and its own impact on the overall behaviour of the foil.
To explore and compare these different possibilities, D3 uses CFD — Computational Fluid Dynamics.
This allows the engineers to reproduce real-world operating conditions in a digital environment — effectively creating a virtual towing tank — and analyse the behaviour of different geometries.
The simulations are first used to optimise sections for predefined target speeds, with the aim of minimising drag and improving efficiency. Different planforms can then be tested and compared to identify the most efficient solutions.
But designing a foil is never about maximising a single metric. Lift, drag, glide, stability, pumping and speed all interact. The challenge is to find the best possible balance for the intended programme.
The ONE: pushing the compromises further
The PHANTOM ONE is a direct expression of this search for balance.
The objective was to create a versatile foil: fast and efficient in freeride, offering strong glide in the surf, while remaining stable and responsive. Achieving this meant working on several characteristics simultaneously.
D3 developed sections designed to perform efficiently at lower speeds to deliver good glide, remain tolerant during pumping, and still maintain strong performance as speed increases.
“A well-balanced foil needs all of these characteristics, so we optimise them in parallel. The objective is to achieve the best possible overall result while pushing the compromises as far as we can.”
Simulation makes it possible to explore these balances with great precision. But simulation cannot tell the whole story.
What the water brings to the simulation
Some parameters are particularly complex to simulate without taking the calculations extremely far — which also means significantly more time and cost.
According to Nicolas, these include aspects such as dihedral, front-wing positioning and certain stabiliser angles.
This is where experience accumulated on the water becomes essential.
For Nicolas Goyard, testing a foil is not simply a question of deciding whether it “works”.
It is about understanding why it creates a particular sensation.
“When I’m riding, especially when I’m testing equipment, I’m feeling what is happening while analysing those sensations at the same time.”
A foil is a system in which numerous factors and settings interact. The objective is therefore to identify, while riding, which parameter is responsible for a particular sensation.
“My goal is to understand the system well enough to associate a sensation with the right factor during the session, so we can push the development in the right direction.”
The analysis continues back on land, building a more complete understanding of the system and identifying what needs to be refined.
Building a mental map of the foil
Take-off, glide, stability, control, pumping, high-speed behaviour...
Ask Nicolas which characteristic he looks at first during a test and the answer is simple: all of them.
Rather than immediately isolating one characteristic, he takes in the complete set of sensations to build what he describes as a “mental map” of the foil.
This overall picture then helps identify which parameters can be adjusted — from angles and settings to aspects of the foil's construction.
His role also begins much earlier in the process.
Years of testing, accumulated sensations and data allow Nicolas to establish guidelines and help define the brief. D3 can then focus its work on the profiles and their efficiency in relation to the behaviour the team is trying to achieve.
Development therefore becomes a continuous dialogue between intention, numerical tools and experience on the water.
When engineers and riders speak the same language
The relationship between engineering and riding experience has been built over time.
D3 and Nicolas have worked together for several years, allowing the knowledge gained through successive developments to feed into the next.
For D3, the role of a high-level rider is very specific:
“They provide the link between simulation and reality. Their experience allows us to identify potential areas for improvement, as well as the strengths of existing foils.”
Once a foil has been produced and enters the testing phase, feedback from the water confirms whether the design choices have delivered the intended characteristics.
The precision of numerical tools meets the rider's ability to read and interpret the behaviour of the foil.
D3's CFD models have also been calibrated against experimental data gathered during America's Cup campaigns.
Yet the objective remains very tangible: to design a foil that performs just as well on the water as it does in simulation.
From pro-level performance to real-world riding
Working with a rider of Nicolas's level creates another challenge: his abilities and sensitivity to equipment are far beyond those of most riders.
So how do you avoid creating a highly capable foil that becomes too demanding?
By broadening the testing process.
Phantom also puts its products into the hands of riders with different levels of experience, comparing the highly detailed feedback of a professional rider with more immediate sensations from other users.
They are not expected to technically develop the equipment.
Simple feedback such as “it feels more stable during take-off” can be extremely valuable.
It provides perspective and helps confirm that an intended improvement is genuinely perceptible and usable by a broader range of riders.
For Nicolas, this step is crucial.
Because performance only matters if the rider can actually access it on the water.
When is a foil truly finished?
After the brief, geometry, simulation, production and testing comes one deceptively simple question:
When do you know the product is truly ready?
Nicolas's answer is almost instinctive:
“When you come back to shore happy with the session. When you've been on the water without having to think too much about the equipment.”
There is, of course, one other essential requirement: structural reliability.
When the desired behaviour is there, the structure has been validated and the equipment allows the rider to simply ride rather than fight against it, the development process has reached its goal.
Behind all the complexity of CFD, geometry and countless hours of testing lies a remarkably simple idea.
It is also how Nicolas describes the Phantom feeling:
“It glides and it feels right. The performance is easy to access.”
Perhaps that is the clearest expression of Phantom's development philosophy: using technology, engineering and experience to push performance to the point where, once on the water, all that complexity simply disappears behind the sensation.
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