What these sailors did behind their boat in the San Francisco Bay made old salts do a double take

Video by Neil Marcellini, music by Pluto

San Francisco's reputation for innovation, and just sheer insanity is legend, so why shouldn't it extend to water sports?

What a group of sailors did this week in the San Francisco Bay surprised anyone who's spent time on the water, and might even start a whole new sport: Foil boarding behind a sailboat.

"Other sailors were pretty blown away, and super excited to see what's possible with foils and only the power of the wind," said the man who did it, Neil Marcellini.

Anyone who's tried water skiing knows it takes a lot of force to pull a skier out of the water, and a lot of skill to hang on as the motorboat lunges, lurches, and throws off a wake. And, there's that thing about speed. With the Bay Area's consistent, and extremely strong winds, however, could it be possible for a sailboat to tow a rider? How about a 14-foot dinghy?

While water skiing behind a sailboat has been done before, it's pretty boring, slow, and while it's "technically" water skiing, it doesn't look like much fun. Foil boarding, however, changes everything.

"The hydrofoil is like an underwater airplane wing," explains Marcellini. "When you get enough speed it lifts the board out of the water, dramatically reducing the wetted surface and eliminating almost all the friction from moving through the water. Once I was foiling, the 29er had nothing holding it back and it could accelerate even more."

"We were on the Bay at the same time, but what they were doing just didn't register for me," said veteran sailor and racer Randall Rasicot, who spotted the group and did a double-take.

"From a distance I just couldn't connect the 29er surfing along as the usually do with the [spinnaker] up and guys out there flying above the surface on foiling boards with no visible means of propulsion," Rasicot said, describing the strange sight of a sailboat with a skier in tow outside the Point Richmond marina.

Neil Marcellini wakeboards on a special foil board behind a 14-foot "29er" racing dinghy sailed by Aidan Doyle and Andrew Klotz near Richmond, Calif. in August, 2016. (Photo copyright Neil Marcellini, used by permission) less Neil Marcellini wakeboards on a special foil board behind a 14-foot "29er" racing dinghy sailed by Aidan Doyle and Andrew Klotz near Richmond, Calif. in August, 2016. (Photo copyright Neil Marcellini, used by ... more Photo: Neil Marcellini Photo: Neil Marcellini Image 1 of / 58 Caption Close What these sailors did behind their boat in the San Francisco Bay made old salts do a double take 1 / 58 Back to Gallery

Marcellini got the idea while racing 29ers, a tiny, ultralight performance racing dinghy. It's just 14.4 feet long. His coach, Dane Wilson and his brother Quinn would foil board using kites, similar to kite surfing, every day after sailing. Sitting on the beach, he asked, "I wonder what would happen if you foiled behind a 29er."

He knew the ultra-fast design of the performance boat had enough power to pull him, but even he was surprised when he tried it this week, sailing out of the Richmond Yacht Club in Richmond, Calif.

"The 29er accelerated so fast with the spinnaker up that it would yank me off the foil, making it very difficult to sustain."

In the video above, you can see the three men got the hang of sailing while towing someone pretty quickly, though.

Aidan Doyle and Andrew Klotz were behind the helm and trimming of the 29er, and helped Marcellini put the stunt together. This probably won't be the last time sailors see this trio out trying crazy things on the bay.

"We've been throwing around some ideas like foiling behind another foiling boat, but it's going to take a lot of planning to pull something off like this again. We definitely need a powerboat to assist us in the future."

VIDEO CREDITS: Video by Neil Marcellini, music by Pluto (more on SoundCloud).