An industrial success in Made in France foil
Foil and Co, launched in 2016, has succeeded in its gamble to become a benchmark in the world of foils, while building in France. The company founded by naval architect Tanguy Le Bihan moved into new 2,700 m2 premises in Pencran in Finistère in early 2022, where it produces foils and composite parts for board sports, with a workforce of 42. The wing foil boom is driving strong growth for the company, which closed fiscal 2023 with sales of ?4.2 million.
The founder is delighted: "Today, we have a high-performance tool for parts production, with 15 presses, 5 CNCs and robots. Our carbon prepreg line processes 4 tons of material. We have a vacuum line for medium-sized parts used to make board floats."
Solving the cost of foilers
A naval architect, Tanguy Le Bihan has long been interested in hydrofoil boats, and has designed several motor foilers in the past, which has enabled him to analyze the market's bottlenecks. Although today Foil and Co is primarily involved in board sports, boating is part of the medium-term horizon, confirms the founder: "In the next 2 to 3 years, we'd like to offer solutions for small boats. The problem with small foilers is the extra cost of appendages. Before, we used to design boats with ideas, and then we'd see how to solve the problems and the price. At Foil and Co, we've turned the problem on its head, starting by managing the cost of appendages. Today, we're almost cheaper than the Chinese and have one of the biggest databases of hydrofoils in the world."
Making boats modern and fun
The naval architect hopes to revitalize the boating industry with more affordable foilers: "We're going to switch from gliding to making fun projects for yachting. Selling only long-term savings doesn't work, as we've seen with electric cars. The fun side of foiling remains exciting. The idea is to ask ourselves how we can sell boats tomorrow and recreate the same momentum as 10 or 15 years ago. There's a lot to be done in yachting with appendages."
