As any wakeboarder or surfer can tell you, the best time to surf or ride is when the water is glassy. This usually occurs at specific times example at sunrise, or in protected areas out of the wind. Whenever it starts to get windy the surface of the water is agitated and chop starts to develop. This makes wakeboarding and surfing and other watersports harder. As the surface becomes more and more bumpy.
There is another way to get smooth water while riding it is to get under the surface and access the smooth water beneath. The surface of water is the interface between water and air, it is often turbulent and rough from the interaction of wind and water,
The hydrofoil cuts under the surface, and allows the rider access to the solid smooth water beneath. The foiler’s board rises above the turmoil, and the smooth glasslike flying begins.
A wakeboarder,surfer/windsurfer/kiter slaps along the surface of the water and bounces through the chop. This is messy, jarring, and slow, it is also very tiring as it requires a lot of force to overcome drag (resistance). The foiler, on the other hand, uses far less energy as the foil is low drag, it has a smooth ride, no jarring, and no wasted energy. The rider rises above the tortured surface and flies away even in rough choppy conditions. Most foilers will tell you, “Foiling feels like flying”.