Production ended in 2003 after 136 boats had been built since 1998. That makes the Rave a small but distinctive chapter in amateur foiling history—and a boat the builder has at times described as ahead of its time.
Design and Construction
The Rave’s trimaran platform underpins its stability and comfort. Its narrow center hull contains two cockpits: a forward rumble seat for a passenger and an aft position for the skipper. Polyethylene-molded construction gives this lightweight boat notable durability.
High-aspect-ratio struts carry the foils and retract into the hulls. With the foils raised, the Rave draws 12 inches; with them lowered, the recommended draft is 4 feet.
Listed weight is around 380 to 390 pounds, and beam is 17 feet from foil tip to foil tip. These dimensions make the Rave a serious high-performance boat rather than a casual beach toy. It’s too large to carry on a car roof, but it can be transported on its custom trailer.
Rig, Foils, and Handling
The skipper sits aft and steers with foot pedals rather than a tiller. The foils can be raised and lowered from the cockpit, simplifying setup. Once the boat is flying, a trailed control wand manages foil attitude, so the crew doesn’t have to trim the foils manually while underway.
The rig borrows from the Laser Cat, with a fat-head mainsail and a tall, narrow jib. A molded-in extension carries the self-tacking jib traveler, although the traveler isn’t very wide. The narrow center hull also limits mainsheet travel to roughly 24 inches, shaping how the boat is trimmed on the wind.
Together, the below-boom, face-forward seating and foot-pedal steering contribute to the Rave’s stated ease of use and stability.
Cockpit Layout
There’s no cabin in the conventional sense; the Rave is organized around its two cockpits. The passenger sits forward on the rumble seat, while the skipper occupies the aft cockpit at the foot controls. This arrangement keeps weight centered and sightlines directed ahead.
Windrider intended the boat to be affordable, comfortable, and relatively easy to handle. The cockpit layout is the clearest expression of that goal.
Limitations and Known Issues
The extruded foils prevent the Rave from being sailed onto the beach. That’s a meaningful limitation for sailors accustomed to drying out a small trimaran on shore.
Although the foils retract, they remain vulnerable. Launching and recovery therefore require more care than they would with a daggerboard beach cat.
Trailering, Storage, and Ownership
Rave ownership revolves more around trailering and foil care than interior refitting. The custom trailer is the practical means of transport, while the retractable struts make storage simpler than on designs with fixed foils.
Windrider has signaled its intention to revive the WR Rave II with some modernization and in collaboration with a partner. That suggests the original concept retains commercial appeal despite production having ended in 2003.
The Verdict
The Windrider Rave was a genuinely novel attempt to democratize foiling. It packed retractable, high-aspect foils and a foot-steered, face-forward cockpit into a durable polyethylene trimaran of modest length.
The boat asks its owner to think like both a multihull sailor and a foiling pilot. It rewards that attention with a design that was, by the builder’s own description, ahead of its time.
Pros
- Retractable foils on high-aspect-ratio struts change draft from 12 inches to a recommended 4 feet
- Durable polyethylene-molded construction at roughly 380 to 390 pounds
- Foot-pedal steering and face-forward cockpits aid stability and ease of handling
- Custom-trailer transport, despite the boat being too large for a car roof
Cons
- Extruded foils prevent beaching under sail
- Narrow center hull limits mainsheet travel to roughly 24 inches
- Production ended after 136 boats were built between 1998 and 2003
