Appletree Mini Foil Kiteboard

A month in the Dominican Republic is a proper test. Consistent wind, warm water, and enough sessions to find every flaw in your gear — if there’s something wrong, that environment will surface it. We ran the Appletree Mini Foil in the 3’2” for the entirety of that trip kite foiling, and we came home with nothing negative to report. That doesn’t happen often.

First Impressions

The first thing anyone does when they pick up this board is lift it and raise an eyebrow. At 13.16 litres and 3’2” long the Mini Foil is genuinely small, and the full carbon construction means it’s genuinely light — not “light for a foil board” light, but light in an absolute sense that makes you wonder how Appletree made something this stiff without adding weight. The finish is clean and the 3mm black EVA deck pad is sanded to a grip level that holds your feet without locking them in place, which matters when you need to move them mid-ride. The board arrives with inserts set in both V and straight-line configurations, giving you options from the first session.

Construction & Design

Appletree builds the Mini Foil around their proprietary 50K closed-cell foam core — a material developed exclusively for them that handles 50,000kg per square meter of compression while staying light and, critically, closed-cell so it won’t take on water or blow out in heat. Over that core goes 100% carbon fibre, no fibreglass hiding underneath, laminated using a vacuum injection process developed in-house where all the carbon is laid dry before epoxy is injected under pressure. The result is a fibre-to-resin ratio tighter than conventional wet layup and a construction that doesn’t delaminate. The foil mount is where Appletree has put particular engineering attention — Futures Oneshot boxes CNC cut with the board for precision, set into ultra-high-density PET honeycomb, itself sandwiched in carbon inside and out. The load from the foil spreads across that entire panel rather than concentrating at the box edges. It’s an overbuilt connection in the best possible way, and you feel the confidence that comes from it every time you push hard through a turn.

On the Water

A month of kite foiling across varied Dominican conditions and the Mini Foil 3’2” didn’t put a foot wrong. The combination of small size and full carbon stiffness produces a direct, immediate connection to the foil beneath you — every input translates, nothing is absorbed or dampened by flex in the board. Carving feels precise. Pumping is efficient because there’s no energy lost to a board that wants to flex rather than transmit. The deck pad grip level is well judged; your feet stay where you put them but repositioning is never a fight. At 3’2” this is not a board that hides any shortcomings in your foiling — it rewards good technique and responds honestly when your positioning is off. After a month of daily use, no pressure dings, no delamination, no hardware issues. The construction holds up the way Appletree’s engineering suggests it should.

Who Is This For?

Kite foilers who are past the learning curve and want a board that connects them directly to the foil rather than sitting between them and it. The 3’2” at 13.16 litres is committed — you need to be comfortable on the foil before you step down to this size. Riders still developing their water starts or working on foil consistency should look at the larger sizes in the Mini Foil range first. For experienced riders who want a light, stiff, travel-ready kite foil board that performs without apology, this is a serious option.

Bottom Line

A full month of daily kite foiling sessions in proper conditions and nothing to criticise. The Appletree Mini Foil 3’2” is precisely engineered, honestly built, and performs exactly as its construction would suggest. At its price point you are paying for real carbon fibre work, not a marketing claim, and the riding experience reflects that. If you’re ready for it, buy it.