No, it's the other way around. Diesel-powered non-computer-controlled hydrofoils weren't good enough to overthrow regular diesel-powered boats. You saved some gas, but not enough for anyone to bother.
The pressure to go green and move to electric boats means that the energy savings from going hydrofoil is suddenly extremely interesting in order to make a boat that has enough speed and range if it's gonna carry batteries. Couple that with modern sensors and computing, and their hydrofoils can do a lot more on-the-fly adjustments to further improve stability and efficiency than the older ones. And these two factors combine to make something new, and you can't say "Well, hydrofoils failed in the past, so this will fail as well".
> In Vancouver
> (vulnerable to floating logs?)
That's a very local "you" problem. The various Swedish archipelagoes have completely different conditions than the Seattle-Vancouver bay area.