A lot has happened to say the least over the past few months since the wing debut.
Wings have improved dramatically (our own coming off as one of the best in an international review was a bonus too).
We’ve been playing around on Moses Foils, a Foil company manufacturing in Italy in a helicopter blade factory (can’t go wrong there!). The 950 Sabfoil is now available & we will be doing demos for anyone interested in trying these & comparing them to their current foil. Contact us to book a demo!
We have tested a lot of foil variations from Moses (and there are a lot!) because to sell them we need to ensure they perform like we want for wing foiling & by god these things do perform.
The 1100 kit combined with the 82 mast is 2100 in area. At ideal starting point for anyone over 70-80kg to get onto wing foiling. Lots of low end (low wind) lift & actually pretty good at higher speeds. We used up to 20knots then we felt like we needed to change down wing sizes.
We love the 790 which is around 1550 in area, great for anything from 10-15 knots right up to 25-30 knots. Insanely good in waves & it seems to enjoy speed… however not as much as the next wings I’m going to talk about.
The 679 is also a great performance wing for stronger wind days & surf. Its area is 990 so it requires a good amount of ability to dial this one in but once dialled its an incredible wing!
The 800 & 1000 wings enjoy speed like a Ferrari at a F1 GP in Monaco… they are fast/ ‘glidey’, they’re carvy too (for their higher aspect design)
The 1000 has an incredible window of wind for wing foiling. Its wing tip can be breached & you can recover easily. This wing would suit anyone wanting more glide & efficiency on the light – medium wind days. The 800 requires a little more wind / surf. Very carvy for its span & is incredibly efficient.
They don’t have a very good bottom end left due to the lack of cord in the wing, however once going they just want to keep going & going. I got away with the 800 in 20 knots with a 4.8m PPC wing (I’m 90kg) which has lots of power… our team rider Josh who’s 75kg loved the 800 in 10-20 knots …
The 1000 has a much bigger window & seems to be good in 10knots for me & enjoys winds up to 20-30knots. Both wings we were hitting around 40 km/h – I think we can it get much faster once totally dialled in.
We mainly used +1 to + 2 shims.
There is a 950 & 1250 is coming out soon which I feel fit into the range nicely.
The S400 tail has been our favourite & works across all set ups we’ve tried.
This is a very broad intro the Moses foil range. Drop into the store or call Sam & Josh for any more feedback required.
How to choose your wing foil set up?
First off if you have no experience whatsoever foiling, we strongly recommend coming out with us for a lesson behind our fully equipped jet ski so you can get a feel for the sport. https://nzfoilcentre.co.nz/product/foil-coaching/
Wing:
Lets start at the top with the wing. After a few months of seeing this sport develop & learning which wings are better suited to certain wind conditions & rider weights / abilities I have worked out what is really working best for people getting into the sport.
Firstly go bigger with the wing, my rule of thumb, which has been working well, has been a 4m wing has been good for anyone under 70kg & anyone over a 5m is a good option. That’s if you only wanted to purchase ONE wing. The more power the better when learning & generally here in New Zealand the wind is under 20 knots.
If the customer has wanted a couple of wings to cover more wind ranges then someone around 70kg or less may want to consider a 3.5 & a 5m & someone over 70kg may want a 4m & a 6m ensuring they can wing in super light conditions & have that smaller wing for anything over 10-15knots.
Board:
We have a new wider model of foil board on the way called the Soar! This model comes in 5 sizes from 3’10 – 33L right up to 6’0 – 130L. The Soar features smooth lines for easy, fast lift off & ideal volume to size proportions ensuring maximised swing – weight for easier handling. The deck has a really nice skate – like flowing concave, allowing you to be nearer the foil, for much more control. The Soar is made in New Zealand & our factory in Vietnam.
Again speaking from what I have seen in the early days of wing foiling I have noticed some factors, which seem to be consistent to choosing the right board.
The rule of thumb for anyone new to the sport & not yet used to a low volume board has been to go for a wing board around 10-20L more than their body weight. Example – A complete learner who is 80kg may want to consider our 5’7 which is 99L.
For more advanced riders, its body weight (kg) minus 10-20 (non sinker). For example someone around 90kg could go for the 5’3 at 76L.
We have made sure our boards are relatively short vs the amount of volume, so riders wont outgrow their equipment too fast. Luckily we are in the early stages of the sport & if you feel like you have outgrown your board there is a solid second hand market for wing boards & we will do trade-ins on our boards saving you the $$ on the swap over.
Our wing foil boards are plug moulded, ensuring they are super light weight & bullet proof. They have inserts for footstraps with a large amount of adjustability to suit a large range of wing foilers. Our wing boards are made in Vietnam, in the worlds leading board factory. https://nzfoilcentre.co.nz/product/wing-sup-foil-board/
Foil:
Lastly but definitely not least, the foil set up has been proven crucial. Our game plan is pairing the entire set-up so all parts match each other in terms of performance. For example there is no point purchasing a top of the line wing & board & then putting a cheap foil set up on it. That will degrade the entire set up & you wont get the performance out of the good gear.
Lately we have been pairing our boards & wings with the Armstrong Foils. We have been wing foiling with them for months now & have a good understanding of which set ups work for winging in their incredibly versatile foil range.
The learner foil set up has been the 2400V2 kit with either the 85cm mast or 72cm mast depending on where you are foiling. I personally think that the 85cm mast has been the one for wing foiling, giving you good height, keeping you from breaching in ocean chop. The 60cm fuselage & HS232 tail has been working really well too & we have made set ups in the shop based off our testing.
Now for when the wind increases even a learner will want another foil option. The HS1550 has been a really good all-rounder wing foil wing in the Armstrong range, so we have been using that within the 12-25 knots wind range. Anything over 20-25 knots the 1200 & HS1050 have been great wing foils.
We have learnt that dropping the foil size can be a better option than dropping the wing size. For example I will still use our 5m wing in 20 knots of wind, & will just use the 1200 or HS1050 foil. Its always handy to have power in the wing through lully wind patches rather than being ‘under powered’ – This is all proportional to riders weight.
If someone is wanting a ‘one foil’ wing set up, the 1600 wing set up has been a good one. Due to its cord thickness it has good lift ‘out of the hole’ so it is able to handle a large range of wind conditions.
Our goal is to make sure we put our customers on the right gear to begin with, ensuring their wing foiling experience is 100% optimised. Too often we see people unhappy with gear they were sold cheaply or maybe as an ‘only what a retailer has left scenario.’
We will have ALL this gear available for demo as we do believe in ‘try before you buy’
Foiling Lessons: (coaching)
We are using the Armstrong 2400 wing, 60cm mast for teaching anyone new to the sport of foiling, along with the 70cm fus, 300 rear & -2 TTF shim. This set up allows super slow speed foiling (10-12km), minimising injury risk & ensuring stable low speed controlled foiling. We have had 100% success rates over the summer with this set up. Much of the success comes down to foil specific tow set up. We are using HSA ropes, our rescue sled (great for foil gear storage). We ensure we tow with really smooth throttle control making first time foiling a walk in the park with us.