A few months ago picked up a new F-one foil and board; the IC6 850 foil and the pocket board (130 cm model). I have ridden it a dozen or so times since.

My first thought are that I am very very impressed. The smaller board and the stability of the foil is great. On my first session I was doing jibe after jibe after jibe like I had never done before. Third session - Jumping, sitting on the board and in general just foiling like I have never foiled before! Love it. Looks rad. It's well priced. It is definitely a keeper.

BACKGROUND
As some background I have only been foiling since Jan 2018 (I packed my twin tip away about a year ago). I previously owned an F-one 2018 model 800cm2 foil and one of their carbon race foil boards and I will compare this new model against this. I mainly use inflatables (mainly a 5.5 m Cabrinha Drifter and an 8 m Zeeko Notus) but have recently be using a 7 m Ozone Hyperlink. I'm more into cruising, turning and having fun. I generally ride with straps but sometimes go strapless.

So I sold my old 2018 F-One foil and bought this new 2019 one. I bought the injected carbon IC6 850 foil as I thought it would be a little more durable than the carbon wing which I had damaged when I dropped it out of my car door. Note that there was also a 2018 model IC6 850 but I did not ride it.

I bought a 95cm mast but it comes with an 85 cm as standard. I bought the 130 cm pocket board which has the track mounting (instead of the KF-box like my old one), foot straps and a universal bag/box to keep the foil in.

FOIL CONNECTION SYSTEMS
The connection system on the F-Ones is a little unique. The 2018 model was put together by slotting the male connectors of the fuselage and front wing into female connectors on the mast. Then a single long bold held it all in place. The wing and fuselage of the 2018 model was carbon. This made for a very fast setup.. However the problem was that the carbon (male connections) on aluminium (female connections) stuck and it became near impossible to get it apart for me. This could be fixed by putting some tape in the connection.

They have made some changes and the setup is more modular. The male connection on the wing is now aluminium and the fuselage is now all aluminium. Another difference is the fuselage now screws on to the mast with screws. The wing is still held in place with a long bolt down the centre. So one downside now is that since the mast is held in place by screws it is no longer much faster to put it together compared to a standard foil where everything is held together with screws. The wing still also gets a bit stuck and sometimes needs a little pulling and pushing to remove (again fixed by using tape). I leave my foil all together on the back seat of my car anyway.

The board connection is also modular so you can buy it with a track mount, KF-box, tuttle etc to suit your board.

QUALITY OF CONSTRUCTION/ENGINEERING
The quality of the construction appears to be outstanding.

The way everything slots together is great and the modular system is really excellent. If I am happy in a few months I might invest in another wing such as the carbon 600 cm2.

The wing also comes with a protective case which works very well. The whole package gets 5 stars in terms of presentation and packaging.

The bolts that hold the fuselage to the mast sit in deep large holes in the fuselage and I don't imagine this helps the water-dynamics whilst foiling. Given the price point and since this is not a race foil I suppose it doesn't matter.

As mentioned the other disadvantage is that the 2019 system with the bolt on fuselage essentially makes it no faster to put together. The 2018 system was much quicker and I wish they kept this system but improved on it. I suspect there are very good reasons they did this.

I bought an electric screw driver which is the best thing for screwing the foil to the board (buy one if you don't already have one).

As said the modularity of the system is excellent. If you have track connections, KF-box, Tuttle, or whatever, you can get a mast connection that suits you. In summary the engineering is excellent, especially for the price.

My other comment is that the foil is heavier than the last model. This doesn't mean much in the water but it's a bit heavier to carry around on the beach and on the plane. Saying that I have a slightly longer mast than standard which amplifies this. I also cannot compare it to any other brands and the last F-One foil I had was all carbon. It is just something I notice.

PRICING
At about $1200 for the foil they are at a great price point. In addition the wings and other parts are also very well priced. I think a new wing is less than $300 which is great as I am less afraid of dinging it up (I ran into a sand bar the other day whilst foiling in the rain).

THE RIDING
I love riding this foil. It is super stable and you can really pull in the bar and put your foot down. My foiling has really taken off since I got on this foil.

THE BOARD
Again top notch construction.. Bamboo something. Hot pink. Looks amazing. The deck grip is a single piece which is much better than the three pieces on my older race board which left a few slippery spots when riding strapless.

The shape of the board is great, nice and wide at the front. Nice rocker. Touch downs are forgiving. Love it.

The length is a perfect all rounder length at 130 cm. I would have liked to try the 120 cm long board. At some stage I might get a much shorter board but I feel I would always keep this one.

Volume is low (around 20L) but not really low. Personally I like a little volume as it gives me the confidence to swim into shore in the event of a disaster.

Did I mention that it looks rad?

SUMMARY
In summary this foil and board is of excellent quality, well engineered, very well priced and super fun to ride. It is fully modular and customisable. I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to progress their skills and not be worried about dinging up a carbon wing. The whole setup looks amazing.

natho6026961 said..
Got any pics to share? Also, weights? Disclosures?

I had it for a bit. I concur with what OP wrote. Excellent learner foil.

Weight is 4kg (measured)

KBGhost said..
I concur with what natho wrote pics would be great

Few photos from Website .
Good foils.

jbarnes85 said..
A few months ago... ...rad... ...amazing.

Thanks for the review. Interesting. Front wing connection seems a little quirky but it probably doesn't matter.
I like the idea of the longer mast for ocean chop. I see though that Axis also do an even longer mast.
Modularity is good. You are obviously stoked and others concur so that is awesome. Cheers!

I have had the IC6 V2 85 and Mitu Flex Pro converter board for about 6 months.
I am only new to foiling but it has been fantastic, i ride strapless and found it to be very forgiving.
It has been banged and crashed a fair bit into sand and seaweed and has held up really good with no signs on damage to the foil.

The only thing i really thing is a bit iffy is how the wing slots into the fuselage as it is a pain in the a$$ to get out. (think i will give the tape idea ago). In saying that i have just used tef gel so i will be leaving it altogether for longer now.

I had a magic day the other day on it with a 2019 12m Bandit kite in about 10kts, the other person i was riding with had an Axis with a huge wing and i was flying just as well as him.

I will be getting a bigger wing this year and checking out downwind foiling in the surf.

I have been using the F-one IC6 850 v2 (85cm mast) with the foilboard v2 49 for the past 6 months. Its taken me from towing sessions behind the boat all the way to nailing my foil tacks, gybes and getting around the race course at a decent pace. Really impressed with how it filled both purposes as a learner foil and a intermediate free ride foil. Riding on this foil with a fully powered up foil kite (15m soul in 15-20kts, or 10m soul in 20+) I can regularly hit the 50kph mark, seriously cool for a learner foil!