Given the interest in, and growing popularity of, larger surf wings for kite foiling over the last 12 months or so, I've been really keen to try out one of these behemoths to see what all the fuss is about. I currently ride one of the original Slingshot NF2 Hover Glide foils which is what I learnt on about 18 months ago. I would say I'm an intermediate foiler. I'm solid on my foiling gybes and rarely breach my foil anymore. Haven't attempted any tacks yet - that's next.

Thanks to the kind folks at Action Sports (thanks Darren and Todd) I was able to demo a couple of the larger "surf" wings over the weekend. Namely the Slingshot Infinity 76 - a 1536cm2 monster designed for prone and SUP surfing and the Moses Onda 633 - a slightly smaller but still significant 1200cm2 + wing. The former was attached to my 78cm Slingshot NF2 mast and the latter on the 71cm Fluente mast.

My mate Alverstone was also keen to demo these large wings and I met him at the river at Applecross on Sunday afternoon. The wind was a light to moderate southerly sitting between 10 - 15 kts for the duration of our session. I put up my 6m Ozone Catalyst and Jon went with his 7m Drifter. I was using a Dwarfcraft 54 which I ride strapless while Jon was atop his North Pro Foil board with gybe straps on the front and no rear strap.

I decided to head out with the Infinity 76 first while Jon took out the Moses 633. The wind felt about 12-14kts and with my 6m Cat it took a few dives to get my 81kgs out of the water and onto the board. A few more dives, and the board and I were effortlessly lifted off the water and under way. I immediately felt comfortable on this foil. Very pitch stable, my initial concerns about this big wing wanting to rise up and breach with any speed were soon put to rest. It didn't require any more front foot pressure than my smaller H5 wing. I did have the mast positioned all the way back in the tracks though.

I tried to do a few slalom type carves from side to side on the Infinity 76, and while it could be done, it took a bit more effort than on the H5 wing, but this was to be expected given the extra 20cm of span. Carving gybes was a pleasant surprise. I could do a fairly wide arc turn comfortably but given the light wind and 6m kite, I mostly had to rip as tight a turn as possible to keep my lines tensioned and my kite powered. This wing loves a tight turn. I could almost pivot turn and still stay up on the foil. I would say it can do a tighter arc than my much smaller H5.

Cruising around in light wind on a small kite was an absolute joy. I was pulling off flying foot swaps with ease on this thing, and being able to foil at what felt like a jogging pace was fairly surreal for me. There were a number of other foilers out with us and were mostly on 9 and 10m kites, which is understandable given the wind speed. I would think this wing allows you to drop 2 or 3m in kite size compared to the normal sized race and freeride wings most of us have. This wing has an alleged speed range of 8 - 22kts and when I headed off on a broad reach, I could believe this top speed was accurate. It was actually pretty quick when pushed, and still, it was well mannered and pitch stable.

My verdict - I want this wing. It will be mine......oh yes, it will be mine.

I had a quick go on the Moses Onda 633. Jon had turned his bar and lines into a spaghetti dinner so I took the chance for a 20min blast on this Italian beauty. Lovely looking setup and light. This was the first carbon mast and wing set I have ever tried. Once again, like the Infinity 76, it popped up easily and at low speed and once flying, felt very slippery. What I will say is that it's not as roll stable as the Infinity wing. It felt quite twitchy in comparison, but certainly still very easy to fly. If you wanted a one wing quiver, the Moses would probably be the setup you'd choose. Surfy and loose feeling but still quick enough to keep all but racers happy. Both these wings would be good for a beginner due to their ability to go at low speed and good pitch stability. I was surprised that once Jon was ready to head out again, I wasn't in the least bit sorry to be jumping back on the Infinity.

If you're at all interested in the big wing foiling experience and want to know what the hype is all about, I'd suggest organising a demo to see what you think. It's an eye opener.

Pics to follow

Cheers Grant. I'd highly recommend trying either of these. Maybe try to use a smaller kite than you normally would for the given wind when you demo one.

We also have the Infinity 76 on demo and i would strongly recommend trying the new Axis range if you get the chance as well

Just wait till catch a ripple on your monster wing. It is just super fun.

West Oz Kite said..
We also have the Infinity 76 on demo and i would strongly recommend trying the new Axis range if you get the chance as well

I'd love to try the Axis stuff as well. I've read good things about their big wings. I actually thought West Oz had stopped doing foils as I hadn't seen any foiling gear on the shop website for a while. I just had a look then and saw it was back.

DUKESILVER thanx SO much for this comparison review...it is EXACTLY what I was looking for as right now Im torn between the sshot infinity 76 and the GhostWhisper (sshot rebrand of Moses 633) but its sooo dificult at times to find real objective traits from someone who has used them back to back....

im hoping to revive this thread a bit with some specific questions and remind you to include the "pics coming soon" that you tempted us with when you wrote the review....jeje

So you wrote "I had a quick go on the Moses Onda 633. This was the first carbon mast and wing set I have ever tried. Once again, like the Infinity 76, it popped up easily and at low speed and once flying, felt very slippery. What I will say is that it's not as roll stable as the Infinity wing. It felt quite twitchy in comparison, but certainly still very easy to fly. If you wanted a one wing quiver, the Moses would probably be the setup you'd choose. Surfy and loose feeling but still quick enough to keep all but racers happy."

Did you feel, as others have noted, that the sshot 76 really PIVOTS more instead of CARVES through the jibes? If you were going to compare these two wings..which felt more like carving turns in deep powder snowboarding? Ive been foiling wiith kites now for 2+ years and mostly interested in pumping/bouncing/carving down little 1 to 1.5 meter waves....however Im really NOT looking for a wing that feels LOCKED IN as if on rails. From your comments, it would seem that YOU would be more interested in the Moses surfy loose feeling HOWEVER you seem to be more enamored with the INFINITY and expressed the intention to buy that wing...so we are left wondering..WHAT was it about the Infinity that caused you to fall more in love? Or was the pricing the major factor in your decision?
Once again, thanx so much for taking the time to write the original review and, hopefully, to explain a bit more to us now. Where I live there is NO CHANCE to demo either of these fine wings and our season is now upon us.

Buen Vientos to all ....

Thanx for the clarification so far Duke...
For sure already having the sshot mast and fuse would be a big factor in that decision. Even though ive been foiling for quite some time now...im still hesitant also to throw down 1600 usd on a full carbon setup....no matter HOW careful I am...always seem to bump my wings against doors, car roofs, rocks on the beach, etc...so the apparent touted durability of the sshot gear definately wins for me over lightweight...and for YOU its a huge increase in your range adding to the the H5...

There was a great video posted by SSHOT Australia where they are tow foilsurfing and they point out that even though the 76 creates so much lift....it was also VERY stable at high speeds...but for sure they were NOT carving and bouncing so much in THAT video. However, the other SSHOT vid of a guy behind a boat 4 waves back on the 76 DID make it look like a very carvy and playful wing...even though its huge...so YOUR input and any other observations are very much appreciated when you get a chance.

Thanx again and good winds/swell!

Here are some pics




These pics show the relative sizes of the wings quite well.

KyroJoe, in answer to some of your questions:

"If you were going to compare these two wings..which felt more like carving turns in deep powder snowboarding?" - They both feel like snowboards in powder to me. Hell, even my H5 feels like a snowboard. It's the first thing I thought of when I started foiling. They just feel like snowboards being ridden on different gradients of slope. If you want a looser feeling foil, then the 633 is the one for you. Is the infinity more "locked in" feeling? Yes, but not in a bad way. It's a surf foil don't forget. Surfers still like to turn when on waves.

"Did you feel, as others have noted, that the sshot 76 really PIVOTS more instead of CARVES through the jibes?" - No, not at all. I just found I could pivot turn the foil when I needed to, but could also draw out a long smooth turn with ease. On the day though, the pivot turn was the better option as the wind was light and my kite was small. All foils should be able to carve a nice smooth gybe with a wide arc, but not all can do a tight pivot turn at slow speeds and stay on the foil throughout the arc. This wing does both very nicely.

I guess the title of the review is a little misleading. I really did focus most of it on the Infinity 76, but this was due to the fact that the Moses 633 is currently the most Hyped wing in the foiling universe at the moment. You can read mountains of info from frothing foilers on various international forums like Kiteforum. The 633 has about a 30 page thread on KF how this wing will basically bring world peace and end poverty. The Infinity, on the other hand, had very little in the way of reviews for kiting applications. Plenty of stuff on prone and wake applications but that's not the info I wanted hence the need to demo. When I got the chance to demo both back to back, I was really excited to try the Moses 633 due to the world wide hype. I was already a convert to it before even trying it. The surprise for me was that after 1.5hrs on the SS Infinity, when I jumped on the Moses 633, my initial thoughts weren't - "oh yeah, this is SOOO much better", it was more like, "yeah, this is really nice as well".

Do the Moses and slingshot versions of the 633 use an alloy fuselage?

Cheers. Any idea about the slingshot?

Alloy is a deal breaker for me. On a full carbon zero-maintenance setup now and I'd never go back.

LouD said..
Hi, Anyone compared the Infinity 76 to the Space Skate wing(?H4) for kiting? Also is there any difference between the new space skate wing and the older H4?
Thanks

No, but I'm keen to try this wing as well. The only thing about it is a narrower speed range. The Space Skate has a top speed under 20kts. Maybe 16kts from memory. I like the big speed range of the Infinity, but the looseness of the Space Skate sounds good as well.

Great input. Sounds like I need to try the H4.

ActionSportsWA said..
Hi guys,

The H4 is the same as the Space Skate, just in carbon which makes it a lot lighter. It was originally the surfing wing due to it's agility and carviness (is that a word?). The infinity 76 is stable, has a good speed range and is amazing at low speeds. I think the 76 is ideal for learning, surfing or light wind foiling. Space skate would be better suited to wave riding and general free foiling

DM

How would you compare the Space Skate and the Time Code wings?

I have the Time Code 68 (super happy with it) - but curious if the Space Skate would be even better for downwind wind-swell carving?

Hey freotilo

Mostly South Fremantle or Dutchies for the past year - I've probably seen you on the water
I'm on a windsurfer - Slingshot 105 - but we could still swap wings to test - yell out next time. Cheers JJ