Hi, I wanted to ask you for advice on my next purchase.
I weigh 80 kg.
At my spot, the winds are 8-10 knots, sometimes 12-16 rarely over 20
I currently use RRD Beluga 105 L board
Foil Gong X-Over 2 XL
Wing Cabrinha Vision 7m-5m wing + North Nova 6m
I'm just above beginner level. I'm doing my first jibes.
I'd like to change from Gong X-Over.
I was determined to go with a new North Sonar, but given the recent developments, maybe it's not the right thing to do.
So what do you recommend?
Used North Sonar?
Used Sabfoil Kracken?
New Gong curve carbon?
In Italy, you can find a lot of used Sabfoil material, some North Sonar, but nothing Gong.
I've also looked at other brands like Amstong, AFS, Axis, etc., but I can't find anything here.
I'm hoping for some advice.
I'd look at the Kraken Balz 909 combo. I'm quite a lot heavier than you but I find it a very easy foil, well built (especially compared to Gong) and if you want their new monolith lowers fit on that mast.
Still love the MA850v2 from North. But its sad that nothing new is coming to their foil system. HM mast is also really nice. Here in Bonaire i saw the new foils of Armstrong, and they look really nice. Only thing that is steering me away from it, is that you have to screw the whole foil apart all the time. With north its just 2 bolts (like the new F one Titan system) and youll leave the foil intact.
Honestly, why change system? Just get a new frontwing from Gong (Like the Curve H). In the Fiberglas version these are very affordable even new. The Curve H will be a huge upgrade from your X-over and keep you happy for a long while and assist you in learning new skills (consistent jibes, tacks, different jibe variants, ...).
At your current level the upgrade from a beginner to a progression Foil will be much more noticeable than the slight performance gain from a slightly more efficient foil system.
I'm on the Gong V3 Carbon stuff (mostly Veloce H / HDW) and absolutely love my gear even as an advanced rider.
Select to expand quotezebras said..
Honestly, why change system? Just get a new frontwing from Gong (Like the Curve H). In the Fiberglas version these are very affordable even new. The Curve H will be a huge upgrade from your X-over and keep you happy for a long while and assist you in learning new skills (consistent jibes, tacks, different jibe variants, ...).
At your current level the upgrade from a beginner to a progression Foil will be much more noticeable than the slight performance gain from a slightly more efficient foil system.
I'm on the Gong V3 Carbon stuff (mostly Veloce H / HDW) and absolutely love my gear even as an advanced rider.
interesting practical and economical solutionSelect to expand quotelarsdegroot said..
Still love the MA850v2 from North. But its sad that nothing new is coming to their foil system. HM mast is also really nice. Here in Bonaire i saw the new foils of Armstrong, and they look really nice. Only thing that is steering me away from it, is that you have to screw the whole foil apart all the time. With north its just 2 bolts (like the new F one Titan system) and youll leave the foil intact.
I could buy a used CF carbon mast with MAV2 1500 for light winds of 8-10 knots
and MAV2 1050 for 12-20 knotsSelect to expand quoteGrantmac said..
I'd look at the Kraken Balz 909 combo. I'm quite a lot heavier than you but I find it a very easy foil, well built (especially compared to Gong) and if you want their new monolith lowers fit on that mast.
thanks for the advice
I think the foils from the Sonar SF family are the most underrated wings in the market. All aspects are insane, speed, turns, tip breach control, predictability, low ends, even pumping. Any high modulus mast from north is a work of art too... Everything else is marketing and noise.
Select to expand quotebreacher said..
I think the foils from the Sonar SF family are the most underrated wings in the market. All aspects are insane, speed, turns, tip breach control, predictability, low ends, even pumping. Any high modulus mast from north is a work of art too... Everything else is marketing and noise.
Agreed. I've tried some of the other top surf foils and it's still right up there. The DW's are also very good at what they do. What's missing for me across many brands is that foil in-between a surf and downwind foil shape. A Hybrid. They're talked a lot about that on a recent X-Foils podcast.
I can definitely recommend the SF series! Another big plus for North is that the Sonar foil system (Alu & Carbon) has remained compatible from the very beginning until today. It's the only brand that has managed to stay this consumer-friendly over all these years.
The north SF stuff is great but I don't know if it's right for this use case. Even the big sizes aren't really Light wind weapons and I didn't see any mention by the OP of a surf focus.
the real star of the show are the small SF wings like the 680 which are def not applicable here.
I'd say the wings feel pretty consistent across the entire SF range. For example, the SF1230 is a great light-wind weapon. I personally ride the 680, 930, and 1230, and both the 1230 and 930 have such a low stall speed that I can easily dock start them. Of course, the bigger sizes like the 1230 aren't super fast, but they more than make up for it with incredible low-end power and a really surfy feel.
