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.

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.

zebras 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 solution

larsdegroot 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 knots

Grantmac 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

breacher 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.

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 own the sf830 and it makes for a great wingfoil wing for powered up winging (plus 18 knots). Have also managed to get it going with a DW board in about 12-14 knots with a bit of effort with a 4.5 inflatable wing.
used to have the sf1080 which was a light wind weapon, kind of regret selling it as it had an amazing low end and ability to pump out of anything.

never tried the entire DW series but I can tell you the dw1400 is not user friendly - perhaps in smaller sizes there is some magic there.

North is missing at the moment a wing in the 10-11 aspect ratio which combines surf turnability and glide. Other brands have this kind of wing (AfS enduro, F-one Eagle?) but north jumped to a much higher aspect ratio with 12-13 for their DW wing series.

maybe the sf series will stand the test of time but it seems in this sport that you need to keep innovating to stay relevant. If you believe the marketing, but also the non-payed reviews, the v2s of other wings (eg Sk8, silk) actually have made performance gains over the v1s.

A shame to see North lagging behind, at the moment it's definitely a brand that ambitious riders will probably grow out of eventually as they will want to experiment beyond the current offering.

How are the waves at your spot? And what kind of riding are you eventually after? There are lots of viable options in the older SAB ranges, which you can find super cheap now. For example the w1110 ( sabfoil.com/en/products/front_wing_1110_ltd ) is such a gem, and rides like so:





And the old SAB w980 rides like so:





I'd suggest to talk to a local shop (whatever the brand) that has lots of riding experience with their gear, and see if they perhaps have older models in stock. With foiling it's all about matching your riding style with your local conditions - the speed of your waves, wind strength, etc.