Cliff Notes:
-Easy to ride
-Amazing fit/finish
-Competitive with the top race foils if not one of the best. Like an ultra-stable Sword on steroids.
I had a chance this weekend at the Vineyard Cup regatta to ride the latest foil/board combination from George at Delta Hydrofoil. You may know George from his videos about proper foil care and feeding (http://www.deltahydrofoil.com/pro-tips.html).
Wind was 18-25kts, butter-flat offshore conditions in a small inshore lagoon, riding my 9m Velocity on 24m lines. I couldn't really open it up and crank downwind for long periods as I only had about a 3/4 mile x 1/2 mile box to play in before getting into shallow water, but it was enough to get a feel for things.
The construction is beautiful, everything was smooth and faired, sanded to about 1200 grit so right away there were none of the noticeable "defects" you get with a bulk-produced foil. This is 100% handmade American construction, and it was completely silent at all speeds, absolutely no hum or vibration.
George uses ultra-high modulus carbon, so the whole affair felt much more stable than my Sword 2, easier to load up going upwind and less wobbly down wind. The board is beautiful, very thin profile with deep bevels so you can hike it over hard to point upwind. This is race gear, make no mistake, but it felt stable and smooth enough that I would definitely recommend this as a first foil for someone learning if they want to take the plunge on premium carbon construction. I wouldn't recommend his race board for a beginner as it's very small, but I personally had no problem with touch down gybes or tacks. He can build a board to any specs you want and even does modifications to make a space-pickle fit a tuttle box if you want the ultimate beginner ride.
The wing/fuse/stab are all one piece which makes a noticeable difference in stiffness when riding compared to a Sword2 or Spotz2. The strut connects into the fuselage just like a Mike's Lab foil, very tight fit. One big difference in the design of this foil compared to other race foils I've seen is that the strut is located much further back on the fuselage.
The advantage of this strategy is better pitch stability without having to monkey too much with the fuselage length or rear stabilizer profile. With the Sword, I feel like I can find it's upper limit very quickly when I point upwind and power up. This thing felt like it had a lot more left in it before I ran out of room, and down wind I never got the sense that I hit top speed, even though I was absolutely doing so when I switched back to my Sword. You can load it up a lot more than other foils that put their strut right over the front wing.
It was a short session, but if anyone is on the fence about buying a foil, this thing is a real competitor with the top brands and being American made by a guy who listens to feedback and works with riders, you're getting more than just a foil, you're getting access to a concerned designer who wants people to enjoy the product of his labors.