In Vancouver our Carafino experience has been quite different than what I read here.
A bunch of us ordered boards and one of the group put in the order and made the arrangements. The boards came first, early June I think it was. And a week or so later the foils arrived. This was later than we hoped, but not unusual for a new product run. In fact, at the same time as we ordered the Carafinos we also ordered foils from a well known company in Europe. They were promised to arrive in March and we have still not received any! Foils are new products and in my mind it is not unusual to have delays while designs are being changed and testing is done. I'm not complaining about the foils that have not arrived since I'd rather they get the bugs worked out before sending them to us.
It was just last week that I put my Carafino together and went out on the water. Here is a photo of 3 of the boards out that day.
When foiling, I usually ride my Aguera board with Aquera foil and wings, which I really like. It's a true semi custom race board with high aspect wings that I find fun and easy to ride, and is really really fast! So, I was really keen to try the Carafino and see how it felt.
I put the large front and large back wings on the Carafino, got in the water, put my feet in the straps and dove the kite. I was immediately up and riding. No worries, no drama. Of course it felt different than my my Aguera, but still no worries to ride. It was slower, maybe because I was using the larger low aspect wing. The stance was a bit different because the board is shorter than what I am used to, and I think in general I like the wider and longer feel of the Aguera. Downwind, getting up to speed, I found the Carafino to be more loose than I am used to. Of course it would feel different since this was the first time on the Carafino and I am used to a different board, foil and wings.
There are are 6 of us with Carafino boards here in Vancouver. All the other riders are new to foiling but are all up and riding just fine. One is even racing even though he is really new at foiling.
So that's our Carafino experience.