Can someone advice me on gong foils?

[TomW]

Hmm it's really tricky. Buying the freewave with a shorter mast will be cheaper, if I buy a rise I will have to change wing, mast, stab and the fuselage etc and that will be more expensive. I understand the rise will be easier in the beginning. Are we talking a massive difference? Otherwise I am leaning towards the freewave/curve to save some money

theres a lot of information on the Gong Forum. Its mostly french translated to english and sometimes hard to understand, but a lot of information. Takes some time to read through it.
The offical gong advice and consenses of riders is that the RIse will be easiest and you should be happy first year. Then you will crave more speed and glide and the Curve is better after you have learned basics.
Many riders are saying that the Curve M is perfectly fine to learn on. get the 65cm mast as a start then go over to 90 cm mast.

My view is that many, many people, myself included, learned on 600cm2 wings and long masts. it takes a lot of dedication, but its not impossible.
But the lets say ease of learning of a 600cm 2 wing is a "1" and a Rise is a "10". Then the Curve M is like an 9. its that close.

If you are like 110kg, perhaps lack physical stamina or flexibility. Or you are generally a more careful person and have trepidation or think your balance is somewhat challenged. That´s totally cool, more power to you to give it a go! Then get the Rise. If you have decent physical condition and not afraid to crash a little more, and enjoy a little more challenge than the Curve M is fine.
Again, i have to say that so many have learned on small wings and worked through that challenge, i thought it was FUN, then the Curve is like cheating.

[AndersP]

You only have to change the pieces you want to change.
Masts are cheap, by a short and a long one from the start.
Fuselage is the same and you can use the same stab on both setups.

As Tom says it was a huge effort to learn with old small wings. If you mastered one of those most of the new gear will feel easy. If you are new to the game you have the option to choose wich level you want your begin your foiling adventure. If I had a foilingschool I would use the Rise and a short mast as the only option. Same if I was starting on my own and had the economy to have 2 masts and an upgrade with the Curve wing if/when I feel that the Rise is restricting me.
If you have good kiteskills and really commit yourself you will learn to foil on the Curve for sure. It"s not a do or die decision.

[AndersP]

I have teached sailing for over 30 years from beginners to olympic athletetes and one thing I found out is that the right gear in the right situation makes a huge difference in progression.

Windsurfing almost died out partly because it was so hard to get in to the sport during the small board era. Then the wider boards with easier handling got more people interested and the sport started to grow again.

I'm old now and have harder to learn new things which propably affects my opinions too. Kitifoiling really got me and I just love it! I hope that I can help some get over the hard first steps as quick as possible and enjoy the flying sensation.

[GTC]

Hi there,
I recently bought a Gong Freewave (M Pro). I am a beginner and after 2 sessions I realized the 90cm mast was too large for learning. I ordered a 65cm mast.
They are very cheap (59€), so I highly recommend you to buy them If you purchase a complete setup.

[roggema]

Me 2. Gong Pro M with both 60cm mast and 90cm. actually I do believe 75cm is the best of both worlds. we'll see.

2 session on cable park 2.0 and 2 sessions on water with kite and going nicely back and forth. still stalling in the turns however. I guess it's the learning curve

[1234567Simon]

Gong M Pro - Freewave Kit. 75kg

Ordered it, got it, never tried it, always massiv wind right now.

The older Medium, everyone told me too fat, too slow, too much lift.
Now the MPro seems to be out of stock...
Now everyone orders the older Modell - better to start with, better because slower, better because more lift...

90cm and 60 cm Masts

[Martinraz!]

I have been foiling for three years.
Up until a month ago I have been kitefoiling with a Taaroa - so a racefoil with approx 500 cm2.
It goes extremely high upwind, and can go really, really fast.

Now I bought the foilboard Catch fsp 2x freewave with Curve L.
WOW - totally love the feeling of the new foil. So much more playfull and fun to ride in small swell/waves. It handles really, really low speeds – almost like standing on a non-flying, non moving carpet sometimes

BUT what I feel like I have lost is lowwind ability.
Though I have not tried the two foils side-by-side.
But was out in the weekend in lowwind with a large foilkite. Foilkites like speed, then they generate more power.
Even though there were plenty of wind, I had a hard time foiling.

So my question - do any of the Gong wings go fast/easy for lowwind foiling?
Would love to be able to have a wing for fun or/and wave riding and one for lowwind and speed/upwind/touring.

Would a veloce be the tool for me?
Will the veloce be a competitor for my Taaroaa (so I can get rid of the taaroaa, and only ride Gong!)?
Will the veloce be able to start early, go fast and with good upwind ability? So I go on longer trips on my Gong.
And should that be same size L?

[jaros]

I have been foiling for three years.
Up until a month ago I have been kitefoiling with a Taaroa - so a racefoil with approx 500 cm2.
It goes extremely high upwind, and can go really, really fast.

Now I bought the foilboard Catch fsp 2x freewave with Curve L.
WOW - totally love the feeling of the new foil. So much more playfull and fun to ride in small swell/waves. It handles really, really low speeds – almost like standing on a non-flying, non moving carpet sometimes

BUT what I feel like I have lost is lowwind ability.
Though I have not tried the two foils side-by-side.
But was out in the weekend in lowwind with a large foilkite. Foilkites like speed, then they generate more power.
Even though there were plenty of wind, I had a hard time foiling.

So my question - do any of the Gong wings go fast/easy for lowwind foiling?
Would love to be able to have a wing for fun or/and wave riding and one for lowwind and speed/upwind/touring.

Would a veloce be the tool for me?
Will the veloce be a competitor for my Taaroaa (so I can get rid of the taaroaa, and only ride Gong!)?
Will the veloce be able to start early, go fast and with good upwind ability? So I go on longer trips on my Gong.
And should that be same size L?

I find it strange you are getting better results in light wind with your old small Taaroaa. Are you sure you are using the new Gong set long enough? In my experience it takes more than a few sessions to really master a new foil and get the most out of it. 3 years on one gear is a long time, your body is used to it...
Have not used any of those foils though, but i can foil in less wind with my bigger wing than with the small one, but the difference is not huge, that is true.
Maybe some have experience on that exact gear and will chime in...

[Whattheflock]

I see some people riding other big foil wings like the slingshot hover glide, which has like 1500cm2 area.

I don't understand what I should aim for. I don't care if it takes me 3 or 6 sessions or 9 to learn, I just want to buy something that I wont outgrow after 3 months but I would consider buying an extra short mast if neccessary. Any advice?

Actually, the original Slingshot Hoverglide is 707 cm2 (H5 front wing). I and many others learned to foil on that wing. But now, most people prefer a larger front wing for learning (and later for light wind).

The 1500 cm2 wing you're describing is the Space Skate (H4) surf wing. Personally, I think that wing is too large with too much lift for kite foiling, especially for a beginner, unless you're a heavy weight.

The happy medium from Slingshot is the Gamma (H2) wing at 960 cm2, which is a great beginner wing and will continue to be a fun light wind kite foil wing for learning transitions and tricks when you are more experienced.

Bottom line: I think a beginner in the 160-180 lbs range would be set up for fastest success with a front wing of about 1000 cm2, a 24 inch mast, and a slightly larger board (4.5 - 5 feet) to carry through inevitable touch-downs when learning. You can keep the 24 inch mast for shallow water when you're more experienced (or sell), and the 1000 cm2 size wing will continue to be useful for lighter wind freestyle. You'll eventually want a smaller board, so you could try learning on something in the range of 4-4.5 feet so you won't outgrow it so quickly. I don't know the Gong line-up, so can't offer any specific advice there. Have fun!

Just want to say I'm 70kg and loved my spaceskate (h4). Dwarfcraft 4.6 and 72cm mast. Could go as slow as walking speed all the way up to 35-37kmh. Loved it over the h5 I started on. My new love is my 633 with a 91cm mast. Really like the larger, high lift foils.

[TomW]

I have been foiling for three years.
Up until a month ago I have been kitefoiling with a Taaroa - so a racefoil with approx 500 cm2.
It goes extremely high upwind, and can go really, really fast.

Now I bought the foilboard Catch fsp 2x freewave with Curve L.
WOW - totally love the feeling of the new foil. So much more playfull and fun to ride in small swell/waves. It handles really, really low speeds – almost like standing on a non-flying, non moving carpet sometimes

BUT what I feel like I have lost is lowwind ability.
Though I have not tried the two foils side-by-side.
But was out in the weekend in lowwind with a large foilkite. Foilkites like speed, then they generate more power.
Even though there were plenty of wind, I had a hard time foiling.

So my question - do any of the Gong wings go fast/easy for lowwind foiling?
Would love to be able to have a wing for fun or/and wave riding and one for lowwind and speed/upwind/touring.

Would a veloce be the tool for me?
Will the veloce be a competitor for my Taaroaa (so I can get rid of the taaroaa, and only ride Gong!)?
Will the veloce be able to start early, go fast and with good upwind ability? So I go on longer trips on my Gong.
And should that be same size L?

I've learned on the moses 550. Now on a pro m. It's a really good light wind foil. Using hyperlink foil kites.
Ordered the veloce, we'll see