I think dihedral from greatest to least is : echo > unit > slick. The slick is a pretty flat wing. That being said I don't understand how dihedral effects the propensity for the wing to flip over. I have noticed that the slick is not as stable when overpowered or fluttering compared to the unit, which is why I prefer the unit over the slick.Dave K wrote: ↑Sat Apr 16, 2022 7:35 amI’ve been riding Duotone since Sept 2019. Originals, then Echo’s, now Slicks. The Duotone boom wings have always had more dihedral than most wave oriented handle wings which typically have very little dihedral (very flat looking from tip to tip). The original’s had a huge amount of dihedral and would “flip” very quickly. That also means they would be very unstable when you tried to luff them holding just the front handle. Of course they weren’t really designed as a luffing wave wing either, rather more of a freestyle riding wing
The Echo’s have reduced dihedral, and the Slicks even more so, but they both still have enough minor dihedral to still make them slightly more “flip” prone than your typical wave riding hand wing. When I luff my Slicks I use one hand on the front of the boom and not on the front handle. Very stable that way and super quick to repower.
One key advantage of dihedral is that it makes the wing “roll over” much easier when you are tacking. Most average wingers are jibing 95% of the time and could care less about tacking efficiency of the wing, or have no idea what that even means. Upwind transitions are more of a freestyle riding attribute. I tack as much as I jibe and really appreciate it. I learned my first toe-to heel and heel to-toe tacks on the original Dutones and the wing would roll over super easy and quickly without any help. With my Slicks (less dihedral) I’ll often need to use my head on toe-to-heel, and my hand on heel-to-toe to get the wing to roll over quickly enough.
Summary; not a design flaw, a design compromise………
I agree that when carrying the Slick (and some other wings) downwind of the board to get to the water, the wing tends to tilt to lower the side of the wing that is affected most by airflow over the board, and tends to be the side behind you.airsail wrote: ↑Sat Apr 16, 2022 9:26 pmI too use the front of the boom when flagging, much quicker to regain power when required.
I’ve often thought that when walking down to the water with your gear the prevalence for flipping was caused by the disturbed airflow over one side of the wing from your body.
It also happens when close hauled, the upper half is in undisturbed airflow, but the lower half is behind your body. Just a theory, probably wrong.
jkrug wrote: ↑Sun Apr 17, 2022 1:14 pmthe problem is once i get into the water, and my board is in the water too, the Slick still wants to flip over as I'm trying to get onto my board. same thing after a fall...the Slick flies up in the air off my leash (like most any wing will do) while i'm trying to get back up, but it often flips over while this is happening. that can't be due to airflow issues from my body or board as we're both in the water still.
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