janhantke wrote:Hello,
as I love big airs and coming from a beginner foil (Double Agent) Im wondering what is the bet set-up (Foil + Board) for going big?
Not keen on super speed and race. Does anybody know if there is a wing/board set-up dedicated to jumping and landing board-offs, etc.? And what are the characteristics of a wing with a focus on getting high up in the air and landing smoothly?
Much appreciate your thoughts,
Jan
I'm not sure if there's a product that's currently being marketed as an airstyle foil, but here are attributes you'd want to look for:
1) Durable. People have broken foils landing on them flat footed. Slipping the foil into the water wing-first is a crucial skill for smoothly landing a trick, but until you have that mastered coming down hard and flat on a carbon race foil could really screw it up.
2) Fast. Whether or not it's built for raw speed, the foil should be able to go at least 20mph comfortably so that you can really load up your line tension. The same rules for boosting that apply to twin tips apply to foils, you need to be going fast on a close reach then bear away and send the kite to get good air, so you want a foil that can do this with stability where you're not on the edge of control just to generate some pop.
3) Light. This one should be fairly obvious, but any time you're trying to go high the key is to simplify your gear and add as much lightness "below the bar" as possible.
I think the Double Agent checks the first box, but it certainly does not check the 2nd or 3rd. I don't want to scare you off a carbon foil because I think they're way way way way way better than aluminum foils, but for jumping it may be too much of a compromise on criteria #1. I've heard people say that Alex Aguera's GoFoil are pretty good, they're all carbon and apparently very strong, and he makes a freeride wing that should be a good compromise between speed and user-friendliness.