Hi,
Wondering if anyone has been using the large Naish Thrust surf / SUP foil for kiting waves / swell and can give feedback on their experience? There's a bit about on the Takuma but nothing really on the Naish yet - it appeals as a set up that could potentially fulfil my goal of working for kiting, surf SUP and downwind SUP.

Have just gotten a 5m Reo with the aim of riding formed swell when the wind hits 20+ knots - the kite can pull me onto the wave then the foil can take over and the kite can just drift along as I play on the wave face. Its a great drifting kite as everyone has said , so far so good. Happy to go slow on a big old wing , don't want to outrun the wave as happens on my smaller faster kitefoil currently.

That's the plan anyway.

Interested in potential downsides or quirks , and also any feedback on mast length. Kitefoiling experience with my existing carbon setup on 95 and 70cm masts in chop suggests that 55-60 cm mast for surf foils will be WAY too short , the additional 70 / 90 cm mast options for the Naish foils have a lot of appeal to see what works best.

Thanks in advance.

I have the 70 and 90 centimetre masts and have used them both in formed swell. The 70cm is a little short as you come over the back of a wave and head down the face of the wave.

If you're just talking foil size the larger area foils are used to create lift using the flow of water over the foil for lift, usually for surf or SUP.
For powered foiling like kite, tow, sailboard, the smaller area foil is used because the flow isn't essential for lift. Just give it a few degree more AOA will do.

I'm using the Large Naish surf wing for kiting. I love it. But I will switch to the 70cm mast when I can get one. I'll use the 55cm just for SUP

Borrowed the large Naish surf wing from BrisKites and fitted it to my Naish KS, didn't change the stab. Works just fine, the extra weight isn't noticeable on the water as the wing is neutrally buoyant. One thing to note is that the massive area makes the foil come up very fast, you need to make sure you have plenty of front foot pressure to keep the nose down as you get going but once underway it is nicely balanced. Having the mast at the rear of the tracks will help a lot.
i prefer the KS wing for kiting but there is no reason you couldn't buy the large surf foil on the 70 cm mast to learn on then buy a KS wing at a later date if desired. All Naish foil parts are interchangeable if your into multisports.

I've kited the Slingshot SUP / Surf Foil with both the H2 & H4 wings before. It works great. I prefer the H2 wing though as it is faster, I have been towing into waves parking the kite at 12 and then foil surfing the wave. So addictive!!

I don't see why the Naish one wouldn't do it either.

I had the opportunity to try the Naish surf thrust wing (~1200cm2) with the 55cm mast. I attached it to a Shinn Jackson and flew a 6.2m Cloud.

The first hour was hard work on my rear leg until I reduced the angle of the rear stabiliser to zero (relative to the fuselage).

After the adjustment, everything just came to life. You get great stability, really nice skatey slide in turns , easy turning/gybing, easy to pump, comes up super early and a slow speed (average was 10 knots, peak of 13knots, low on mast speeds down near 6 knots).

Goes upwind really well.

I was happily doing little cuts backs on the one foot lake swell and get really nice speed down the little runners.

My personal opinion is this size wing is what we really need to foil in the surf. It's slow enough that you can still turn.

Really looking forward to taking this in to proper surf.

The 55cm mast will be too short for waves over a foot.

@Bigtone667 - brilliant feedback , exactly what I was hoping to hear. Good tip re the stab as well. I think my Thrust Large is due in the next week or so, really looking forward to getting it out in some swell. Was out the back yesterday on my regular kitefoil on the 5m in 1-2m swell , a bit of a handful getting out but got there in the end. Crashed A LOT. A Lot. Other guys were out on 8m kites and surfboards . I think having a really stable platform will be key , with a small kite , significant swell and a foil there's a lot going on. But fizzing down a big moving lump at speed is fun !!

Thanks to everyone else who replied as well . Like a few others have said , I reckon there's something to kiting with these really big wings

Stuggled for weeks on a new foil setup which i was told was ok for learning, "maybe ok if you kai lenny " put naish sup wing on with 55cm mast and hey presto im not a kook i just needed sometimes easier to get going. I was up and doing 500m in a minute and half hour laterf full runs with toeside and doing transition turns both sides. Sooo much fun now i get it
If starting out just use this setup and avoid all frustration i went thru with other types, that will be grea in a month or 2 after you learn to ride.

I'm 80 kg and tried the Naish medium surf wing yesterday on a 10 mtr single strut kite in 10 knots of wind. I have also used the large Naish surf wing. I prefer the medium for kiting, it doesn't seem to loose anything from the large and I found it easier to use.
The large wing gives a huge amount of lift and when starting this can be an issue as the foil can rocket out of the water if you don't keep your weight really forward. The medium does this too but not to the extent of the large. I can see a beginner may have difficulty using these big wings to learn on during the very first stage without the skill to keep the weight over the nose at the start they will bunny hop constantly. They would be better off on the smaller KS wind for the first stage then hop on the medium surf as their skills increase.
Once going the medium as amazingly quick for such a big wing, managed 17 knots (31 kph) in the light wind but you can fly as low as 8 knots (14kph). The KS wing is only a knot or two faster which is a surprise.
Gybes are easy, even with the 70 cm mast I was using, breaching only caused a gurgling sound, no rapid drop. The foil is silent which is really nice and although has some weight this isn't felt in the water, I'm guessing there is some foam in the big wing where I think the slingshot wings are solid which makes them heavy.
Overall the medium wing is a great free ride wing for flat water and playing in the waves/chop. Maybe the heavier riders might benefit from the large wing or if it was to be used on a sup or surfboard as well.

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airsail said..
I'm 80 kg and tried the Naish medium surf wing yesterday on a 10 mtr single strut kite in 10 knots of wind. I have also used the large Naish surf wing. I prefer the medium for kiting, it doesn't seem to loose anything from the large and I found it easier to use.
The large wing gives a huge amount of lift and when starting this can be an issue as the foil can rocket out of the water if you don't keep your weight really forward. The medium does this too but not to the extent of the large. I can see a beginner may have difficulty using these big wings to learn on during the very first stage without the skill to keep the weight over the nose at the start they will bunny hop constantly. They would be better off on the smaller KS wind for the first stage then hop on the medium surf as their skills increase.
Once going the medium as amazingly quick for such a big wing, managed 17 knots (31 kph) in the light wind but you can fly as low as 8 knots (14kph). The KS wing is only a knot or two faster which is a surprise.
Gybes are easy, even with the 70 cm mast I was using, breaching only caused a gurgling sound, no rapid drop. The foil is silent which is really nice and although has some weight this isn't felt in the water, I'm guessing there is some foam in the big wing where I think the slingshot wings are solid which makes them heavy.
Overall the medium wing is a great free ride wing for flat water and playing in the waves/chop. Maybe the heavier riders might benefit from the large wing or if it was to be used on a sup or surfboard as well.

I would only recommend the biggest wing to 95kg plus folk.

I got to try the XL Naish Surf Thrust today in 8 to 10 knots using a 13.4 Cloud.

I attached the wing/fuselage/mast to my board using the abracadabra system. Works very well.

The XL thrust is the Jumbo Jet of wings. Fat, wide, Sllloooowwww but with massive lift. I think this wing will keep cruising with as little as five knots.

Top speed was 14 knots, lowest speed was 5. It goes upwind reasonably well and glides brilliantly.

I am really looking forward to attaching this to a surfboard and trying prone foil surfing.

This is one foil that will crossover between kite, sup and prone surfing.

I have Naish XL only used for SUP but happy just looking at it.
At 75kg kite foiling on this monster I may never drop off the foil but will give it a go with my 6m kite.

If you're a big boy or girl, you'll like the big wings. Or even if you want to ride the board more and be towed around by the kite less.

I've had 3 good sessions on the Axis 820mm wide (1443cm2 projected) wing now, with Switchblade 10m each time. On the weather stations, 8 knots was the low end, 18 knots the top -- and I was over-powered on the 10m.



This was about 10knots. The other foiler there wasn't bothering, but he's committed to his foil kites and has a habit of dropping his kite and swimming in, no matter the wind. I gave him my 10m and the foil, and yeah, he dropped that too and couldn't relaunch :D

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bigtone667 said..
I got to try the XL Naish Surf Thrust today in 8 to 10 knots using a 13.4 Cloud.

I attached the wing/fuselage/mast to my board using the abracadabra system. Works very well.

The XL thrust is the Jumbo Jet of wings. Fat, wide, Sllloooowwww but with massive lift. I think this wing will keep cruising with as little as five knots.

Top speed was 14 knots, lowest speed was 5. It goes upwind reasonably well and glides brilliantly.

I am really looking forward to attaching this to a surfboard and trying prone foil surfing.

This is one foil that will crossover between kite, sup and prone surfing.

Hi bigtone, from my uninformed position it seems like a wing this size would be overkill for kiting? Where do you see this fitting into the quiver? What would you want to use it for?

Just curious, cheers

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Youngbreezy said..

bigtone667 said..
I got to try the XL Naish Surf Thrust today in 8 to 10 knots using a 13.4 Cloud.

I attached the wing/fuselage/mast to my board using the abracadabra system. Works very well.

The XL thrust is the Jumbo Jet of wings. Fat, wide, Sllloooowwww but with massive lift. I think this wing will keep cruising with as little as five knots.

Top speed was 14 knots, lowest speed was 5. It goes upwind reasonably well and glides brilliantly.

I am really looking forward to attaching this to a surfboard and trying prone foil surfing.

This is one foil that will crossover between kite, sup and prone surfing.

Hi bigtone, from my uninformed position it seems like a wing this size would be overkill for kiting? Where do you see this fitting into the quiver? What would you want to use it for?

Just curious, cheers

I will let you know once I kite on a wave with it. The large is great... hoping the XL is greater.

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Youngbreezy said..

bigtone667 said..
I got to try the XL Naish Surf Thrust today in 8 to 10 knots using a 13.4 Cloud.

I attached the wing/fuselage/mast to my board using the abracadabra system. Works very well.

The XL thrust is the Jumbo Jet of wings. Fat, wide, Sllloooowwww but with massive lift. I think this wing will keep cruising with as little as five knots.

Top speed was 14 knots, lowest speed was 5. It goes upwind reasonably well and glides brilliantly.

I am really looking forward to attaching this to a surfboard and trying prone foil surfing.

This is one foil that will crossover between kite, sup and prone surfing.

Hi bigtone, from my uninformed position it seems like a wing this size would be overkill for kiting? Where do you see this fitting into the quiver? What would you want to use it for?

Just curious, cheers

I'll add -- if all you want to do is speed around in straight lines, any large wing is overkill.

If you want to slow it down, use smaller kites, glide further and easier, big wing is the answer.

Thanks for the replies guys, yes I realise the function of the big sup wings for carving and riding waves but the xl wing is bigger again so just wondering how it would perform

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Youngbreezy said..
Thanks for the replies guys, yes I realise the function of the big sup wings for carving and riding waves but the xl wing is bigger again so just wondering how it would perform

Basically, imagine the speed range for your foil shifted closer to zero and compressed from the top. And more stable. And less kite needed.

Watched my mate get up and riding in one 2 hrs session. He used a 10M Reo V4 and Naish L surf wing on a home modded McCoy 6'6" surfboard. By the end of that session he was riding 200m plus and the next day he said he only fell off twice.
That foil is now sold and we are just waiting on some Axis 820mm wings and will be setting one of them up, locals are frothing on the Axis surf foils.

Yesterday my mate (no probs on a kite foil) tried kiting on his Axis 920 sup foil & Axis carbon foilboard, he eventually got going but found it difficult because the wing is so bouyant it floats & he had to muscle it underwater.
Is this normal when using the bigger wings ?

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toppleover said..
Yesterday my mate (no probs on a kite foil) tried kiting on his Axis 920 sup foil & Axis carbon foilboard, he eventually got going but found it difficult because the wing is so bouyant it floats & he had to muscle it underwater.
Is this normal when using the bigger wings ?

Yes. But why do you need to muscle it underwater...?

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Kamikuza said..

toppleover said..
Yesterday my mate (no probs on a kite foil) tried kiting on his Axis 920 sup foil & Axis carbon foilboard, he eventually got going but found it difficult because the wing is so bouyant it floats & he had to muscle it underwater.
Is this normal when using the bigger wings ?

Yes. But why do you need to muscle it underwater...?

I'm not sure what he was doing but he was having trouble getting the wing underwater. He has it sorted now & loves it.
I asked because I'm getting a new foil & was curious if I should get a foil that floats or not.
Seems to me like only Gofoil & the new big Axis float.

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toppleover said..

Kamikuza said..

toppleover said..
Yesterday my mate (no probs on a kite foil) tried kiting on his Axis 920 sup foil & Axis carbon foilboard, he eventually got going but found it difficult because the wing is so bouyant it floats & he had to muscle it underwater.
Is this normal when using the bigger wings ?

Yes. But why do you need to muscle it underwater...?

I'm not sure what he was doing but he was having trouble getting the wing underwater. He has it sorted now & loves it.
I asked because I'm getting a new foil & was curious if I should get a foil that floats or not.
Seems to me like only Gofoil & the new big Axis float.

Just lean on the downwind rail eh. The 820 will float on it's side, but stay underwater if you push it down. 920 wanted to come back up on me too.

Pretty sure the Axis big foils are CNC'd paulownia and carbon -- the result is they don't weigh a ton but are floaty.

I don't see it as an issue for kiting, but surfing or SUPing may be different, I don't know. I do know that fighting to get a foil on your feet when all it wants to do is sink is a PITA. I'd prefer it to float, but that's just me...

BTW rode a Thrust SUP foil yesterday. Didn't like it, too loose for me, especially directionally. I swear it was sideslipping and crabbing at times. Might have been the 55cm mast, I've never ridden anything that short.

Just new to foiling, I started on ks wing, was getting consistent runs with mast half up. After 5 sessions I decided to get L surf wing. Found it tough to not porpoise initially but had some nice 150m runs. I am keen to try changing rear wing angle. It seems to loosen, during session. Does anyone else have this issue?

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bermand said..
Just new to foiling, I started on ks wing, was getting consistent runs with mast half up. After 5 sessions I decided to get L surf wing. Found it tough to not porpoise initially but had some nice 150m runs. I am keen to try changing rear wing angle. It seems to loosen, during session. Does anyone else have this issue?

Hi Bermand,
i am interested to ask you what rear wing you're using ie. surf or kite? I am in a similar position to yourself as I'm just going through the learning phases. I bought the medium surf front wing straight up and find it gets me up well with a 7m kite from 15kts. It seems well suited to the Bay chop I mostly kite in. I am told that with experience I could get going in even lighter winds with the same size kite. I currently adjust the rear wing to have less lift. I haven't had it loosen during a session yet. I will pay more attention to it after seeing your comments here however. I am using the Kite rear wing. My Kiter friends tell me I could gain even more lift from the surf rear wing instead. I was wondering if this was your experience as well?

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riddim1 said..

bermand said..
Just new to foiling, I started on ks wing, was getting consistent runs with mast half up. After 5 sessions I decided to get L surf wing. Found it tough to not porpoise initially but had some nice 150m runs. I am keen to try changing rear wing angle. It seems to loosen, during session. Does anyone else have this issue?

Hi Bermand,
i am interested to ask you what rear wing you're using ie. surf or kite? I am in a similar position to yourself as I'm just going through the learning phases. I bought the medium surf front wing straight up and find it gets me up well with a 7m kite from 15kts. It seems well suited to the Bay chop I mostly kite in. I am told that with experience I could get going in even lighter winds with the same size kite. I currently adjust the rear wing to have less lift. I haven't had it loosen during a session yet. I will pay more attention to it after seeing your comments here however. I am using the Kite rear wing. My Kiter friends tell me I could gain even more lift from the surf rear wing instead. I was wondering if this was your experience as well?

Might be helpful to know what generation Naish Thrust foil are you using bermand ?