The long awaited Slingshot Phantasm....

I'm going to be up front here and fill you in on my brand affiliation. I run a small electrical business that provides for my family, however, I have an addiction to all things Slingshot and have not been able to cure it for the last 15 years.

Over the last couple of years I've been working alongside the Australian Slingshot team. My sole purpose was to make sure the brand didn't fall over (read so I could still get Slingy gear). Long story short Mick saw value in my rain man like knowledge and put me to work.

So yes I'm brand affiliated and proud to be so.

Now the Phantasm,
So all the BS aside you know I got a deal on mine and that's cool for me, so why would you shell out the coin?

Adaptability,
I wanted a foil that I could use for a few things, I got the PTM 730 to go fast. I also wanted to ride our bay side swell. A good friend of mine lent me his Moses 633 wing that just bolted straight on. No need to shim anything, just 3 x M6 stainless bolts and away I went.
The mast fits into the fuse with a long tab at the back of the mast and three screws secure it to the fuse. It's a super tight fit and with some marine grease in there your good to go.

Speed,
Well how fast do you want to go? The 730 took me to the point that I went **** I better be careful here or I'm gonna stack it hard. I ride strapless on a pocket board, and have done for a while.

This is not my first carbon foil. I rode the 2015-16 MHL Lift 103 (41") mast with the osprey wing. The problem here was there are no parts for these bad boys anymore and the newer ones don't mix and match. So the ability to mix up wings, fuses, stabilisers and masts(yes some of the Moses wings bolt on) was a big driver in my decision to buy a Phantasm.

Build quality,
It's a Slingshot so once again its bomb proof(and no its not made by Moses). It's not the lightest out there but boy when you feel and see the carbon mast you can tell where all the research dollars went to. The feedback through the mast is very direct,such a great feeling to be that in touch with the wing under you.

I'll admit it I'm a winger...there I said it out loud,
I just ordered a longer fuse(710) and the PTM926 high aspect wing. I wanted a setup that will cross over between kiting and winging.
It comes in a cool bag..blah blah you can pack it away and travel blah blah all the usual stuff.

The Phantasm range is only just starting to drop. There are multiple packages, Wingfoil, Windfoil, Surf, Sup, Wake, Kite you name it. There are different length carbon masts, lighter aluminium masts, mast adaptors that let you use your Hover Glide mast and base with the Phantasm etc etc... (Insert the cool aid here).

Because I'm on the inside I know that dealers will have all the hype sheets as of Monday the 19th of April. So check in with a dealer and see what you think.

That's about all I got. Feel free to hit me up, see you on the water sometime.

Grant Hore

Looks nice but for $3.5k not having a carbon fuselage is a big let down no matter how good the foil is.

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Livit said..
Looks nice but for $3.5k not having a carbon fuselage is a big let down no matter how good the foil is.

Two wings of Armstrong with 85cm mast cost me $3.5k - carbon/titanium fuselage, no need to pull apart, wash, lubricate, I know which one I prefer. I asked Moses why still aluminium, got an answer that it must stay aluminium for 'technical reasons'. This may have been a satisfactory answer 3 years ago, others are now offering better solutions for less cost, back to the drawing board Slingshot :-)

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Swavek said..

Livit said..
Looks nice but for $3.5k not having a carbon fuselage is a big let down no matter how good the foil is.

Two wings of Armstrong with 85cm mast cost me $3.5k - carbon/titanium fuselage, no need to pull apart, wash, lubricate, I know which one I prefer. I asked Moses why still aluminium, got an answer that it must stay aluminium for 'technical reasons'. This may have been a satisfactory answer 3 years ago, others are now offering better solutions for less cost, back to the drawing board Slingshot :-)

Armstrong are having to add more screws to combat the loads the new high aspect wings are placing on fuselages. Moses now have M8 screws for the larger wings. I suspect over time the wear between the screws and carbon on the Armstrong will cause slop, especially on foils regularly disassembled for transport.
In reality the fuselage is the cheapest part of the foil set up, easy and cheap to replace every couple of seasons. And alloy provides a super rigid mount for the wings and mast, and rigid is what we all want for ultimate performance.

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airsail said..

Swavek said..

Livit said..
Looks nice but for $3.5k not having a carbon fuselage is a big let down no matter how good the foil is.

Two wings of Armstrong with 85cm mast cost me $3.5k - carbon/titanium fuselage, no need to pull apart, wash, lubricate, I know which one I prefer. I asked Moses why still aluminium, got an answer that it must stay aluminium for 'technical reasons'. This may have been a satisfactory answer 3 years ago, others are now offering better solutions for less cost, back to the drawing board Slingshot :-)

Armstrong are having to add more screws to combat the loads the new high aspect wings are placing on fuselages. Moses now have M8 screws for the larger wings. I suspect over time the wear between the screws and carbon on the Armstrong will cause slop, especially on foils regularly disassembled for transport.
In reality the fuselage is the cheapest part of the foil set up, easy and cheap to replace every couple of seasons. And alloy provides a super rigid mount for the wings and mast, and rigid is what we all want for ultimate performance.

That was my fear with Armstrong at first but after asking crews who have been using them for a couple of years without any issues, I took the plunge and bought one. I was coming from Moses and was happy with it. Moses cost was 20% less and just like you said, I figured that I could get a spare fuselage and still save some coins...The fact that Moses is moving to M8 screws says a thing or 2 about the load this things are coping with. It also means that you need to buy a new fuselage to suit these wings....

Anyway, a Moses cost roughly $2.5k where as a similar Slingshot cost $3.5k. Armstrong, Lift and Gofoil that are full carbon cost $500 so the point here is that the Slingshot is wayyyyyy overpriced.

the foil looks good and all, but why would anyone spend $3.5K when you can get armstrong hs1250 kit for ~$2.5K.

and you still have issues with corrosion..

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Swavek said..
Two wings of Armstrong with 85cm mast cost me $3.5k - carbon/titanium fuselage, no need to pull apart, wash, lubricate, I know which one I prefer. I asked Moses why still aluminium, got an answer that it must stay aluminium for 'technical reasons'. This may have been a satisfactory answer 3 years ago, others are now offering better solutions for less cost, back to the drawing board Slingshot :-)

I was gonna ask moses the same question. Pretty good that you got an answer. Not that I think an ali fuse is really an issue though, the extra care is not much more than having to remember, but Armstrong's composite fuse is undeniably cool (Not the only one to go with titanium though, but it looks awesome). They raised the bar for sure.

Great review, and I believe great foil but that price tag...will stick to my armstrong

Have you kited the Slingshot 926 and is it better surfing swell in high winds than the 633 with a kite?
plbaja13@gmail.com

Plenty of options on the Phantasm range. ??