Hey Guys,

Finally got round to flying my new toy, the Apline Foil Vr5 Board, Access V3 combo ~ around 2000 euros complete.

Build:
Board - lots of volume up front , nice graphics, plenty of deck space and plenty of adjustment available to move foot straps around. Housing is simple enough - carbon fiber insert ' KF ' box, and the mast attaches with two bolts, one front and one rear, it is nice and tight in there. The length is 142, after having nose dived at speed, and clipped the sides also at speed and survived still riding, the volume is pretty useful, as is the rail + bottom twin concave areas

I discovered 1 problem when I put it together at home, and ended up having to drilling out one of the KF box bolt holes, because I was not able to get the front mast bolt lined up enough with the thread. Rear bolt was ok, the front was out by 1-2mm, and because the hole size in the board is so close to the diameter of the bolt, no chance to wiggle it in there. I'm not sure if this is a problem with the KF box on the board, or the new mast head recently re-designed ? Drilling out isn't an issue from a structural point of view, but given the build quality of the rest of the combo - which is the best I've seen by a big margin, it was a shame it wasn't identified or fixed in factory.

Access V3 Combo
Mast and Fuselage are incredibly streamlined and stiff and look like a piece of art you could hang on the wall. Once I tightened all the bolts up and rode for 3.5 hours, came back in and all bolts still tight, no signs of wiggling or movement at all. The front wing is held on by 4 off center bolts, and rear stab 2, mast fits into the fuselage almost all the way to the bottom, and bolted down by 2 bolts. The Fuselage is probably the longest I've seen, and has a built in kind of rudder at the back, and is incredibly stable.

The Standard foil is the XLP2, which from memory is around 700 cm squares. It's build out of a mould with inserts for the bolts so everything looks good and lines up. They advertise the fact that even though its a large wing, it's designed to flex so that the wingtips are not creating lift at high speed, to allow a disproportionately higher top end than similar sized foils.

The Optional Foil Bag
While it does the job of protecting the gear - it won't last a travel trip if your thinking about regular use or flying with it. the section of the bag directly next to the foil looks like some kind of light / cheap inner school bag lining, the problem is by the time my foil was delivered after sitting in the bag, the mast had moved back and fourth under it's own inertia enough to wear a hole next to the end of the mast that connects to the fuselage, and wear a hole where the elastic strap holds to the fabric. I don't know if Alpinefoil make these bags or not, but they sell them - they need to reinforce the fabric on both sides of the mast if they keep the two elastics holding the mast there - as it will move and wear, or create a padded pouch in the center above or below the fuselage pouch, and slide the foil in there. remove the other extra pouches


Test Ride
First off - I have only ridden XR1 mantafoil race / Liquid Force rocket fish 2015 / and about 5 - 6 Home builds up to about 12-14kts, no foiling gybes, no foiling tacks.
Secondly - The wind was utterly cranking, it was 25 to 30kts + , 2 foot chop and all the twin tip riders were on 7 meter kites. I took out the 5 meter Dyno for the first time.

Pretty much at my first attempt I was up straight away and holding a normal twintip upwind line at about 12 kts board speed. The conditions were intimidating to say the least, as I'd never ridden a dyno before, or a 5 meter kite, or that foil in 30kts so it wasn't the best conditions to learn. However after about an hour, I was cruising around upwind at around 15kts, and hit a top speed of 20.9 kts, on the big foil. I dare not go any faster, that was with the kite almost parked at 12:30 / 1 O'clock and me trying not to get any more power. I think had it been a normal 15 - 20kt day, on this big foil - may have gone for 25ktsish.

At 20kts anyhow - the foil feels exactly the same as it does at 10 kts, but with a little more inertia. I moved my weight forwards slightly to ensure I could keep the nose down, because of the wind strength + kite at 12 O'clock, but I think it would be extremely comfortable and much easier in light winds. I used the 0 nose and 7 rear - what I found was that If I keep this setup, I will move the front feet all the way forward, and back foot setup vertical over the mast instead of behind it. I think if i change the rear foil to 0, then I could probably leave the straps as is.

My mate - who is learning to foil, got upon his first attempted left tack and just sat a foot above the water for a hundred or so meters, til he flew his kite down next to the water ( like a meter off the water ) and then elevated up slowly until he ventilated. I think it is suitable for beginners and intermediate. I can't comment on the aluminium mast just jet - I have another foil coming to bolt on to the mast, then maybe see if it becomes a limiting factor or not, but it is very stiff, and very well made. I think My mate is going to get the titanium fuselage and carbon S mast - so I can give a comparison on how they feel different later on possibly.

In summary - one of the best built aluminium / carbon foils, at one of the cheapest price points on the current market - not something that you will need to sell to go quicker on as you progress.
Nick

Sounds too technical for me

New high wind foil arrived. Looks pretty neat, no wind to test yet.

Second session on the foil, 22-30kts with 2 foot washing machine chop everywhere.

My mate who tried last week, got up this week on his 9 vegas and was riding bursts of 200-300 meters foiling, without much issue.
Foil is very stable, all of his stacks were a result of slowly riding higher and higher until ventilating.

All the galvanic connectors and screws so far are fine ( very salty here )

I tried a few upwind tacks, which went ok, a couple of bum checks, and a couple I stayed on ( non foiling ). Overall happy and the big front foil will keep me busy until I can nail the tacks and gybes, then I will try the race wing.

Also I decided to buy a torque tool to get the tightening correct to 5nm.
Found this really nice looking mountain bike tool from Toppeak

www.topeak.com/global/en/products/torq-tools/824-nano-torqbar-5nm

It looks like you can place the tool in the far end and use like a screwdriver between your fingers first, then attach to the torque end to get the correct setting. No ratchet but screwdriver action is better for the salt water anyhow.

Nick

Good review - it's a shame a few small things ( KF box needing work and travel case damage) let down what would otherwise have been an awesome combo.

I gather (hope) that it was ?2000 complete and shipped ? Initially I though wow expensive.. but then again if it was $1500 for the foil and $1500 for the board that isn't too much more than a locally delivered Zeeko + board for example. A few hundred dollars more maybe.

Id really like to see more <$2000 Foil+ board packages, especially as the aluminium mast is basically just an extrusion cut to length. I know how much the Chinese sell them for and a second mast for $500 is taking the piss. Boards with a foam cores are expensive - I've experienced first hand how much time goes into making one.

You need to take off the VAT from the alpinefoil store price - then whatever customs you may get charged is on top of that depending on the country.

I don't think it will be below $2000 AUS unless you buy all the old models on special or something - mine were 980 euro for the mast with carbon foils, and the board was 740 euros.

Regarding the masts, I don't know if they are all ' the same'. The V3 masts , are heat treated, then anodized then have the KF male mount installed. The heat treatment alone can generally double the stiffness of aluminium.

Apparently most of the customers who purchased the aluminium combo, have ended up going on to purchase the titanium combo :0 $$$$$

Im not looking online just going by what you said, and I'm in WA same as you. I typed 2000 EUR but the euro sign didn't come out. Zeeko have been bought around $1250 foil and they have been in the game a long time. I'd like to see aluminium foils and bord packages come in under the $2000 Aud price point and I think with the new competition they will. At that price thecrew considering 17m kites would be able to buy a new foil and ride with their existing kit. At $3-4K AUD it's a huge outlay for a small number of the available kiters. Plus the Chinese are selling legit copies for under $750 AUD if you know where to look.

Dunno. Just my opinion but 2000 Euro isn't that cheap in my book. I think you are being kind to the manufacturer. At that cost it should have bloody well been perfect !!! :)

I was disappointed about having to mod the board slightly, and about the foil bag - however if I had purchased something cheaper that didn't perform as well, then It really would have felt like a waste of $1000 - $1500. One of the reviews I looked at before purchasing was a guy in the USA, who had purchased his 6th different foilboard. They all had issues, and big compromises in one area over another. He said this was the first foil he felt truly allowing him to progress from beginner to intermediate and wished he had bought it sooner.

I still don't think I would have found a better deal for the performance that I got - but if you get one of the chinese fakes, post some of the specs like top / bottom end, and upwind / stability and we can compare ;)

You are comparing the AlpineFoil products with the made in China products... They are not using the same raw materials, not the same shape and they are not providing the same finish. It's exactly the same if you compare the worst car ever with the made in Italy bolide.
We can't compare those products, they have nothing in common.

Regarding the fact that you had to drill your board, it's a shame with this high quality range of products but it happens to many brands... Did they offer you something for the inconvenience ? or they remain quite ?

May the wind be with you !

Actually they did give me about $100 aud store credit, so its probably not a common occurance.

I have the surfboard foil board and it did come with one of the FCS fins plugs with the grub screw not drilled correctly. I just fixed it up with some JB weld and no problems. Sure it was a defect and should not have left the factory but cant send it back and the repair was minor so no problems.

Had a great sesh today on the race wing. It was blowing 20 - 25kts, and I took a 5 meter Dyno out.

You feel a huge reduction in drag using the race High wing vs the XLP2 or lift( Their recommended beginner to advanced foil ) , I think it's 60% the surface area of the bigger ones.

Takeoff happens 2-3 kts faster, foil is similar to control as the bigger ones, with no real change in stance needed over the riding range.

hiking upwind was comfortable anywhere in the 16 - 18 kt area, and I managed a new top speed of 25 kts - on the aluminium mast and fuselage

There is still more in it to come, I think my top speed on the big 800cm2 wing was 21.8kts..... but I could feel the foil flexing to depower at that speed - the race wing just need bigger kahoonas to go quicker.

Overall Nice setup. I'm really still not good enough to benefit from the Ultimate titanium version and anti- cavitating mast.
I rode it a few weeks back, and while it felt slightly smoother, I still had the same top speeds with it + lift, as aluminum V3 + XLP2

I also hear they are about to release a new race setup.

Nick

Make that 27kts max speed now, on the light wind foil !

The bottom end is around 10 / 11kts board speed, but depends on how much I'm using the wind to hold me up.

I used a 12 meter mono, and the light wind foil to kite in around 6 - 8 kts no worries.