Does anyone have any experience with Uni-foils? These are an all carbon foil from Jeffrey's bay South Africa and seem almost identical to the Signature range. Costs are about $1250 for a full carbon setup, extra wings about $550. The killer is the cost of airfreight being about $1400 for a full foil setup and 2 extra wings, plus import duties etc.

Further details here : uni-foil.com

Disclaimer - am not a rider or dealer or promoting this product.

I heard the same. Signature without the price tag. Shipping to Los Angeles is crazy expensive though.

yep... got a 210 on a 75cm mast with a 175 extra wing (which Ive not used yet). Couldnt be happier with it... crazy glide/pump and a lovely hand crafted product. Much ligher than my old foil with aluminium mast. Whilst of course you dont want want to get by any foil mast.... somehow I'm happier with a light carbon mast under my board than an actual metal broad sword!

mattlew, you in Aus?

what was the cost all up?

From the distributor in South Africa - approx 10 Rand to an Aus $.
The price for the 210" complete (mast, wing, tail) Is R12,000The 210" wing only is R6,000.Stabilizer tails are R1,300 each.And the 185" & 200" wings only are R5,500 each.Our Longest Mast is the 930mm and it comes as a Tuttle head which is R6,500.

Seen some boys on Instagram ripping on these , they look really good .

look as though Uni is coming to Australia in weeks time and no I'm not the distributor
I got to try a similar foil setup to 175 Vortex Foil and as learner foiler, 80kg it was ok and flew a few scary meters and very light and it feels like well made.

I heard Unifoil and Signature as exactly the same, Unfoil is doing the R&D, but then I think they have different factory.
Signature might be a little bit lighter but not by much ?

Boys i know the UNI-FOIL dealer for Australia his name is John Hawkins his number 0417655722

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frenchfoiler said..
I heard Unifoil and Signature as exactly the same, Unfoil is doing the R&D, but then I think they have different factory.
Signature might be a little bit lighter but not by much ?

This is from their au site https://signaturefoilsaustralia.com/about-1including spelling errors and grammar errors

"Pretending to have designed a range of foils, Signature actually buy from Unifoil and paint them white and put there logos on them-thats lame."

Bit odd but they go on to say they design them now, I think, but it is a bit unclear.

I contacted Uni-Aust, prices are exactly the same as Sig-Aust.
They will have stock in a couple of weeks.

Anyone got an update / using these foils? I'm interested in the hyper 210.
Are these readily available in Australia?

Cheers

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Stingersup said..
Anyone got an update / using these foils? I'm interested in the hyper 210.
Are these readily available in Australia?

Cheers

Yep they are available now, get in touch with John at Unifoil Australia mate.

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Stingersup said..
Anyone got an update / using these foils? I'm interested in the hyper 210.
Are these readily available in Australia?

Cheers

I had a ride on this wing and on the 170 a few weeks back and at the time i was pretty excited as i have seen alot of clips and seen guys ripping on some of the Unifoil stuff so was expecting it to be amazing.

Unfortunately i hated it, both myself and a good friend took the 210 and 170 out at the same time and we both found the same issues. The mast is pretty flexy but not much more than a Takuma i have been riding so that's not really a big issue but for us it was the flex in the wings was just killing them to the point where we struggled to ride them at all. I could feel some good potential in the wings when we got them nice and straight lined but for me i just would hate to ride these if that is how they are with that much wing flex. We have made wings before that have this flex and they feel the same so maybe the wings we were given were just not right or maybe its just something that takes time to get used to but i just could not see my self riding these wings. When i told the guy who gave them to me to demo he said i was the first person to ever mention it so maybe it is just me or maybe i am just the first to give a honest review back to him who knows!!

Construction looked ok but can not really comment after only seeing them for one day. IMO if i was in Aus and wanted a DW foil right now and were looking at the high aspect wings i would just buy Gofoil as they seem to work well and they are built crazy strong for a mid to high performance foil.

Flex in the wings from what i know sucks and these were the first production foils i have felt that had flex but keen to hear if anyone else has the same feeling or if any other wings out there have heaps of flex?

I am just one person so if unsure just try and demo and feel if this is something you will like or not, my guess is some people might like the feeling as some guys are ripping on these wings for me though i would rather not have to get used to something like this.

Not sponsored by any foil company by the way and pay for all my foil gear.

Thanks for the feedback.
To be perfectly honest I don't really need a high aspect foil as I'm very happy with the ones I have (takuma 1900 + 1600}. The problem is the h.a. foils just look too good to pass up?? (plus they seem to perform pretty well).
So choices seem to come down to Uni hyper series, Axis 101 and Go Foil gl's
Has anyone ridden all three?
I'll see what I can get my hands on to demo.

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Stingersup said..
Thanks for the feedback.
To be perfectly honest I don't really need a high aspect foil as I'm very happy with the ones I have (takuma 1900 + 1600}. The problem is the h.a. foils just look too good to pass up?? (plus they seem to perform pretty well).
So choices seem to come down to Uni hyper series, Axis 101 and Go Foil gl's
Has anyone ridden all three?
I'll see what I can get my hands on to demo.

If you are Riding the Takuma wings then I don't see much point in changing. The 1600 is as fast as most of the high aspect wings but far easier to use.

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Stingersup said..
Thanks for the feedback.
To be perfectly honest I don't really need a high aspect foil as I'm very happy with the ones I have (takuma 1900 + 1600}. The problem is the h.a. foils just look too good to pass up?? (plus they seem to perform pretty well).
So choices seem to come down to Uni hyper series, Axis 101 and Go Foil gl's
Has anyone ridden all three?
I'll see what I can get my hands on to demo.

From what I know and have seen the 101 is quite big and easy but slow, out of the hyper and GL I would choose the GL wings and I have ridden both plus I have a GF 180GL I am playing with at the moment. Right now from the few times I have been on the GL the Takuma surfs better but the GL is getting a little better each time.

IMO you already have some of the best wings and would wait and see what new cool stuff comes out over the next few months.

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IMO you already have some of the best wings and would wait and see what new cool stuff comes out over the next few months.

Ok, thanks Jacko. So far your advice has been spot on (except maybe for the future of wing foiling)
I'll sit on my hands for now until the next gen comes out.
Cheers

Can't comment on the Uni for Sups but for the prone they are a weapon , however they really are for very experienced riders to get the most out of them. We did a 3 hour test on the Vortex 175 & Ultra 170 (4-0 & 4-4 prones) , we swapped for 4 times and rear wings twice. If you are going to test these wings in the surf you'll need apx 10 waves to work out whats going on. For me at 85kg I was a bit heavy for the 175 a younger fitter guy same weight might deal with it but was just alot of work for me. It's so incredibly fast but will decelerate quickly if you don't keep the flow. The Ultra 170 was more for me , this thing has so much grunt for such a skinny wing (1100 cm2) . it boosted me on the take off for the first 8 waves straight until I changed from the down curved carve to the straight tail , and boom I was away.

Just amazing , it was so fast and still pumped amazingly well and turned really tight , the biggest feature of the super high aspect wings is the way you go through white water and foam balls. They just slice through and it's not like riding a skateboard on rocks BUT again like all super high aspects you have to keep the throttle on and your work rate is really high. The bit of mast flex was fine on the prone and wings are well made but you will have to be careful. Would I buy one as my daily rider probably not , I would definitely like to own one but it would be my second foil for the perfect days. As Jacko mentioned above it's pretty hard to past something like a Takuma 1300 as your daily rider. If you have the spare cash and own more than one foils then this is a must have. Definitely recommend you demo one first though and try and have one long good session if not 2 as quiet a few punters have tried and only caught 4 or 5 waves came in and couldn't ride them.

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Stingersup said..

IMO you already have some of the best wings and would wait and see what new cool stuff comes out over the next few months.

Ok, thanks Jacko. So far your advice has been spot on (except maybe for the future of wing foiling)
I'll sit on my hands for now until the next gen comes out.
Cheers

Haha yeah even someone like me who is never wrong can be slightly off sometimes ??

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Piros said..
Can't comment on the Uni for Sups but for the prone they are a weapon , however they really are for very experienced riders to get the most out of them. We did a 3 hour test on the Vortex 175 & Ultra 170 (4-0 & 4-4 prones) , we swapped for 4 times and rear wings twice. If you are going to test these wings in the surf you'll need apx 10 waves to work out whats going on. For me at 85kg I was a bit heavy for the 175 a younger fitter guy same weight might deal with it but was just alot of work for me. It's so incredibly fast but will decelerate quickly if you don't keep the flow. The Ultra 170 was more for me , this thing has so much grunt for such a skinny wing (1100 cm2) . it boosted me on the take off for the first 8 waves straight until I changed from the down curved carve to the straight tail , and boom I was away.

Just amazing , it was so fast and still pumped amazingly well and turned really tight , the biggest feature of the super high aspect wings is the way you go through white water and foam balls. They just slice through and it's not like riding a skateboard on rocks BUT again like all super high aspects you have to keep the throttle on and your work rate is really high. The bit of mast flex was fine on the prone and wings are well made but you will have to be careful. Would I buy one as my daily rider probably not , I would definitely like to own one but it would be my second foil for the perfect days. As Jacko mentioned above it's pretty hard to past something like a Takuma 1300 as your daily rider. If you have the spare cash and own more than one foils then this is a must have. Definitely recommend you demo one first though and try and have one long good session if not 2 as quiet a few punters have tried and only caught 4 or 5 waves came in and couldn't ride them.

I was told you rode these and really liked them which just shows that some people might like the flex in the wing. Did you notice the flex in the wing Piros? I can see the 175 being ok as this is quite a thick wing so might be much stiffer but I never tried that wing.
Not sure the SUP v's prone board would make much difference as I only ride a 5'8 which weighs about the same as some prone boards so I don't think that has much to do with what I felt. The 170 was a little better than the 210 but still really hard work when pushing through a turn. We had the wings for a two days so gave them a good go, I tried a small DW on the 210 as well but found it to much hard work to control the wing so gave up on it. IMO wing flex is a killer for any wing but interested to hear what others think on if the wing flexes and as I said I just have not seen any other production wings with this kinda flex. Is it something they built into the wing you think?

Foreshore people should demo it as even the two replies here are completely opposite so you just never know and might love the way it feels.
I was disappointed as I really did want these wings to feel good for me and I would have brought a set if they did but after trying them there was no way I would buy them for what I need them for.

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Piros said..
Can't comment on the Uni for Sups but for the prone they are a weapon , however they really are for very experienced riders to get the most out of them. We did a 3 hour test on the Vortex 175 & Ultra 170 (4-0 & 4-4 prones) , we swapped for 4 times and rear wings twice. If you are going to test these wings in the surf you'll need apx 10 waves to work out whats going on. For me at 85kg I was a bit heavy for the 175 a younger fitter guy same weight might deal with it but was just alot of work for me. It's so incredibly fast but will decelerate quickly if you don't keep the flow. The Ultra 170 was more for me , this thing has so much grunt for such a skinny wing (1100 cm2) . it boosted me on the take off for the first 8 waves straight until I changed from the down curved carve to the straight tail , and boom I was away.

Just amazing , it was so fast and still pumped amazingly well and turned really tight , the biggest feature of the super high aspect wings is the way you go through white water and foam balls. They just slice through and it's not like riding a skateboard on rocks BUT again like all super high aspects you have to keep the throttle on and your work rate is really high. The bit of mast flex was fine on the prone and wings are well made but you will have to be careful. Would I buy one as my daily rider probably not , I would definitely like to own one but it would be my second foil for the perfect days. As Jacko mentioned above it's pretty hard to past something like a Takuma 1300 as your daily rider. If you have the spare cash and own more than one foils then this is a must have. Definitely recommend you demo one first though and try and have one long good session if not 2 as quiet a few punters have tried and only caught 4 or 5 waves came in and couldn't ride them.

How would you compare the Uni Hyper 170 to the Axis 900 ?


I tried the Signature 250 (1612cm2) for dw and I really like it especially for light/medium condition, easy to take off, really nice glide, forgiving at low speed. I tried with the down curve stab and I the flat stab, the flat stab was way better, more speed, more glide. I didn't tried on wave as it is too big for me.

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frenchfoiler said..

Piros said..
Can't comment on the Uni for Sups but for the prone they are a weapon , however they really are for very experienced riders to get the most out of them. We did a 3 hour test on the Vortex 175 & Ultra 170 (4-0 & 4-4 prones) , we swapped for 4 times and rear wings twice. If you are going to test these wings in the surf you'll need apx 10 waves to work out whats going on. For me at 85kg I was a bit heavy for the 175 a younger fitter guy same weight might deal with it but was just alot of work for me. It's so incredibly fast but will decelerate quickly if you don't keep the flow. The Ultra 170 was more for me , this thing has so much grunt for such a skinny wing (1100 cm2) . it boosted me on the take off for the first 8 waves straight until I changed from the down curved carve to the straight tail , and boom I was away.

Just amazing , it was so fast and still pumped amazingly well and turned really tight , the biggest feature of the super high aspect wings is the way you go through white water and foam balls. They just slice through and it's not like riding a skateboard on rocks BUT again like all super high aspects you have to keep the throttle on and your work rate is really high. The bit of mast flex was fine on the prone and wings are well made but you will have to be careful. Would I buy one as my daily rider probably not , I would definitely like to own one but it would be my second foil for the perfect days. As Jacko mentioned above it's pretty hard to past something like a Takuma 1300 as your daily rider. If you have the spare cash and own more than one foils then this is a must have. Definitely recommend you demo one first though and try and have one long good session if not 2 as quiet a few punters have tried and only caught 4 or 5 waves came in and couldn't ride them.

How would you compare the Uni Hyper 170 to the Axis 900 ?


I tried the Signature 250 (1612cm2) for dw and I really like it especially for light/medium condition, easy to take off, really nice glide, forgiving at low speed. I tried with the down curve stab and I the flat stab, the flat stab was way better, more speed, more glide. I didn't tried on wave as it is too big for me.

This is the other thing I don't understand as the unifoil and signature 210 are the same and I swear when I felt a mates signature wing it was quite stiff, did you notice when you had a ride if this was the case?

I would say the 900 Axis is quite a bit slower than the 170. James Casey, Ben tardrew and Marcus Tardrew did a comparison with the 180gl, 1600 Takuma and the Axis 900 and the Axis was the slowest for everyone. The 170 buy the looks of it should be a fast wing and I would say if you can ride it them should be in the same class as the Takuma and 180gl if not a bit quicker as it felt a fair bit smaller.

Just curious, what does foil flex feel like? as opposed to mast flex, can't say I've experienced either , but I only prone and kite foil atm.

Here's a video of Mizo just blasting on the 170 Hyper , he's light and super fit . Take note of the cut through the white water at the start and he never stops moving the foil . www.instagram.com/p/B8FQiungKPt/?igshid=1x8kpojgj5d48

Re the Axis 900 v Ultra 170 . The 170 is just so much faster and can turn circles around the 900 . It's a lot more unstable than the 900 though and will drop earlier with lack of speed . The pump arc is shorter but you are able to generate more speed but takes more energy/ability .

The Uni rears IMHO are the best on the market and help a lot with turn ability and high speed . Haven't tried the 170 on the wingding but I'm guessing the 900 would have a much lower wind start. The current Uni's don't break down and are one piece mast and fuse but they are releasing two piece on the new models like the new Vortex 150. You will feel the mast flex on the Uni coming off the Ali Axis but it's not that huge but could throw off until you get used to it . High speed wise the Uni will win all day , you can ride them super high without blow out and again the super thin rears attribute to this.

Construction wise the Axis is much tougher . If you are a heavier rider the 900 will still be the pic as it still maintains a very good high speed and better stability and just feels a bit easier to ride . The Uni's really are for the lighter high performance riders .

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kobo said..
Just curious, what does foil flex feel like? as opposed to mast flex, can't say I've experienced either , but I only prone and kite foil atm.

Re wing flex yes the Uni wings will but it's more in the mast flex. Mast flex there are two areas of this . One is a soft mast that flexes from the mount plate like a soft Ali mast or straight carbon mast . This feels terrible on a Sup like the early Gofoils with the big wings , the new GoFoil mast is super solid . MFC mast is also another soft one but some proners like it , definitely not for Sup .
Move forward from that to the Armstrong and Takuma mast which are tapered with curve and rake which lets the mast flex much lower down near the fuselage . This actually feels really good , haven't tried the new Axis Carbon but suspect it will be the same. Armstrong have quiet a significant forward rake , theory behind it is that you get another 3kph. The Takuma is not quiet as extreme but it's there. So the carbon mast are very different to the straight Ali mast . So not all mast flex is the same , wobble from the plate feels terrible but flex down low works the same as flex tip on your surfboard fins .

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Piros said..

kobo said..
Just curious, what does foil flex feel like? as opposed to mast flex, can't say I've experienced either , but I only prone and kite foil atm.

Re mast flex there are two areas of this . One is a soft mast that flexes from the mount plate like a soft Ali mast or straight carbon mast . This feels terrible on a Sup like the early Gofoils with the big wings , the new GoFoil mast is super solid . MFC mast is also another soft one but some proners like it , definitely not for Sup .
Move forward from that to the Armstrong and Takuma mast which are tapered with curve and rake which lets the mast flex much lower down near the fuselage . This actually feels really good , haven't tried the new Axis Carbon but suspect it will be the same. Armstrong have quiet a significant forward rake , theory behind it is that you get another 3kph. The Takuma is not quiet as extreme but it's there. So the carbon mast are very different to the straight Ali mast . So not all mast flex is the same , wobble from the plate feels terrible but flex down low works the same as flex tip on your surfboard fins .

I am not talking about the mast flex as the unifoil had about the same as the Takuma. I am talking about wing flex, go and stand on your NP wing and then stand on the unifoil high aspect wing and you will see what I mean.

Mast flex is not a huge deal on a SUP but definitely I would like it a bit stiffer as at top speed the mast flex is a bit of a handful. Problem is to make masts stiffer costs more money takes a different way of thinking but definitely doable.

Yeah I'll stand corrected on that Jacko. Stand on a NP ect , Takuma or Armstrong , the wings are rock solid compared to the Uni and maybe the Axis 101 when you DW paddle on these super wide super high aspect wings they will flex . Also when a carbon mast gets made to be a stiff as an Ali mast they are around same weight , the only gain you get is the shape .

Flex mast with big wings are horrible, friends of mine have Gong XXL, they are beginners and they struggle learning because of the flex (Gong is the worst for making tight foil, everything is loose mast/front wing, fus... but it is really cheap).

Back to Uni, Titouan Galea who did the M20 (4th place) had a 190 and 210 hyper and when I saw him he had a custom made mast (tapered 85cm I think).

Thanks guys, I understand mast flex now, but still not clear on wing flex. ( maybe there are no foil setups with only wing flex )