Just wondering how people have got on with moving to bigger wings. I recently switched from a naish thust medium (1050cm2) on a 55cm mast to a larger wing (~1450 ish) on a 65cm mast. I'm not going to name it because for sure its an awesome foil. However, my first impressions were not as amazing as I was expecting. To me it all seemed a bit slow motion and didn't seem to lift any earlier. Granted once up it didn't want to go down but it seemed less reactive and if anything I felt like I was further away from cracking the whole pump back out to sea thing because I was a bit out of sync with it. I'm used to aggressively pumping my naish medium and feel like I get a lot of feedback/reactivity.

Should I just bare with it? Or is it the case like in kitesurfing kites/windsurf wavesailing sails that there is a point where going bigger brings no more benefit for lightweights (I'm 68kg on a 6'8 x 27" sup)

From what the Gong team tells me, it actually depends a lot on the stabiliser. A light (66kg) team rider (Beryl on the last Gong video) is able to go fast even with a big wing by reducing the stabiliser. With the bigger stab, he says it is too slow and less reactive.

Try to see if you can use a smaller stab on your foil.

You do have to "learn" different wings in my experience. I like the log lots of hours with them on my kite. It helps me when surfing them.

Im surprised you didn't just buy the Naish large front wing. It's cheaper than buying a whole kit from another brand and it feels so much like your medium, just more lift. Better wing for surfing. Medium is good for the wife.

It's pretty hard to come off the Naish wings and expect to find a better experience, they're pretty smooth and very controllable. Going bigger vs smaller is like with anything, Any time you gain something you loose something. But as mentioned above, the Naish Large wing is actually very fast for a 20% larger wing, I consistently get speeds in high 30's and 40kmh range on it in tiny surf. It will also depend on your application. The Naish XL wing for instance is great for when it's not really breaking, linking up waves, downwinding and cruising. Turns are not as tight or as exciting as the Large but as Colas said, changing down the rear makes a huge difference.

A lot of experienced riders are soley on the medium, particularly when prone. It is just so responsive and intuitive, you can definitely ride this wing harder than others and get very smooth and unmatched results with still plenty of lift.

The large for me covers the most ground (i'm in the 92-95kg range). This wing is fast, very manouverable, and has plenty of lift.

I know that some other premium brands out there have great wings that all have great characteristics, but all wings are different. One thing I know is a lot of people love the feel of the Thrust/Naish. I really is a very good wing.

Can I suggest seeing if you can demo/borrow a Naish Large front wing and take it for a spin, it will likely answer all your quiries and Q's.

Ride safe,

Enjoy,

JB

many thanks for the feedback! I should have added that I am just demoing the larger foil. The naish large is very much on my radar and I will demo. I'm looking to have just one foil so I think I've established that at my weight... something in the 1450 cm2 size is just too big... particularly as I have a 4'6 prone board on the way (which should require smaller foils than sup).

I know you'll all say just get a large wing to go with my medium setup... but I'm stubborn and I have too much kit :) I want just the one and I'm only foiling in tiny/small surf as it gets too busy when the waves get good. I can pump a good 10-15 metres back out to sea so if the Naish large is the missing ingredient to pumping further and linking waves then I'll probably go with that and just accept a slightly slower foil. However, if its all down to technique (which I need to master more) then I'll probably stick with the medium as compared to the only other foil I've tried (which incidentally has more carbon and is by no means cheaper) it just feels more exciting.

Hi Settlands, your new foil is the Gong Allvator foil, isn't it?
How does it look in generall, what do you think about it?
Alex

nope definitely not a gong. I wont name it because I've chimed in here being negative about it... but in reality that's probably just because I've become too used to just the one foil and I'm too light for it. Also, only used to 55cm mast not 65cm.

Anyway, that new gong is smaller isn't it? more like a naish large. That guy Beryl ripping as he does on a 399 euro foil is hopefully going to bring prices down a bit.

I think it will be the naish abracadabra thing that makes me dig a little deeper in my pocket for my next foil though. With 2 young kids at home, the 10 mins a session I'll save p*ss*ng about attaching the foil is gold to me.

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settlands said..
the 10 mins a session I'll save p*ss*ng about attaching the foil is gold to me.

For this, I guess you will want an all-carbon foil. Alu+carbon foils will require desassembling after each session (so carbon and alu parts do no touch) and rincing them to avoid corrosion, unless some breakthrough happen (sacrificial anodes?)

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settlands said..
I think it will be the naish abracadabra thing that makes me dig a little deeper in my pocket for my next foil

Can't wait to see it..

RE: Dissasembling after each session

Im doing full dissasemble about every 3 weeks with my Slingshot H4. Gets super flushed after each use though. No real corrossion yet after 6 months. I do give it some good cleaning and TLC each time though.....I think if I had to dissasemble and clean after every session I'd lose my motivation/mind....