Any heavy foilers out there with some advice.
I'm after a foil with big wings for a lot of lift and I need it to be solid.
I've never tried it before and I have stable sailing skills.
I hear a lot about strength issues , and I'd rather spend $ 1500 instead of $3000.
The NP is cheap but it has small wings and looks flimsy.
The more I read the more I'm getting confused. I won't believe what the brochures try to tell me , so if there is a heavy foiler that is truely happy with theirs.???

Naish . $1799

New Ke Nalu foil (previewed at Merimbula) looks and feels pretty sturdy.

and what board would you be putting that foil on IMAX ??

check this ==> www.windfoilzone.com/brand-guide

Love my Horue XLW which was designed specifically for heavy riders and super light winds. It has a wingspan of 92 cm and gets me flying in 8 mph winds. Build quality is superb. It flies me way earlier than my wife's Slingshot. My wet weight is >90 kg. I think I paid $1600 (american) for it.

and that board looks like my JP SLW
guess that fin just went on my short list ...

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sl55 said..
Love my Horue XLW which was designed specifically for heavy riders and super light winds. It has a wingspan of 92 cm and gets me flying in 8 mph winds. Build quality is superb. It flies me way earlier than my wife's Slingshot. My wet weight is >90 kg. I think I paid $1600 (american) for it.

That's not a bad price I had thought they would be alot more. What's the fastest speed you have got on this ?

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joe windsurf said..
and what board would you be putting that foil on IMAX ??

check this ==> www.windfoilzone.com/brand-guide

An old Starboard Go , 90 wide 170 liter.
It has a deep tuttle and i can fit double slot boxes if thats the way to go ???

I'd be very surprised of the Pryde ally wasn't the stiffest aluminium masted foil on the market by some margin; the mast section has a far bigger chord than both the Naish and fanatic. I've ridden all three and of those it's the stiffest.

As you say though its downside is the front wing is quite small. The convertible version of the same foil has a front wing with ~25-30% more area and consequently gets going earlier. I'm not sure whether you can buy it individually without the board though.

In my opinion if you are just after light wind fun, get the Naish. It gets going early and you won't notice the stiffness with small sails.

If you're keen on racing and don't want to break the bank get the Pryde Al, the convertible version with the bigger front wing if possible. As a race foil it's a fair bit faster than the Naish.

how heavy are you?

the NP AL is a very good foil for the price. As CJW said the mast definitely helps you get going. Once on the wing it's stable and predictable. Its really not flimsy (solid construction) and very well engineered.

NP AL was a great introduction for me (I'm around 88 kg) and just switched to the NP F4 which is the mutts nutts.

Pic is of the NP AL. On a 6.4 in
11-15mph that day

^^^
Im 115 kg

Look at the Naish or the Starboard Freeride. Both have a short aluminium mast (around 75 cm) and big wings (1200 square cm for the Naish and 1100 for the starboard.
Also the Slingshot with the lightwind wing is nice to sail (also aluminium mast).

Man, with your skills why not make it?

Go for the biggest front wings you can get.It won't be the fastest foil but it sure will get you going at your weight.lm 105 kg & use the Naish thrust foil gets be up & going in 10 to 12 solid knots. just saw a Marks post A man with your talents you could make bigger front wings

^^^
Awww shucks guys ,
I did think about it but those wings especially the big ones are all swoopy an stuff . Unless I had one in my hands to copy I wouldn't know where to go. The mast and fuselage could be a possibility ???
I think this one would be best left to people who know what there doing.
Naish sounds good so far.

Hi Imax
I'm 92 kg and had the np alloy pink, definitely not worth it, can't get going under 12 knots for a heavy sailor (plus had a few of them bent over here)
Sold it to a lightweight who enjoys it.

the coming starboard freeride foil seems a good deal, saw it in flesh with the savina froggie, heavy duty stuff and 1100cm front wing (all parts switchable with other starboard foils) price to be checked

naish seems a good deal, we haven't seen them here (everyone wants fast foils in new cal... ) but it looks like they get going real fast.

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Simon100 said..

sl55 said..
Love my Horue XLW which was designed specifically for heavy riders and super light winds. It has a wingspan of 92 cm and gets me flying in 8 mph winds. Build quality is superb. It flies me way earlier than my wife's Slingshot. My wet weight is >90 kg. I think I paid $1600 (american) for it.

That's not a bad price I had thought they would be alot more. What's the fastest speed you have got on this ?

I just caught the very end of the season here in the northern hemisphere and had 4 sessions on it in really light wind. Naturally, I was just learning and was not pushing it. It was very easy though, and I was making longish runs (100m or so) first time on the water. The foil floats in the water, and actually pushes the tail out of the water even when I am stationary on it. In comparison, Slingshot weighs 5.5 kgs and sinks the tail until you get going. I used Horue on a JP SLW 154, and Slingshot on iSonic 120. Horue has a good 3mph advantage in early planing for me over Slingshot. Used both with Ezzy Elite 6.8m sail.

your Horue XLW comments interested me and so ... I did some investigation

isthmus sailboards has em with 2 front wings for $1600 USD
with free shipping

2-rad in Montreal, Canada has em with one front wing for about $3000 CDN (tax in)
asked about it and Bruno said sometimes they break ??

hmmm
time will tell

will wait a few more years
continue on my longboards and JP SLW92 for now ...

NP Glide Wind look super friendly & slow. Shorter too. The vid explains it favourably.

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joe windsurf said..
your Horue XLW comments interested me and so ... I did some investigation

isthmus sailboards has em with 2 front wings for $1600 USD
with free shipping

2-rad in Montreal, Canada has em with one front wing for about $3000 CDN (tax in)
asked about it and Bruno said sometimes they break ??

hmmm
time will tell

will wait a few more years
continue on my longboards and JP SLW92 for now ...

Horue has a three year warranty on their fuselages. The Air version is designed for freestyle and very robust. The build quality and finish, as mentioned above, is very good. https://www.horue.fr/windfoil2/new-vini-2016-mn5f3-4rr46

The only thing that happens if you wait is that you'll wish you had started sooner.

At your weight if you can afford it go full carbon. Even a second hand one. Dont go any less than an 85cm mast. Short masts dont make it any easier to learn, they just make your crashes less violent when you breach. You will soon appreciate the extra length being able to fly above the chop. You will also be less likely to feel the need to upgrade after a few months. The LP foil i got has a 1m mast and was so easy to learn on and now i can cruise around hardly ever touching down. Once you've been bitten your not going to give it up so better to spend once.

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Imax1 said..
Any heavy foilers out there with some advice.
I'm after a foil with big wings for a lot of lift and I need it to be solid.
I've never tried it before and I have stable sailing skills.
I hear a lot about strength issues , and I'd rather spend $ 1500 instead of $3000.
The NP is cheap but it has small wings and looks flimsy.
The more I read the more I'm getting confused. I won't believe what the brochures try to tell me , so if there is a heavy foiler that is truely happy with theirs.???

What sort of foiling appeals to you - race/speed or ocean downwinding/wave riding?

The foils and the sails & boards are quite different. As is the relative importance of aluminum vs carbon construction.

I see Starboard have just released their new website starboardfoils.com/ and there are several potential great options with lots of lift . Three options that I would look at are:

Starboard Cruiser
Starboard Freeride
Starboard Race with 1000 front wing

With the Freeride or Race setup you can use a range of alloy mast (75,85,95 ) or carbon (85,95,110). Also you can add more or less power by changing the length of the fuselage (75, 95, 115). Eg 1000 front race wing, 115cm fuselage offers a high lift, powerful foil. For more performance add a carbon mast with 3 sizes to choose from.

Other option is to go for the new Super Cruiser which uses their surf fuselage setup ( 92cm long) and huge 1700 front wing. There is no mention by Starboard of putting on the 2000 Ocean cruiser front wing on this setup, but I imagine this would offer incredible lift... maybe too much .

Starboard have a strong presence on the PWA windsurf tour so guessing the design has proved itself as a strong contender.

I'm pushing 100kg with wetsuit etc.
have just set up a Zeeko Spitfire XXLW to Windfoil
it has a lift size comparable to a 1500cm2 conventional foil.
is slow but agile

joe windsurf said the horue's have been known to break and he may have a point. One of the foilers here in Tassie had one of the first early model full carbon horues - beautiful looking construction. It was good in higher winds (because it had a small front foil), but struggled in light winds. After sailing it for about 2 years, it broke. The broken foil did float too. So he recovered it and Horue apparently warrantied it. He's got one of the bigger front foils now.
I've got the first model naish (Al fuselage and mast, carbon wings), and really like it. A mate has the Slingshot light wind foil. We have used them both, and I'd say the Naish feels a little easier to use. However, I think the Slingshot is SLIGHTLY higher performance. Not much in it though. And I think the Slingshot may have been a bit cheaper. As for either's light wind abilities for heavier sailors, I'm not sure. I'm 70 kg so a scrawny lightweight.
my 2c worth.

was also chatting with bug fins
they are offering specials now with ww/wordwide shipping
the front wing can go as large as 103 cm span and front wing of 850 cm squared or 1100 cm squared !!

I am 95kg ish and I have a slingshot, standard infinity front wing which has huge amounts of lift and more options on the foil to make it liftier if required

Weighing in at 97kg and more with a wet wetsuit, carbon is the answer for us big blokes primarily for stiffness and strength. I'm using the AFS-85 and its fantastic.
Here's the measurements: Front Wings width : 700mm Front Wings area : 779 cm2 Fuselage length: 885mm Mast Height: 850mm There are three versions to choose from, 85, 95 & 105, with all wings interchangeable plus they're distributed in Aust by two windsurf shops and the AFS-85 retails for $1899.

Used here by Windsurfing.TV

If you go for the vini chat with philippe first, they are mostly advised for upto 95kg's, and warrenty doesn't apply for heavier riders! I really like my lok?, which is okay for riders upto 120kg's, if you're not jumping. The starboard would also be a good alternative I think. The pryde alu is really durable and tough, but doesn't offer a lot of lift (meaning you wont really be flying much earlier than 12 kts with a 9.5 or something with your weight. The AFS foils are also really stiff.

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WhiteofHeart said..
If you go for the vini chat with philippe first, they are mostly advised for upto 95kg's, and warrenty doesn't apply for heavier riders! I really like my lok?, which is okay for riders upto 120kg's, if you're not jumping. The starboard would also be a good alternative I think. The pryde alu is really durable and tough, but doesn't offer a lot of lift (meaning you wont really be flying much earlier than 12 kts with a 9.5 or something with your weight. The AFS foils are also really stiff.

I find the pryde aluminium( blue) decent as a first foil. I pritty far from a heavy weight though (65kg) so can't really comment on durability in this case.

I decided to try and make a larger front wing 80cm in span with a chord length of 17.5! I'm thinking of making a larger rear wing aswell but am hesistent to since the aluminum gets so thin back there worried it may bend and I'm not sure it would help that much since I find I have a lot of back foot pressure already.

It is a shame brands are not really promoting big wings for heavy weights or just extra light wind in general.

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CAN17 said..

WhiteofHeart said..
If you go for the vini chat with philippe first, they are mostly advised for upto 95kg's, and warrenty doesn't apply for heavier riders! I really like my lok?, which is okay for riders upto 120kg's, if you're not jumping. The starboard would also be a good alternative I think. The pryde alu is really durable and tough, but doesn't offer a lot of lift (meaning you wont really be flying much earlier than 12 kts with a 9.5 or something with your weight. The AFS foils are also really stiff.

I find the pryde aluminium( blue) decent as a first foil. I pritty far from a heavy weight though (65kg) so can't really comment on durability in this case.

I decided to try and make a larger front wing 80cm in span with a chord length of 17.5! I'm thinking of making a larger rear wing aswell but am hesistent to since the aluminum gets so thin back there worried it may bend and I'm not sure it would help that much since I find I have a lot of back foot pressure already.

It is a shame brands are not really promoting big wings for heavy weights or just extra light wind in general.

If you have backfoot preassure, putting the washer in between the stab and the fuselage so the wing is angled downward more when its under your board will help shifting the preassure forward / increasing lift. The backwing doesn't push up, but it pulls down slightly, thats why its called a stabiliser. In the ideal situation (well designed foil and good match with the board / rider weight) the stabiliser gives a neutral preassure (or no preassure at all), because it is only meant to stabilise, which means inducing drag/lift when the foil is out of tilt and not doing anything when the foil is level.