Manta has what looks to be a very well built aluminum foil for 2018. Would love to hear foilers who have had success or no success with this 2018 foil. They are keeping this foil for at least 2 years...which is different from many other brands. They are priced well at $710 usd for there long fuseledge at 96cm and $695 for the standard 84cm fuse. They have a fairly large flange at the tuttle head, they actually sell it with a even larger flange available. The brand is formed by Renaud Barbier (former equipment manufacturer/design for Zeeko). The windsurfing magazine said that it is the only aluminum foil that doesn't "sing". Its walls of the mast look thincker then my pryde Alu and the mast looks more solid too especially because it does not tapper off at the stab. The wings are g10 like my pryde foil but they are wider in span at 76cm and higher aspect. Mast is 86cm (90cm with fuse on). There isn't a whole lot of stores selling it in North America but Aus and NZ have stores carrying these foils. I think most of there stuff is sold through there website. Like some other brands you can switch between different wings with one fuseledge weather for kite, surf or windfoiling.

Several of us here in Canterbury NZ use these foils.
As you say, bargain price and they work well.
Fairly heavy (5.2-5.7kg) but that doesn't seem to be a problem except for humping it into the water when you're launching.
Don't bother with the multi use 66cm SUP/Windfoil front wing, you will grow out of it real quick.
The 76 cm free ride front wing is good. Manta have 2 fuselage lengths and the longer (+125cm) is noticeably more stable and easy to use.
The longer mast is easier to use also. With the 65cm you're touching down often.
The stabiliser wing is very adjustable and effective. We sail fresh water lakes and sea water and the stabiliser compensates for this difference very easliy.
A good buy, we all think.

I compared the mast wall thickness with the pride Ali and slingshot it is more than double the pride and double the slingshot so it's quite strong for a heavyweight.

Yeah, I'm tempted to get one. Would go with the long 96cm fuse.

I'm not a heavy weight but defiantly appreciate the rigidity and the flange which definitely would help on my formula board thats not reinforced.

Other then being a bit heavery hauling it to the water (which it not a issue for me to walk 15meters with it). Would you say the only other real disadvantage is top speed? At the moment I really don't feel comfortable going over 25 knots anyway

Watch the mast chord size. Manta seem to have more than one.
Mine is 124mm but my mates is only 112mm and our local expert reckons that one bends and that he can feel it.
As an aside, this week he tried an Axis and reckons that it has a real stiff mast compared to all of these alu masts.
He has Fanatic and NP himself.
He's very impressed with the Axis, way better than all the rest (he's sailed 5 brands) he reckons.
Not that fast but very easy to sail and gybes itself.
Very well engineered and the wing mount is brilliant.
But, nearly 3 times the price of the Manta.
PS....I'm not an Axis salesman.

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Te Hau said..
Watch the mast chord size. Manta seem to have more than one.
Mine is 124mm but my mates is only 112mm and our local expert reckons that one bends and that he can feel it.
As an aside, this week he tried an Axis and reckons that it has a real stiff mast compared to all of these alu masts.
He has Fanatic and NP himself.
He's very impressed with the Axis, way better than all the rest (he's sailed 5 brands) he reckons.
Not that fast but very easy to sail and gybes itself.
Very well engineered and the wing mount is brilliant.
But, nearly 3 times the price of the Manta.
PS....I'm not an Axis salesman.

Is yours the 2018 mono?
The 2018 mono mast is called the "v2". I asked Renaud (owner) if it was 124mm... Will let you know what he says. But thanks for the head up!

Is the 2018 black or gray? Just curious, but on there site it looks black on one pic and dark gray on others. The pervouis 2017 model is gray, but I believe these are both '18s.

That's the one we've got, as in your photo.
The 112mm mast was black, ours are grey.

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Te Hau said..
That's the one we've got, as in your photo.
The 112mm mast was black, ours are grey.

I'm pritty sure the 2018 mono's are that gray one pictured above.

Renaud said, "the v2 masts have a chord length of 126mm ( actually 126.562mm from picture he sent me). That guy with the black mast has the v1; which has nothing to do in stiffness with the v2"

Not sure why there foils are black when showing the specs. They are that gray colour when they show them attached to boards on there site.

I sailed a lot with the 2018, and it is quite good. The long fuse allows for great stability and fairly good upwind. The foil flies very early for the wingsize, and the trimrange on the stab is huge making it usable with a lot of different boards. The mast is stiff enough to use on a formula (one of my friends did this for racing in the beginning of the year and worked fine), however, above a certain speed, even with a smaller board, you get wobbles, most probably due to flex in the long fuselage. Also, when I jumped it I almost lost about every screw that's in the thing....

all in all very good foil for the price, and one of the most (if not the most) versatile for matching with different boards / riding styles, due to the humongous trimrange on the rake for the stab.

for what its worth. I am sponsored by a different foilbrand (F-One) which are a little more expensive. I found the F-One foils are both faster and easier to ride (maybe the most laterally stable foil I've ever had), but are best coupled with a dedicated board. If you want to give foiling a go and have a piece of inexpensive kit which with near certainty fits with the bigger slalomboards or freerideboards you currently have I don't think there is a better product than the manta on the market. However, due to the relatively small wingsize early flight remains limited. It is a lot better than the pryde alu, but not as good as an F-One or Lokefoil for example. I think minimum winds would be around 9 knots, but I have to say I never pushed this foil to the bare minimum. With my Lokefoil I had a very nicely powered up session today in an average 7-8kt wind (5-6 in the lulls / 10 in the gusts) with 8.6 and the formula.

White of Heart. ...........Just wait until you try the new Axis windfoil....... (at least according to our local hot shot).
He's not sponsored, nor me.
He reckons it's super stable,very easy to use and gybes itself, much better than the 5 others he's tried, NP, Fanatic, Manta, MFC, Slingshot.