Hi I'm currently running starboard foil gear and thinking of buying a 550 front wing, I'd love to hear from someone that has one and what's their thoughts are. What wind ranges are they good for?

thanks
Waterbouy

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waterbouy101 said..
Hi I'm currently running starboard foil gear and thinking of buying a 550 front wing, I'd love to hear from someone that has one and what's their thoughts are. What wind ranges are they good for?

thanks
Waterbouy

I actually ended up learning to foil on the 550/250/115 fuse combo. They are OK. You need a ridiculous amount of speed to get them flying but are stable once in the air. As you would expect they don't fly through lulls well and are difficult to fly through gybes on as well due to the high stall speed. I bought the 800 wing after about 10 months, really appreciated its better all round performance and haven't gone back to it. As a 16-18kt + option, the 550, I think it works well but is definitely much harder work.

Hi Boston, thanks for the info. I started on the 800/255/95 fuse. I was thinking about adding the 550 for high wind and more speed, did you find the 550 much faster?

thanks

Hi Boston, thanks for the info. I started on the 800/255/95 fuse. I was thinking about adding the 550 for high wind and more speed, did you find the 550 much faster?

thanks

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waterbouy101 said..
Hi Boston, thanks for the info. I started on the 800/255/95 fuse. I was thinking about adding the 550 for high wind and more speed, did you find the 550 much faster?

thanks

Horue cruise

Wingspan 69cmSurface 673cm?100% carbon - flex lockedelliptical lift distribution - minimization of induced dragforwarded thrust centre- early planinglow Cx template - low dragwindfoil l use 18-40+kts windfoil

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waterbouy101 said..
Hi Boston, thanks for the info. I started on the 800/255/95 fuse. I was thinking about adding the 550 for high wind and more speed, did you find the 550 much faster?

thanks

Yes, definitely faster.

I have a SB 550 wing unused, willing to sell if you are interested

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waterbouy101 said..
Hi Boston, thanks for the info. I started on the 800/255/95 fuse. I was thinking about adding the 550 for high wind and more speed, did you find the 550 much faster?

thanks

I struggle with the 255 stab on the 800/95 combo and have resorted to using the 800/95/330. The larger stab just seems to make things much more comfortable. I find the 255 requires a lot more rear foot pressure and I find it not much faster then the 330.

Yeah interesting, I found the 330 to powerful the foil always wanted to jump out of the water!

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waterbouy101 said..
Yeah interesting, I found the 330 to powerful the foil always wanted to jump out of the water!

Since if switched to foil specific sails (Loft Skyscape) I've found the more forward COE and much less lift they provide a game-changer. What sails are you using, waterbouy101?

Hi, I have sevene hypergulide 2, 9 meter and 8 meter and Neil Pryde speedster 7.2 and 6.2. Two race style and two for blasting around. The Severne sails are great for upwind /downwind but not much fun for blasting around

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waterbouy101 said..
Hi I'm currently running starboard foil gear and thinking of buying a 550 front wing, I'd love to hear from someone that has one and what's their thoughts are. What wind ranges are they good for?

thanks
Waterbouy

Did you ended up getting a 550 wing? I am thinking the same and since im only 60kg I think it could make sense in the 15-20kt wind range but struggle to find much info about it...

75 kg with Naish 600 front wing.
6-12, I use the 1220 sq cm.
8-15 and up, I use the 600 with a 5.3 sail.
12-21, preferred sail is 4.0 with 600 wing.
Gusts over 22, just survive.

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Bennn said..

waterbouy101 said..
Hi I'm currently running starboard foil gear and thinking of buying a 550 front wing, I'd love to hear from someone that has one and what's their thoughts are. What wind ranges are they good for?

thanks
Waterbouy

Did you ended up getting a 550 wing? I am thinking the same and since im only 60kg I think it could make sense in the 15-20kt wind range but struggle to find much info about it...

G'day yep I got a 550 wing, definitely faster. It's very similar in profile to the 800 just smaller and noticeably more unstable. Feels like slalom sailing as it required a lot of rear foot pressure to keep it flying.

Small hi aspect foils need to be moved forward....or you need to move back.

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LeeD said..
Small hi aspect foils need to be moved forward....or you need to move back.

Well that depends on how fast you are going, the 550 on the old 95 fuse with with a -2/255 tail won't fly till 17kn but was very comfortable at 27kn

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LeeD said..
Small hi aspect foils need to be moved forward....or you need to move back.

Or you need more rake, or more up elevator, or both.

Means you need to adjust for different wings.

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waterbouy101 said..

Bennn said..

waterbouy101 said..
Hi I'm currently running starboard foil gear and thinking of buying a 550 front wing, I'd love to hear from someone that has one and what's their thoughts are. What wind ranges are they good for?

thanks
Waterbouy

Did you ended up getting a 550 wing? I am thinking the same and since im only 60kg I think it could make sense in the 15-20kt wind range but struggle to find much info about it...

G'day yep I got a 550 wing, definitely faster. It's very similar in profile to the 800 just smaller and noticeably more unstable. Feels like slalom sailing as it required a lot of rear foot pressure to keep it flying.

Have you tried with the 95+ fuselage by any chance? I am thinking that with the right shim it might become balanced again (not so back footed) without having to change footstrap mast base position much or at all...

Just following up, with the 550/95+/225 at 0deg, the foil is pretty stable an not noticeably back footed. If I switch to a 800/95+/225 at -1deg I get the same balance without changing foot straps or mast base position. The 550 setup is pretty sweet above 15kts...except for foiling gybes...as mentioned above..

Interesting read thanks everyone. I'm going to try and eck out some PB's on the 550 with 105 fuselage and 255-2 rear.
At (relative) slow speeds I think I WANT a lot of rear foot pressure so that as the foil accelerates the excess lift doesn't launch me! Aiming for a neutral feel over 25!

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berowne said..
Interesting read thanks everyone. I'm going to try and eck out some PB's on the 550 with 105 fuselage and 255-2 rear.
At (relative) slow speeds I think I WANT a lot of rear foot pressure so that as the foil accelerates the excess lift doesn't launch me! Aiming for a neutral feel over 25!

It's an interesting theory, let us know how it goes for you.