Hello all,

I've progressed a fair bit in the last year and wing on average every other day. I'm thinking of either staying with Gong and getting the carbon 85cm mast setup along with 1 or 2 more progressive foils or moving to Fone Phantom, Axis or Sab (Moses).

Anyone with any views or have made the switch away from Gong Foils.

* There's a few things that frustrate me about Gong although in the same breath they've also been brilliant. A recent example - upgraded to the V2 Aluminium mast which is great, super stiff and no twist. But... and there's a big but... it leaks water in the mast. There's no fix and I've tried everything..

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IanInca said..
Hello all,

I've progressed a fair bit in the last year and wing on average every other day. I'm thinking of either staying with Gong and getting the carbon 85cm mast setup along with 1 or 2 more progressive foils or moving to Fone Phantom, Axis or Sab (Moses).

Anyone with any views or have made the switch away from Gong Foils.

* There's a few things that frustrate me about Gong although in the same breath they've also been brilliant. A recent example - upgraded to the V2 Aluminium mast which is great, super stiff and no twist. But... and there's a big but... it leaks water in the mast. There's no fix and I've tried everything..

Fill the mast with expanding foam. It worked great with a GA hybrid foil I had with the same problem.

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IanInca said..
Hello all,

I've progressed a fair bit in the last year and wing on average every other day. I'm thinking of either staying with Gong and getting the carbon 85cm mast setup along with 1 or 2 more progressive foils or moving to Fone Phantom, Axis or Sab (Moses).

Anyone with any views or have made the switch away from Gong Foils.

* There's a few things that frustrate me about Gong although in the same breath they've also been brilliant. A recent example - upgraded to the V2 Aluminium mast which is great, super stiff and no twist. But... and there's a big but... it leaks water in the mast. There's no fix and I've tried everything..

Having to fix water in the mast didn't bother me much, I do really like the new mast even though it's heavy like the Axis mast. A little Locktite brand expand foam, same as I used on the v1 mast works fine. The harder thing to address on the new v2 aluminium set up, for me is the over drilled counter sunk holes on the v2 fuselage.
But even with these small issues their foil gear is better than my skill level, so I really don't see myself changing any time soon.
We owned 7 of thier foil wings over the past years. And just those with another brand would have been a few thousand more out of my pocket.

But If I thought thier gear was holding back my progress, thenbfor me the Takuma or Armstrong foil gear would have to be up for consideration.

For the water leak, I do not have a V2 mast, but what I read on the FB group was that the connector part entering the mast is not flat like on the V1, so if it pushes the rubber blocks, it sets them at a slight angle, and they leak.

You have to push the blocks in yourself by hand with some rod, to be sure they sit straight and are not touched by the connector.

PS: it is a pity that a lot of this info happen on the Facebook group, where it is very difficult to find anything, and is not indexed by Google. An FB group was necessary I guess because a lot of people seem to not want to use a forum nowadays... I try to copy the info I find useful on the Gong forum (or here), but I miss some of them.

Edit: ah, here it is:

www.facebook.com/groups/174002002631963/permalink/4278301208868668/

In French, but you can see the pic:
I guess filling the "U" of the connector to obtain a flat end could work, too.
Another example of "best is worse": trying to gain some grams by removing some material can have unexpected consequences :-)

I rode a Gong Pro (Curve) XL for 8 months with the "spongy" V1 aluminum mast with the intention of upgrading to SAB (Moses) since my kitefoiling gear was SAB (typical 633/483 combo). Bought the SAB W790, W1100 and the Surf 72cm and 82cm carbon masts. They worked but I wasn't really that impressed with them. Sold the 790 and 1100. Test rode a couple of friends Axis and Lift foils. Again OK (and very good construction quality), BUT nothing that really stood out performance wise compared to my trusty Gong Pro XL. At the time Gong only had the 70cm and 100cm carbon mast so I modified a Gong fuselage to fit the Axis aluminum surf masts. Very stiff but heavy!
When Gong announced the Veloce wings I figured I'd give them a try since I was very happy with the Pro XL. Got a Veloce XL and XXL with a 47cm Veloce stabilizer. From my very first ride on my Veloce XL it was like instant Karma for my riding style and skill level. That's just me I guess. When the Veloce's first came out Gong still only had the 70cm and 100cm carbon mast options so I had another custom fuselage made to work with my SAB masts. I also tapped in a fully separate 3rd M6 screw for the front-wing-to-fuselage connection since that was another Gong weak point for me.

I have a Veloce L-T due in any day with high expectations. I'd love to demo some Armstrong gear and the newer Axis foils but there is nothing available to try at all. So sticking with my current Gong progression. No regrets..
In 1-2 years everything will likely change again

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colas said..
For the water leak, I do not have a V2 mast, but what I read on the FB group was that the connector part entering the mast is not flat like on the V1, so if it pushes the rubber blocks, it sets them at a slight angle, and they leak.

You have to push the blocks in yourself by hand with some rod, to be sure they sit straight and are not touched by the connector.

PS: it is a pity that a lot of this info happen on the Facebook group, where it is very difficult to find anything, and is not indexed by Google. An FB group was necessary I guess because a lot of people seem to not want to use a forum nowadays... I try to copy the info I find useful on the Gong forum (or here), but I miss some of them.

Edit: ah, here it is:

www.facebook.com/groups/174002002631963/permalink/4278301208868668/

In French, but you can see the pic:
I guess filling the "U" of the connector to obtain a flat end could work, too.
Another example of "best is worse": trying to gain some grams by removing some material can have unexpected consequences :-)

I tried things mentioned on FB, inserted flat... Like op said it still leaked a little.

Of course there are a few sealants that could seal the plugs but IMO the plugs are a little too small. It needs more of a interference fit to seal good. It could just be batch inconsistency thing but if just a tad bigger I think the plugs would be great.

Colas, you don't happen ton know what size screws to use on the v2 aluminium fuselage to mast connection?
I assume they made the threads loose in the mast on purpose. Maybe so screws will be less likely to cease up over time. I tried the 35mm and they just seem like not enough thread contact.

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Fishdude said..
I tried things mentioned on FB, inserted flat... Like op said it still leaked a little.

I guess I have used some sealant on my V1, no big deal.

On screw sizes, every Gong product has its technical data downloadable in the PDF user guide at the bottom of each product page, click on:



E.g:

I have changed recently from Gong Curve LT and Rise XL to Axis 1010. Compared to the LT ( near same surface) and with 5 cm shorter mast, Axis more than 1 kg lighter.
Very noticeable in dry land, and a little less in the water.
For me, equally fast ( or slow) but 1010 much more controllable and more glide. Curve Lt a little bit more carving ability and more nervous.

The differences with Rise XL are logically much more pronounced, being the Rise better only in low end (but not by much).

Overall I think I have done a good swap, but I think Gong is a great brand to get started with ( second hand foil maybe 3 times cheaper than Axis).