Another review - lots going on except here.

Just got my HA980 today.

Wow.

"Game changer" is so overused but in this case I don't know what else to call it.

The new FG boards, and now the new wing boards are incredible, but I wouldn't say game changer.

Even the performance mast was such an incredible upgrade from the A+ mast, still won't say game changer.

This new HA foil tho, I'm absolutely mind blown. I was expecting a lot, with all the hype and anticipation, but I honestly did not expect THIS much.
I bought it to replace my HA1125 for prone and wing foiling.
Today was my first time on it. It instantly leveled me up significantly. I've been wing foiling for about a year I guess, pretty comfortable with gybes and tacks, but turning has always felt sketchy to me, like I really have to concentrate to keep from spinning out, or breaching, never felt like surfing where you can just push hard and do big comfortable carves.

Until today.

It's the first time on a foil that I actually felt like I was surfing. Reading the wave in a similar way as surfing, drawn out bottom turns and wrapping cutbacks back into the pocket etc.

That's the biggest thing, the beautiful smooth confidence inspiring way it rolls and turns.
But also very significant improvements in pretty much every area.

Breach recovery is astounding, effortless. 1125 would just slam me even from the tiniest breach.

The speed and glide are incredible. I know these are technically a bit slower than the original HA foils, but no. They're not. They're actually faster. Here's why: The lift, glide and stall speed are so good, with the concave sections or however they did it, that I went 2 sizes smaller. 1125 to 980.
Maybe the 1180 would be slower than 1125, but because I was able to drop two sizes, I'm now riding a faster foil. Also extremely stable at high speed.

Another thing that I noticed and really love is the way it gets up on foil. It doesn't jerk up suddenly, it's a very gentle lift. Thats huge for wing foiling, and probably even more important for prone.

Like I said, for me I feel that every single aspect of this foil has been pretty significantly improved.

Today was the best session I've ever had, and I don't know if you can tell, but I'm FROTHING!!

If you're on the fence about getting one, do it!! And if you hadn't planned to upgrade even, also do it. This is the best upgrade I've made since I started foiling.

Thank you Armstrong Foils for designing the best foil on the market, and thank you Hawaiian Watersports for always looking after me with my gear.

STOKED.

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eppo said..
Another review - lots going on except here.

Just got my HA980 today.

Wow.

"Game changer" is so overused but in this case I don't know what else to call it.

The new FG boards, and now the new wing boards are incredible, but I wouldn't say game changer.

Even the performance mast was such an incredible upgrade from the A+ mast, still won't say game changer.

This new HA foil tho, I'm absolutely mind blown. I was expecting a lot, with all the hype and anticipation, but I honestly did not expect THIS much.
I bought it to replace my HA1125 for prone and wing foiling.
Today was my first time on it. It instantly leveled me up significantly. I've been wing foiling for about a year I guess, pretty comfortable with gybes and tacks, but turning has always felt sketchy to me, like I really have to concentrate to keep from spinning out, or breaching, never felt like surfing where you can just push hard and do big comfortable carves.

Until today.

It's the first time on a foil that I actually felt like I was surfing. Reading the wave in a similar way as surfing, drawn out bottom turns and wrapping cutbacks back into the pocket etc.

That's the biggest thing, the beautiful smooth confidence inspiring way it rolls and turns.
But also very significant improvements in pretty much every area.

Breach recovery is astounding, effortless. 1125 would just slam me even from the tiniest breach.

The speed and glide are incredible. I know these are technically a bit slower than the original HA foils, but no. They're not. They're actually faster. Here's why: The lift, glide and stall speed are so good, with the concave sections or however they did it, that I went 2 sizes smaller. 1125 to 980.
Maybe the 1180 would be slower than 1125, but because I was able to drop two sizes, I'm now riding a faster foil. Also extremely stable at high speed.

Another thing that I noticed and really love is the way it gets up on foil. It doesn't jerk up suddenly, it's a very gentle lift. Thats huge for wing foiling, and probably even more important for prone.

Like I said, for me I feel that every single aspect of this foil has been pretty significantly improved.

Today was the best session I've ever had, and I don't know if you can tell, but I'm FROTHING!!

If you're on the fence about getting one, do it!! And if you hadn't planned to upgrade even, also do it. This is the best upgrade I've made since I started foiling.

Thank you Armstrong Foils for designing the best foil on the market, and thank you Hawaiian Watersports for always looking after me with my gear.

STOKED.

I think its a relative thing that maybe you can't understand Eppo. All brands have their weaknesses and for the dedicated Armstrong fanatics that have endured such underperforming equipment for so long, now a new mast and a new HA foil has set them free. Now they realize that after all these years they can actually surf foil well and at a higher level and are now frothing over there on the riders group and this is great as we are all foilers. Now is it just a catch up to other brands or a leap frog because if others trust their brand then they know they will leap frog again soon?

You shouldn't put us down here in the breeze just because we seem uninterested when many of us have already been through this moment with other brands and are very happy knowing our equipment has a thin stiff fast mast with good connections, easy to breach, easy to pump, lovely glide and turn, that suits our ability and local conditions, all the while being confident our brand will leap frog others again soon.

not putting you down per say but your need to sh1t on the armstrong brand, on a thread designed to inform people about the HA wing.

Dont see others crapping over other brands as hard - and i've ridden them all mate - and they all have their pros and cons. But i don't jump on threads with stoked riders and crap on their parade.

Plenty of people around the world were still ripping on armie gear before the mast - which incidentally did jump well ahead of the pack and is still there.

echo echo echo.

man this is such a terrible place for informative discussion on gear. Dying and dead. chow.

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eppo said..
Another review - lots going on except here.

Great that you're happy with the new gear. Looking at a lot of stuff written here and on other platforms, when any new gear comes out, what is reported is positive to extremely positive. That's a mix of actual improvements, confirmation bias, and the plain fact that people who are disappointed with a new purchase usually don't talk about it (except perhaps a lot later, after unloading the new gear again).

But if you write up something like this and call it "review", you are seriously undermining your own credibility. If this is such a huge improvement over previous gear, then either the new stuff is a lot better than other brands (very unlikely), or the stuff before was clearly worse than what other brands offered (more likely). But I have the feeling that your previous reports were also very positive. I have seen this before with multiple team riders, who always had only wonderful things to report about their gear, until they switched brands, and then reported that the new brand was so much better. Of course, there were also those who never switched, but also never reported any of the widely known shortcomings of their brands.

I don't have any particular feelings about Armstrong. I tried them a couple of times and did not care for them, but that may be my limited skill. My wife loves them and rocks on them. She reports that the feedback on the new HAs seems to be "only good", although I got the same impression about the MAs when they came out, and that definitely changed over time. They are reasons for our different views of Armstrong gear that match what others report, like my higher weight that seems to be too much for the original masts, and her crazy skills that let her have fun on the original HAs. Context is important. If you want to label an excited rant about your new gear "review", at least give some background like weight, conditions, and skill. And mention that you are a team rider. If that's too much to ask, we'll just have to assume that a primary motivation for enthusiastic reports is that you want to stay a team rider and keep getting cheap gear (which for many team riders is basically free, since they can sell it for what they paid when the next toys come out).

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boardsurfr said..

eppo said..
Another review - lots going on except here.

Great that you're happy with the new gear. Looking at a lot of stuff written here and on other platforms, when any new gear comes out, what is reported is positive to extremely positive. That's a mix of actual improvements, confirmation bias, and the plain fact that people who are disappointed with a new purchase usually don't talk about it (except perhaps a lot later, after unloading the new gear again).

But if you write up something like this and call it "review", you are seriously undermining your own credibility. If this is such a huge improvement over previous gear, then either the new stuff is a lot better than other brands (very unlikely), or the stuff before was clearly worse than what other brands offered (more likely). But I have the feeling that your previous reports were also very positive. I have seen this before with multiple team riders, who always had only wonderful things to report about their gear, until they switched brands, and then reported that the new brand was so much better. Of course, there were also those who never switched, but also never reported any of the widely known shortcomings of their brands.

I don't have any particular feelings about Armstrong. I tried them a couple of times and did not care for them, but that may be my limited skill. My wife loves them and rocks on them. She reports that the feedback on the new HAs seems to be "only good", although I got the same impression about the MAs when they came out, and that definitely changed over time. They are reasons for our different views of Armstrong gear that match what others report, like my higher weight that seems to be too much for the original masts, and her crazy skills that let her have fun on the original HAs. Context is important. If you want to label an excited rant about your new gear "review", at least give some background like weight, conditions, and skill. And mention that you are a team rider. If that's too much to ask, we'll just have to assume that a primary motivation for enthusiastic reports is that you want to stay a team rider and keep getting cheap gear (which for many team riders is basically free, since they can sell it for what they paid when the next toys come out).

Eppo did not write these as reviews. He is copying and pasting them from the Armie facebook page over here.

This used to be great forum in terms of everyone talking about all brands. It seems like a lot of people have migrated to there own little corner of facebook. I hate the fact of this reality because their is some much good information about all the brands from normal Joes who spend their own money to say what they like or dont like. All this information is now just wasted in an echo chamber.

I am not a facebook guy. I have to borrow my brother's account just to read the Armie page to find out about their stuff. If I rode axis or code or gofoil, I would be doing the same thing because there is hardly **** on this forum about those brands either. I am grateful that Eppo has done this and I am sure there may be 1 or 2 other people have liked reading about it too. It also was only just released , what 10 days ago. So it is good that some people have purchased it and given their feedback since it has been a good step/jump in performance. And this would be good for any brand.

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eppo said..
not putting you down per say but your need to sh1t on the armstrong brand, on a thread designed to inform people about the HA wing.

Dont see others crapping over other brands as hard - and i've ridden them all mate - and they all have their pros and cons. But i don't jump on threads with stoked riders and crap on their parade.

Plenty of people around the world were still ripping on armie gear before the mast - which incidentally did jump well ahead of the pack and is still there.

echo echo echo.

man this is such a terrible place for informative discussion on gear. Dying and dead. chow.

Same old eppo. Can you try to keep it at least a little real. I said good things about the new ha's. Many of us also read the riders groups and it is exactly an echo chamber and that is in all the brands. The groups are good once you have settled on a brand and want information relative to a brand.
We come here for genuine information that we hope is contextualised and some times there is gold here in the breeze. You should stop putting people down with opinions especially truthful ones. I think this thread has been more than fair and if anything generous.

maybe reread the whole thread as I have just done. We don't come here for marketing.

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AnyBoard said..

eppo said..
not putting you down per say but your need to sh1t on the armstrong brand, on a thread designed to inform people about the HA wing.

Dont see others crapping over other brands as hard - and i've ridden them all mate - and they all have their pros and cons. But i don't jump on threads with stoked riders and crap on their parade.

Plenty of people around the world were still ripping on armie gear before the mast - which incidentally did jump well ahead of the pack and is still there.

echo echo echo.

man this is such a terrible place for informative discussion on gear. Dying and dead. chow.

Same old eppo. Can you try to keep it at least a little real. I said good things about the new ha's. Many of us also read the riders groups and it is exactly an echo chamber and that is in all the brands. The groups are good once you have settled on a brand and want information relative to a brand.
We come here for genuine information that we hope is contextualised and some times there is gold here in the breeze. You should stop putting people down with opinions especially truthful ones. I think this thread has been more than fair and if anything generous.

maybe reread the whole thread as I have just done. We don't come here for marketing.

Mate, I'm sorry, but have you ridden the new HA foils? If not, I'm not sure why you are wasting your time trying to rag on Eppo for passing along info that a lot of us are looking for.
I've ridden just about every Armstrong foil from the CF1600 on, starting out prone surfing and now mostly winging. I've got the 880 arriving Thursday and I will report back with hopefully useful info, or just 'fanatical echo chamber blah blah' you seem to fancy all us Armstrong frothers spew. cheers!

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MidAtlanticFoil said..

AnyBoard said..

eppo said..
not putting you down per say but your need to sh1t on the armstrong brand, on a thread designed to inform people about the HA wing.

Dont see others crapping over other brands as hard - and i've ridden them all mate - and they all have their pros and cons. But i don't jump on threads with stoked riders and crap on their parade.

Plenty of people around the world were still ripping on armie gear before the mast - which incidentally did jump well ahead of the pack and is still there.

echo echo echo.

man this is such a terrible place for informative discussion on gear. Dying and dead. chow.

Same old eppo. Can you try to keep it at least a little real. I said good things about the new ha's. Many of us also read the riders groups and it is exactly an echo chamber and that is in all the brands. The groups are good once you have settled on a brand and want information relative to a brand.
We come here for genuine information that we hope is contextualised and some times there is gold here in the breeze. You should stop putting people down with opinions especially truthful ones. I think this thread has been more than fair and if anything generous.

maybe reread the whole thread as I have just done. We don't come here for marketing.

Mate, I'm sorry, but have you ridden the new HA foils? If not, I'm not sure why you are wasting your time trying to rag on Eppo for passing along info that a lot of us are looking for.
I've ridden just about every Armstrong foil from the CF1600 on, starting out prone surfing and now mostly winging. I've got the 880 arriving Thursday and I will report back with hopefully useful info, or just 'fanatical echo chamber blah blah' you seem to fancy all us Armstrong frothers spew. cheers!

Your entitled to your opinion but maybe you should have read the thread in its entirety. Eppo dug his own grave.
Its a lot of money to change brands.
I am sure you will be happy on the 880. Enjoy.

I have recently got the HA1080/880 and am still frothing how good they are in the surf and DW, haven't tried them on the wing but thats not as important for me as Armstrong have always been leading the pack on those.

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Wingman WA said..
I have recently got the HA1080/880 and am still frothing how good they are in the surf and DW, haven't tried them on the wing but thats not as important for me as Armstrong have always been leading the pack on those.

Glad you are finally happy with a foil

I will wait until we go out in good swell to see if you are truly happy

hmmm armstrong burnt many early foilers, been on the GC for almost a year and there's 2 people I have seen foiling with armie gear.

if you look back to many armie threads you'll notice the same theme as this one and the same players.

I got burnt by armie, never will return, no idea what the new HA's are like, but good luck to all brands, business is ruthless and the best will survive, let's see what happens in the next year, but after 3+ years foiling and multiple brands, I'm finally content and doubt I'll ever change again

I guess everyone posting here has their own agenda, whether its free or discounted foils for pumping who knows, maybe we should enforce sponsorship/relationship exposure with posters so we know if there's a brand affiliation of some sort. I pay full retail, do you?

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noepoxy said..
hmmm armstrong burnt many early foilers, been on the GC for almost a year and there's 2 people I have seen foiling with armie gear.

if you look back to many armie threads you'll notice the same theme as this one and the same players.

I got burnt by armie, never will return, no idea what the new HA's are like, but good luck to all brands, business is ruthless and the best will survive, let's see what happens in the next year, but after 3+ years foiling and multiple brands, I'm finally content and doubt I'll ever change again

I guess everyone posting here has their own agenda, whether its free or discounted foils for pumping who knows, maybe we should enforce sponsorship/relationship exposure with posters so we know if there's a brand affiliation of some sort. I pay full retail, do you?

Haha 'Armstrong burnt so many early foilers'. How many brands were making foils in the early days? You had Lift, Gofoil, Armstrong, Cloud IX, and Naish as far as I can recall. I'm guessing those brands were not making any mistakes.

I'm glad you found a good foil for your style of riding and skill level. That's all that matters! Armstrong has definitely made some crappy wings over the years in hindsight, but I learned to ride on them and my skill is probably better for it now. Would I learn to wing on a 2400 wing if i were to start over? No lol. Or learn to prone on a cf1600?

They've finally put their R&D muscle behind a prone foil by the sounds of it and I'm psyching. The MAs should have been marketed as a wing foil so full time proners could have avoided if connecting more than 2-3 waves is the priority.

I get a very minor loyalty discount from my retailer, but that applies to any brand/gear I want to buy.

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Wingman WA said..
I have recently got the HA1080/880 and am still frothing how good they are in the surf and DW, haven't tried them on the wing but thats not as important for me as Armstrong have always been leading the pack on those.

That looks like a great run! You know that when the bumps look fun/good size on GoPro footage, that they are for real.
Which foil was that, the 880? Also which tail and shim were you running?

I just had a killer DW wing session in bay conditions with the DW930. Surprisingly nimble and surfy for the span, at least paired with the 140.

Lots of reviews on these new HA, which are the usual game-changer, better than anything before.
But let's be real.
The MA kinda were. Compared to the previous Armie's front the MA were something new in the sense that they were a very user friendly foil. And I think they got a decent mkt penetration particularly for intermediate riders, looking to get a more premium products. If you, like me, jumped from another brand into Armstrong, I feel getting the MA was the perfect match. As of now still no other foil allows you to recover from mistakes (breaching or ventilating) as easy as the MAs.

Now I really want to understand how are the HA different from the MA. What I heard so far is that the new HA are everything the MAs do and more.

You cant have it all. If the HA are faster, more glide, turns better, recover better than the MA, then I'd get very pissed, because why would we get stuffed with MA if the HA, released only few months after, are that much better??? The HA MUST have a higher stall speed, must turn slower and recover somehow worse..otherwise this whole taxonomy of foils from Armstrong is all bogus.


I would really appreciate a honest review, from intermediate wing riders (cant care less what pros write and review because it seldom applies to common mortals and it is typically super biased), about the pros and cons of HA vs MA.

Thank you!

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SlowlyButSurely said..
Lots of reviews on these new HA, which are the usual game-changer, better than anything before.
But let's be real.
The MA kinda were. Compared to the previous Armie's front the MA were something new in the sense that they were a very user friendly foil. And I think they got a decent mkt penetration particularly for intermediate riders, looking to get a more premium products. If you, like me, jumped from another brand into Armstrong, I feel getting the MA was the perfect match. As of now still no other foil allows you to recover from mistakes (breaching or ventilating) as easy as the MAs.

Now I really want to understand how are the HA different from the MA. What I heard so far is that the new HA are everything the MAs do and more.

You cant have it all. If the HA are faster, more glide, turns better, recover better than the MA, then I'd get very pissed, because why would we get stuffed with MA if the HA, released only few months after, are that much better??? The HA MUST have a higher stall speed, must turn slower and recover somehow worse..otherwise this whole taxonomy of foils from Armstrong is all bogus.


I would really appreciate a honest review, from intermediate wing riders (cant care less what pros write and review because it seldom applies to common mortals and it is typically super biased), about the pros and cons of HA vs MA.

Thank you!

I'm guessing that the higher aspect ratio will give you more glide and eke out more lift all things constant. The MAs shine when there is power on tap from a swell (or wing), but when you hit the flats or perform a tack/gybe, the clock starts ticking for a power up from the wing or new wave.
hey, if this range turns out to be the one to rule them all, you can't fault Armstrong crew for that. Should they stop searching for the perfect wing? I think they've been working on these HAs on the prone side, with winging crew not allowed to give much input, where as the MAs sounds like it was the opposite.
My HA880 arrives tomorrow, so I hope to have a comparison to the MA1000 and HA925 soon.
Lately I've been winging the HA525, MA625, MA800 for powered sessions, and MA1000 for medium days, with the DW930 and DW755 mixed in for DW wing sessions. I think the 880 will likely cause the 1000 to find a new home, although it is really fun for me to jump and slide!

Select to expand quote

SlowlyButSurely said..
Lots of reviews on these new HA, which are the usual game-changer, better than anything before.
But let's be real.
The MA kinda were. Compared to the previous Armie's front the MA were something new in the sense that they were a very user friendly foil. And I think they got a decent mkt penetration particularly for intermediate riders, looking to get a more premium products. If you, like me, jumped from another brand into Armstrong, I feel getting the MA was the perfect match. As of now still no other foil allows you to recover from mistakes (breaching or ventilating) as easy as the MAs.

Now I really want to understand how are the HA different from the MA. What I heard so far is that the new HA are everything the MAs do and more.

You cant have it all. If the HA are faster, more glide, turns better, recover better than the MA, then I'd get very pissed, because why would we get stuffed with MA if the HA, released only few months after, are that much better??? The HA MUST have a higher stall speed, must turn slower and recover somehow worse..otherwise this whole taxonomy of foils from Armstrong is all bogus.


I would really appreciate a honest review, from intermediate wing riders (cant care less what pros write and review because it seldom applies to common mortals and it is typically super biased), about the pros and cons of HA vs MA.

Thank you!

I'm guessing that the higher aspect ratio will give you more glide and eke out more lift all things constant. The MAs shine when there is power on tap from a swell (or wing), but when you hit the flats or perform a tack/gybe, the clock starts ticking for a power up from the wing or new wave.
hey, if this range turns out to be the one to rule them all, you can't fault Armstrong crew for that. Should they stop searching for the perfect wing? I think they've been working on these HAs on the prone side, with winging crew not allowed to give much input, where as the MAs sounds like it was the opposite.
My HA880 arrives tomorrow, so I hope to have a comparison to the MA1000 and HA925 soon.
Lately I've been winging the HA525, MA625, MA800 for powered sessions, and MA1000 for medium days, with the DW930 and DW755 mixed in for DW wing sessions. I think the 880 will likely cause the 1000 to find a new home, although it is really fun for me to jump and slide!

Here's a review from someone on the fbook page:

"Did a back to back session between the 1125 and 880. I rarely use the 925 unless it's consistently 20mph as I don't like struggling to take off in colder weather. Both were wing sessions in about 10 to 16 mph. Waves about waist high plus. Both were essentially the same for lift off for the amount pumps to lift off, but the 880 is less frantic. Overall all avg speed on foil edged on the 880, but wasn't my focus of that session. I would give glide to the 1125, but the 880 where it shined was on the swell or wave and the ability to slow down and turn/roll. In that sense it felt like just loosening your skate trucks up and creating tighter radius turns at slower speeds going down a mellow hill compared to the longer drawn out carves on the 1125. But I was just amazed I could ride an 880 in those conditions. It turned magical at some points and I really like the 1125 unlike others foe my local conditions, especially proning. But I am heading out today and tomorrow to prone and brought both wings.

I paired both wings with the 180 speed and no shim. On a 725 perf mast.

Other notes are ability to recover from mistakes. This is much like the ma wings. I call the 1225 ma I have look proof, because I can manage all sorts of maneuvers I would otherwise yard sale. The 880 had that similar feel.

I think the next one will be the 1080 for my size and conditions here mainly just for prone and downwind or shore runners.'

-Greg

My HA880 showed up a day early and as luck would have it, an un-forecasted breeze set up on the river (3rd day in a row!). Long winded session review to follow:


Needless to say I put work to the side and geared up with my 6'3" 85L DW board, 795mast, 60 fuse, 140 stab(no shim) and took off the DW930 and popped on the HA880. At the water it looked almost too light, to the point where I was about to grab my 7M, but thought the 4.6 XPS would be the call given the DW board, and I was right. The meter at the top of the bridge lift was reading 14-17mph. It was probably 10-16mph, with an occasional tiny whitecap.


So after riding the DW930 and DW755 the last two previous sessions in the same wind direction, it was a nice change to get on a more user friendly foil. It was just a very very pleasant foil to cruise around on from first flight. Getting on foil was a piece of cake, especially with the DW board and my 65KGs. The water was flat near shore and I wasn't expecting bumps, but I saw a few whitecaps about a half mile offshore so I hightailed it out there to find and absolute mental zone around 100 meter wide with the current really ripping out against the breeze, setting up tightly packed, semi cross hatched knee-thigh high steep bumps - reminiscent of East Coast mogul fields on the slopes. Weaving through and picking lines to bank turns, just like snowboard, resulted in a few hoots for sure.


The 880 ate it up! I was able to DW when I wanted and also cruise up wind and slash turns, but turning radius wasn't quite tight enough to avoid running into the back of the wave in front (only probably 2 meters crest to crest), plus the hand wing was full on negative apparent wind, so heineken gybes were a must, so it was all a bit hectic. With more wind and normal gybes I would have had room to throttle cutbacks. Even when running into the wing and the back of swells, I never came off foil due to a stall.

While DW bump gliding on the technical cross-hatch, the 880 was kinda brilliant! I've never been able to recover from touch downs as much as that, despite holding up a dead wing with one arm. With the 925 or 1125, they would often stall through the column when pushing to get back up, or require some really technical balance skill to save an almost stall. It was some work, but i was able to cruise downwind a few hundred yards at a time, overtaking bumps and shooting gaps, before my heart rate demanded some rest.


On the way back up wind, I ran a speed run going upwind, then bearing slightly offwind into a broad reach and hit 16.6 knts. It wasn't like i was in any huge gusts, so I was pretty happy with that. I went in and changed to the 205 surf stab with red shim and hit 17.7 knts subsequently, so a shimmed 140 would probably let her loose. It felt extremely stable and I was just cruising with a narrow stance like nothing really. No fear of breaching on the shorter mast. That is pretty close to what I was hitting on the 925 from what my stats tell me, but the 925 I don't recall being that comfortable at speed. The newer tails help compared to the old 195 though.


So would i have had more fun on the MA1000 in those conditions, no! (would have stalled more on the swell cutbacks and no chance of DW riding) More fun on the HA925 or HA1125, no! (wouldn't have been able to cut turns and keep lift at lower speeds). It really is a great wing for that style riding. I even did some flat water 360s and tacks etc. and it really does have that extra glide to allow for fumbling with the wing with mittens on lol.


It felt like I'd been riding the foil for ages. If it's like that at day 1....what is it going to be like when I really dial it in?! Can't wait to get it in some prone surf and more substantial DW conditions, and use a smaller board! Felt like magic on the DW board though.

Sorry to all the haters if this comes of as an over-hyped - armstrong fan boy post, but I'm not sorry, this is just a recap off the session! Cheers.

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MidAtlanticFoil said..

Wingman WA said..
I have recently got the HA1080/880 and am still frothing how good they are in the surf and DW, haven't tried them on the wing but thats not as important for me as Armstrong have always been leading the pack on those.

That looks like a great run! You know that when the bumps look fun/good size on GoPro footage, that they are for real.
Which foil was that, the 880? Also which tail and shim were you running?

I just had a killer DW wing session in bay conditions with the DW930. Surprisingly nimble and surfy for the span, at least paired with the 140.

It was a pretty killer run !!Yeah it was the 880 with 180 speed and a blue shim, just got a DWP755 to try when the wind kicks again

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Wingman WA said..

MidAtlanticFoil said..

Wingman WA said..
I have recently got the HA1080/880 and am still frothing how good they are in the surf and DW, haven't tried them on the wing but thats not as important for me as Armstrong have always been leading the pack on those.

That looks like a great run! You know that when the bumps look fun/good size on GoPro footage, that they are for real.
Which foil was that, the 880? Also which tail and shim were you running?

I just had a killer DW wing session in bay conditions with the DW930. Surprisingly nimble and surfy for the span, at least paired with the 140.

It was a pretty killer run !!Yeah it was the 880 with 180 speed and a blue shim, just got a DWP755 to try when the wind kicks again

Nice! I've had a few goes on the DWP755 and it definitely prefers good conditions. I've tried it in small bay conditions with the 180 and 220 and preferred the 180 by a large margin, but it was challenging in small bumps (955 was much better!). I also ran it in better bumps around waist to chest and it was a blast. All these new wings are great. Xmas came early!

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MidAtlanticFoil said..
My HA880 showed up a day early and as luck would have it, an un-forecasted breeze set up on the river (3rd day in a row!). Long winded session review to follow:

Needless to say I put work to the side and geared up with my 6'3" 85L DW board, 795mast, 60 fuse, 140 stab(no shim) and took off the DW930 and popped on the HA880.

So would i have had more fun on the MA1000 in those conditions, no! (would have stalled more on the swell cutbacks and no chance of DW riding) More fun on the HA925 or HA1125, no! (wouldn't have been able to cut turns and keep lift at lower speeds).

Hi MidAtlantic, slightly off topic but now you've had more time on the 755, is there anything the 1125 does better than the 755?
I know the 755 has been more often compared to the 925 but with more low end, however if it has as much low end as the 1125, it would start to interest me more. Cheers!

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djdojo said..

MidAtlanticFoil said..
My HA880 showed up a day early and as luck would have it, an un-forecasted breeze set up on the river (3rd day in a row!). Long winded session review to follow:

Needless to say I put work to the side and geared up with my 6'3" 85L DW board, 795mast, 60 fuse, 140 stab(no shim) and took off the DW930 and popped on the HA880.

So would i have had more fun on the MA1000 in those conditions, no! (would have stalled more on the swell cutbacks and no chance of DW riding) More fun on the HA925 or HA1125, no! (wouldn't have been able to cut turns and keep lift at lower speeds).

Hi MidAtlantic, slightly off topic but now you've had more time on the 755, is there anything the 1125 does better than the 755?
I know the 755 has been more often compared to the 925 but with more low end, however if it has as much low end as the 1125, it would start to interest me more. Cheers!

Hmm. Tough to say, as I haven't ridden the 1125 in a while. It turns easier rail to rail, has comparable lift and low end I'd estimate, maybe slightly less, but it has better stall characteristics - less pitchy/collapse - more hang glider down to the water. It's even more of a blade, so I'm still sorting out all of the feels with it, changing stabs and shims. Likes to go fast down bumps that's for damn sure!

Anyone here ridden the MA1475 and HA1080 enough to compare for surf foiling/DW? There are things I like about the 1475 for SUPfoiling smaller waves (pretty decent drivey top turn, decent speed, great controlled low end lift), but it does feel like a huge foil of course. It works even in chest high waves without getting too overpowered but it gets much less playful. My local often has a bigger, steeper take off that goes fatter for a bit before walling up again inside, so a foil that has good speed range and glide is helpful. Hoping the 1080 will do the job and allow easy connections (1475 was good if the river current and wonk wasn't crazy for pumping back out). DW is the other intended use for the 1080. I don't normally wing the 1475 much as the 1225 gets up so quickly.

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eppo said..
If you're on the fence about getting one, do it!!
And if you hadn't planned to upgrade even, also do it. This is the best upgrade I've made since I started foiling.
Thank you Armstrong Foils for designing the best foil on the market

Interesting.
I tried HA980 yesterday and today. Two hours foiling in 16 knots in a small chop.
In my opinion, it is a lovely wing but hardly the extraordinary game changer or "the best foil on the market".

Not to pile it on, but Schwing on this new series. I picked up the 880 for wing and prone based on my weight 165 and local conditions, 10 to 30 mph and usually ankle to chest plus surf. Nothing ever daunting and swell energy is minimized by our shelf zapping it before it gets to us.

I currently ride a 925, 1125 and 1225 for wing, and 1125 and 1225 for surf. Was using at times a 2050 for really small surf. I really enjoy the 1125 and speed 180 combo, i also use a 235 for prone for lift, carve and to slow the 925 while winging. Allows for stability and turning for me.

The 925 is definitely faster than the bunch, including the 880. The 1225 turns the best compared to the older has, but harder to pump longer period swell. The 1125 for me is my pump wing when proning and my light wind wing when winging. It has a pretty low stall speed I find and paired with the 180 has nice speed and excellent glide.

I had two magical sessions this past week, the kind you tell all the other kiters around you and the catch the sparkle in your eye and it may make them a believer in what your doing. Both were about 15 mph winging sessions in about waist to chest high rolling swell and breakers. Sandwiches was a 40 mph kite surf session which I walked away thinking the day before was more fun.

First day on the 1125 and 180. Day 2 of winging was the 880 and 180 speed. I use a 725 perf mast. Fg board 75. Lift off takeoff was about the same maybe a bit easier and also progressive on the 880. Glide I may give the 1125 the edge on that one. Speed was similar, turning or carving on swell or wave definitely the 880. The ability to go slow and really dictate where you want to be and go, 880. Stability 880. Breaching recovery 880, similar to the mas as your can be an idiot or out of position and it won't skill you like a 925. Pumping was very easy on the 880. I will have to see about prone, I imagine the 880 will be similar to the 1125 but with all the added benefits. I imagine the 1080 is cheating, so will likely add one of those. The 925 just feels like there is no resistance when moving, the 1225 however feels draggy at speed, this 880 is not as fast but doesn't feel draggy and much faster than the ma. Like all those reviews, winging I could be on a 680 with any wind above 20 mph I would say, maybe slightly less.

I wouldn't say throw out your older has, because they are still very good wings. And dropping for new wings is a lot of money.

In short, the magic is real. I had endless connections during those sessions and it seemed effortless. If you have been patient with armie, this will reward you. I am just average foiler who is foil brained and tries my best to make something out of nothing. This makes it happen and builds on all their past wings.

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JohnnyDepp said..

eppo said..
If you're on the fence about getting one, do it!!
And if you hadn't planned to upgrade even, also do it. This is the best upgrade I've made since I started foiling.
Thank you Armstrong Foils for designing the best foil on the market

Interesting.
I tried HA980 yesterday and today. Two hours foiling in 16 knots in a small chop.
In my opinion, it is a lovely wing but hardly the extraordinary game changer or "the best foil on the market".

I think almost any foil works when powered with a wing, it's when you drop the wing or are prone or wake foiling that you really get the feel for it. I like to test behind a boat, as the conditions are consistent and repeatable. But it's mid winter here in the northeast U.S. so that's not possible.
I don't have enough time on the 880 for a proper review yet. However the first wave I caught I felt like I was on springs as I pumped out to the close out behind it. I was on my bigger prone board, which I find is usually sluggish to pump, and wearing a thick wet suit. The couple of times I used a Uni PP 170 I did not get the instant pump response of the 880. Time will tell

So this is a series of texts i just received from a seriously talented local (non Team Rider) waterman (can do all the water sports to a high level) - was on armstrong, went to another brand, then back to armstrong just recently. and sounds like he made the right move.

This was his First DW on the 880. No editing - just took out my questions plus all references to comparisons to other brands he has ridden.


"Thing is crazy good, can go so fast and still super slow when needed, and can do sick turns super forgiving

And if you miss a bump it doesn't stall can just keep it hovering until the next bump

That south run was pretty wild too! 20km

30knt gusts mega bumps

Shoulda been on a smaller wing ??

Did a 2.02 min km Fkn fast

795 180 blue shim

Frothing"

That's pretty epic little run there by your friend Eppo. Interesting that his top speed was similar to my winging top speed in marginal conditions.
I just proned the 880 for the first time, also first time proning in maybe 4 or 5 months (sad state of affairs I know). Despite the 5/4 wetsuit and being terribly out of prone shape, I was able to get a triple dip in some fun but shifty/challenging chest-stomach surf. Felt very intuitive and didn't want to breach, even when foot placement was off - too far aft. It also took off great from the old 'bellyboard to the bottom' then pop up. No gloves might have been a mistake Pump felt similar to the 925, but so much more forgiving at low speeds and for crappy technique. I'm stoked!

Had this one section I followed to the shorepound and I wanted to backdoor the section and fly past it before it broke, but realized I wasn't going to make it, so I adjusted my line to the crest and felt like I pulled a floater for a second then pulled off the wave to keep on connecting.

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eppo said..
So this is a series of texts i just received from a seriously talented local (non Team Rider) waterman (can do all the water sports to a high level) - was on armstrong, went to another brand, then back to armstrong just recently. and sounds like he made the right move.

This was his First DW on the 880. No editing - just took out my questions plus all references to comparisons to other brands he has ridden.


"Thing is crazy good, can go so fast and still super slow when needed, and can do sick turns super forgiving

And if you miss a bump it doesn't stall can just keep it hovering until the next bump

That south run was pretty wild too! 20km

30knt gusts mega bumps

Shoulda been on a smaller wing ??

Did a 2.02 min km Fkn fast

795 180 blue shim

Frothing"

Matty ain't human though he should have tried Code

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hilly said..

eppo said..
So this is a series of texts i just received from a seriously talented local (non Team Rider) waterman (can do all the water sports to a high level) - was on armstrong, went to another brand, then back to armstrong just recently. and sounds like he made the right move.

This was his First DW on the 880. No editing - just took out my questions plus all references to comparisons to other brands he has ridden.


"Thing is crazy good, can go so fast and still super slow when needed, and can do sick turns super forgiving

And if you miss a bump it doesn't stall can just keep it hovering until the next bump

That south run was pretty wild too! 20km

30knt gusts mega bumps

Shoulda been on a smaller wing ??

Did a 2.02 min km Fkn fast

795 180 blue shim

Frothing"

Matty ain't human though he should have tried Code

"Matty ain't human though he should have tried Code "

.. yeh he's an exceptional waterman on an exceptional foil it seems, from his perspective.

Code foils are great as well - they have done such a good job with those foils.