New to Armstrong, seeking some advice please. Intermediate level prone foiler, happily turn, pump and link waves etc. primarily small, weak waves with crowds (fun of the gc!)
been demo'ing the HA780 front wing the last few days and really love it- The glide, low end, forgives of the pump and fun to turn.
however, swell was a bit bigger today and on the outgoing tide waves had a bit more face to them. I found it had a fair bit of lift and I fell a few times turning, I guess from tip breaches. found myself being hesitant to make more critical turns. If I was to get a smaller front wing for bigger days and towing, what's best? Or Is there one size does everything front wing to save getting two? i tried the MA 790 but that wasn't for me in the small stuff, much preferred the HA. any and all advice appreciated, thanks!

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GCfoiler said..
New to Armstrong, seeking some advice please. Intermediate level prone foiler, happily turn, pump and link waves etc. primarily small, weak waves with crowds (fun of the gc!)
been demo'ing the HA780 front wing the last few days and really love it- The glide, low end, forgives of the pump and fun to turn.
however, swell was a bit bigger today and on the outgoing tide waves had a bit more face to them. I found it had a fair bit of lift and I fell a few times turning, I guess from tip breaches. found myself being hesitant to make more critical turns. If I was to get a smaller front wing for bigger days and towing, what's best? Or Is there one size does everything front wing to save getting two? i tried the MA 790 but that wasn't for me in the small stuff, much preferred the HA. any and all advice appreciated, thanks!

What tails you running and shims. Also what you weigh? I've always considered the 780 the perfect all rounder.

Be honest will the 780 cover most days ? Don't make a sizing decision on 20 percent of your conditions.

Better off getting two foils then.

and interesting prone setup could be the 680 (def less pump) and the 770 UHA . which would cover nearly every small day you could imagine for superior pump and link.

kinda depends on your weight, current ability and what to grow into.

what i am saying above is - if only one wing then base that decision on 80 percent of the condtions you ride in and out with the odd bigger day.

You could then run two tails as well to really hone to conditions and minimise the impact of those 20 percent days.

Honestly though a bigger MA to really rip turns like the 990 would be sick as well


a crazy ass combo would be the 670 uha and a 990 ma

I tried the 130 surf tail with my 880 and man did it make it more lively. So that could be an option for turnability for you with the 780.

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ninjatuna said..
I tried the 130 surf tail with my 880 and man did it make it more lively. So that could be an option for turnability for you with the 780.

What were you coming from? Hoping for a comparison between 120 and 130.

I sup foil. Rode the 880/140, then 880/120, then 880/130. Now 890/130. But I was real impressed with the way the 130 made the 880 feel. The turns felt like it was on a rail but not locked in. Like really powering through the turns. Kind of hard to describe but put a big smile on my face. Armie has always said the tails are the cheapest way to change a front foil. I also read somewhere some one else had good results doing it. It was a stepping stone to buying the 890.

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ninjatuna said..
I sup foil. Rode the 880/140, then 880/120, then 880/130. Now 890/130. But I was real impressed with the way the 130 made the 880 feel. The turns felt like it was on a rail but not locked in. Like really powering through the turns. Kind of hard to describe but put a big smile on my face. Armie has always said the tails are the cheapest way to change a front foil. I also read somewhere some one else had good results doing it. It was a stepping stone to buying the 890.

yeh into have been swapping between the 140/130 surf and the 120 dart. Generally in the same day on three different runs or at least two. 140 provides a little more glide / speed (but not much) but the 130 has none of that tip flex when carving harder - so it rolls better rail to rail as you have said. It's definitely more "lively". Needs at least a red shim more due to its inherent pitch angle so shimming it correctly is important. The 120 is faster all round but can suffer from pitch issues if you are not ready for it. 120 works really well with bigger foils for some reason though. I also run a crisp flex 130 tail which is a dream to carve but doesn't like real bumpy conditions nor really light conditions when you have to pump a fair bit to access runners. Well it takes a more subtle pumping technique anyhow.

Tails are so important and a cheap way to get more range out of a given front foil.

I feel the same more or less. I stay personally with the 120 for everything. Carving as the 130 but less drag (even shimming more the 130)

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Sonsaleta said..
I feel the same more or less. I stay personally with the 120 for everything. Carving as the 130 but less drag (even shimming more the 130)

no issues with pitch on that 120 - that's my only criticism of it ?

Personally not. But it's the only stab from Armstrong that I don't use shim.

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ninjatuna said..
I sup foil. Rode the 880/140, then 880/120, then 880/130. Now 890/130. But I was real impressed with the way the 130 made the 880 feel. The turns felt like it was on a rail but not locked in. Like really powering through the turns. Kind of hard to describe but put a big smile on my face. Armie has always said the tails are the cheapest way to change a front foil. I also read somewhere some one else had good results doing it. It was a stepping stone to buying the 890.

Thanks for mentioning this to you and eppo, I have paired the 130 with red shim with the 890 and its a whole new world! i thought it might be too skittish but have had a few sessions and nice setup. I have run it in fairly large waves when I underestimated the conditions on a longer run and still goes hard.

790/130 shimmed is still my favourite but this is a great setup, and weirdly fast, I am not being massively outrun by DW foilers on much smaller and higher aspect setups.

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CH3MTR4IL5 said..

ninjatuna said..
I sup foil. Rode the 880/140, then 880/120, then 880/130. Now 890/130. But I was real impressed with the way the 130 made the 880 feel. The turns felt like it was on a rail but not locked in. Like really powering through the turns. Kind of hard to describe but put a big smile on my face. Armie has always said the tails are the cheapest way to change a front foil. I also read somewhere some one else had good results doing it. It was a stepping stone to buying the 890.

Thanks for mentioning this to you and eppo, I have paired the 130 with red shim with the 890 and its a whole new world! i thought it might be too skittish but have had a few sessions and nice setup. I have run it in fairly large waves when I underestimated the conditions on a longer run and still goes hard.

790/130 shimmed is still my favourite but this is a great setup, and weirdly fast, I am not being massively outrun by DW foilers on much smaller and higher aspect setups.

know what you mean. I did a 30 odd km run on the 770 (with 130) in 16-18 ish then sent it for another 18km when wind and runners were better slightly on the 890 with the 130 (blue and red) and was shocked how well it kept up with the runners and allowed you to smash turns all the way. Both superb setups.