I want to place an order for a new wing, however I feel overwhelmed by the number of wing choices out there. It's starting to warm up where I live and I am any to jump into this sport - I just dread possibly making an expensive mistake.

Anyone else feel like this? I am thinking about a 5.3 Naish S26.

I wouldn't worry too much, basically all the V2 wings are good. The Naish is a great choice!

Demo if possible. When I had experience with some different wings I demoed a new V2, which had a good review and I hated it (it backwinded like crazy -- the other wings I was familiar with didn't exhibit this issue) . If I had bought untried I would have been pretty unhappy. It also depends what you'll be using it for -- riding waves? If so, then there are certain wings that work better for this. Speed and big jumps? Again, there are certain wings that were designed for this.

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JonnyWindsurf said..
I want to place an order for a new wing, however I feel overwhelmed by the number of wing choices out there. It's starting to warm up where I live and I am any to jump into this sport - I just dread possibly making an expensive mistake.

Anyone else feel like this? I am thinking about a 5.3 Naish S26.

How heavy are you?

Im in exactly the same boat. Every time I think I know what I'm going to buy, something new comes out and makes me question it. Particularly hard since I am new to the sport (have a kite / foil background) and not in a place where I can demo.

Right now I think I'm going to go with the Quatro Wing Drifter + Mantis, but the new North gear looks pretty good too and is similar priced.

Dying to get onto the water!

I've heard good things about the Mantis and the North from people I trust -- I don"t think you'll go wrong with either.

You can't really go that wrong to be honest. What would be wrong is to sit on the sidelines under the premise you think that by carful analysis you will avoid making a wrong decision.
So far I've tried the duotone echo, unit, some cab wings, smick wing, Konrad wings, ozone wasp and have ridden with guys on naish, Armstrong and even Gong wings. settled on the ppc wing for its all rounder capabilities and bullet proof build, but honestly all of the above would have been fine. You learn as you go.


as you get better and gravitate towards a certain style (and also are good enough to notice the differences between wings in the water) then your next purchases will become more focussed and less "wrong".


but for now get a wing and get going man!!

Wise words Master Eppo

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eppo said..
You can't really go that wrong to be honest. What would be wrong is to sit on the sidelines under the premise you think that by carful analysis you will avoid making a wrong decision.
So far I've tried the duotone echo, unit, some cab wings, smick wing, Konrad wings, ozone wasp and have ridden with guys on naish, Armstrong and even Gong wings. settled on the ppc wing for its all rounder capabilities and bullet proof build, but honestly all of the above would have been fine. You learn as you go.


as you get better and gravitate towards a certain style (and also are good enough to notice the differences between wings in the water) then your next purchases will become more focussed and less "wrong".


but for now get a wing and get going man!!

Well said!
Analysis paralysis hits us all at some point I guess...
Get out there!
This sport is too addictive to miss...!!!

Just accept you'll make some wrong choices in life. Most are correctable. Right now the used wing market is healthy, so you can easily move a wing or board on if it's not for you. In the 6 months of doing this sport, I've bought and sold wings, changed brands and got a second board and foil. Stick with the big names and you'll be fine.

Right now the big questions are boom or handles, windows or not. Personally I avoided brand that had bad reviews on their V1 stuff.

+1 eppo, I waited too long to pull the trigger myself. Wasted a bunch of time to trying to figure out the optimal setup. All of that time spent led to marginal / no benefits in terms of getting the best/optimal setup. You will have just about the same amount of fun regardless. You just need to buy something that's good enough and appropriate for your height weight and wind conditions then get out there and start having fun.

For my first set up, I pulled the trigger on a WASP v1 (5M), F one v2 wing board (120 liters), and Moses W1100 and W1000. On my first day out I had so much fun I totally forgot about any concerns I had when making the purchase. Best sport ever. Like everything there are trade offs but far fewer than other sports that I pinned by hopes and dreams to of having 10 out of 10 fun (windsurf, kiting, surfing, dirt bike riding, snowboarding). Don't get me wrong, those sports are great and I still do then, but winging is the most fun per time spent (e.g. surfing's great but your sitting around a lot and paddle battling with the crowd). It's a huge chunk of change to get into this sport for sure, but among the options, especially v2 wings, there isn't too much variation. Plus you can always sell the gear and take a small hit as long as you take care of your gear. I suck at that though... 4 large tears in my wing mostly due to shorebreak guiding the foil into my wing... but I still try to get out because it's so much fun once up and riding.

I have only ridden the WASP v1 and for my next one in the quiver, I'm going for a WASP v2. These wings are good enough that I can have a ton of fun.

Your first wing will take a beating while you're learning, so you might want to consider 2nd hand while you learn. I've seen a lot of guys destroy nice new wings. I learnt on the much maligned original 4m Naish, 2nd hand, it took a pounding but got me through. After the learning phase I bought new - I've owned Naish, Ensis, PPC and have also used Smik, Doutone, Armstrong. Every wing has pluses and minuses, like someone else said the new versions are all very good.