Not too much about this wing out there so thought I'd post a review of the 5.2 Ensis v2 after my first session.
OK so I've been winging a little over a year and would say I'm pretty proficient but at 57 I'm no Balz Muller. I have been riding S-Wings in 6, 4.2 and 2.8. 80l board usually on Axis 900/400 combo as my setup of preference. Im 73 kg. Swapped out my Swings for an Ensis V2 quivver. decided on 5.2, 3.5, 2.5 quivver as we've laid the wings over some other brands and can see that the Ensis is much bigger than stated. 5.2 is like a 6, 3.5 is like a 4, 2.5 is like a 3. Theres another brand that everyone is saying is crazy powerful that is doing this same size bs too.
Wont go into the details too much as there are other reviews out there for that. I'll stick mainly to how it feels.
The canopy is really tight at the front as the photos show. The leech is a little looser. Even when sitting on the water the canopy stays in its foil shape. Build is bomber and the cloth is water resistant unlike the SWing which gets really wet. A smidgeon heavier than the f-One and I noticed this when the wind dropped and i had to hold it up to start.
The strut is large and stiff.
Soooo different from the SWing it took a while to get dialed and to be honest I still need some more time on it. Wind started very light and gusty 0-10 knots then the arvo seabreeeze came through well past 15 knots at times. My forearms are burning. Not sure if its the new handles that need to be worn in a bit, or the different size to the handles or the power that is loaded on the front arm, or just that I finally got out of my winter wetsuit and into my spring suit with tighter arms, but for a while I was longing for a harness. There is much more front hand pull and rather than move your front hand back it seems better to move it forward to get a more even balance. Managed to stay out for 21/2 hours once I got in the groove, and it felt better once the wind built up a bit and my arms warmed up properly. Overall impression is its a big step up from the SWing but is so different its hard to compare. To depower you just feather it in to the wind whereas with the swing you just pull it in hard and it automatically spills the wind when overpowered. Hard to say if its more or less powerful than a swing 6. Probably much the same but feels better behaved at the upper end and at the bottom end it pumps a tad better once there is a bit of wind in it, but in the superlight the softer SWing probably pumps better as it moves air over itself better with the more open leech. Ensis has a few big plusses. Touch the tip and she just bounces up, you cant do that on a swing 6. She goes way better upwind, like alot better. Handles are different but not as comfy as Fone (yet) maybe need to wear in as they felt a bit new and slippery like they needed to be roughed up a bit with use. Not sure if I dig the long handles or not. Its easy to adjust your hand position which i guess is nice and I was always searching for the F-One handles on a backside tack but not on these handles. I think this is just something Ill get used to ....no biggie. She transitions so much more comfortably. Going for front and backside tacks the wing just feathers into the wind where the Swing always tried to push me back and chuck me off. I would always look for a lull to tack with the FOne but with the Ensis I just slammed her up into the wind no matter what windstrength. She seemed easier to lift from the water into a starting position and I think this is the same reason it tacks easier, it feathers better in to the wind. It was flat water so I cant comment on flag-out behaviour.
The 5.2 will be my biggest wing for this summer as its really a 6m size and i cant imagine using the actual 6 unless you live in total drifter conditions or are pretty heavy. For me it will be an 8-15 knot wing then Ill change to the 3.5 (which is really a 4).
I had some reservations about ditching the FOnes as they have been really good comfortable fun wings and have great behaviour when flagged out surfing but I now see that things have moved on quite alot over the last year. I can see that upgrading will help my progression.
Slyde
> 9 months ago, 4 Oct 2020
