Great feedback lads, keep it coming, the DW820 is on my wish list :-)

I (like others) just got the S145v2 last week and am 4 sessions in with the SF680 (C60). One high wind big bump (1 session) and 3 low wind small bumps. Had to move foil forward in box a 1cm to compensate coming off the S178. Still required a lot of back foot pressure when riding waves but the move and getting used to it has helped with this.

Upwind drag is noticably less than S178, always felt that and really should have chopped it. The S145 has a surprising amount of lift and the point about it kicking on wave energy is true - however riding adapts to this quickly. This benefits with swell riding though and I can pump the setup really well. No worries getting going in marginal 12knt conditions either with a 5m (75kg - 50l board), couple of good pumps and am flying.

Carving on swell/wave is now all time - loving how loose and rippable the set up is, good wind for next 3 days here, stoked!

So i got my hands on new DW820 compatible stabilizer and 65cm fuze. I tested it in multiple conditions, but i only did like 5 sessions. The first thing i notice is that it feels draggy. I had the same feeling with dw1400 but i got used to it. It seems even more apparent with this one. I did put mast more forward and it got a little better but i still sometimes feels like there is seaweed stuck at stabilizer. But i also got used to this filing in 30 min. It need only slightly more wind to foil than SF930 and it feels more towards HA wings. SF starts gradually, while DW820 is more abrupt and if not careful i "hammered" the board to water couple of times. But when up it i really difficult to fall from foil, it goes trough lulls like crazy. I also noticed the upwind angle seems amazing. I tried it on somewhat flat water and i try to push it a bit and it accelerates like crazy from 0-80% but then it gets a bit shaky. Maybe i dont know how to push it but it felt quite unstable at top end. I also couldnt reach my maximum speed which is about 18knots with sf930. I dont think it is a fast foil by any means. But none of what i wrote matter because this is not what i bought it. I bought it for glide and it really works amazing down the wave. The only negative thing i notice is agility. Not that it is bad but comparing how i was surprised about it in DW1400 i expected for DW820 to be more agile. But again the more sessions i make the better it feels all around. All together i feel quite happy about new purchase but im not ready to hangup my good old SF930. On flat water i still have more fun with it.

Regarding the 65cm fuze compared with 70 i haven notice to be significant difference in pitch stability but i feel like i consume less energy while pumping then with 70. I bought it so i can have both DW1400 and DW820 set up at the same time and i can take one or another depending on the conditions. I also think that these two wing cover whole wind range that i want to ride. When its nuking i will probably go for some smaller SF wing but for now it feels fine.

larsdegroot said..
Anyone having trouble with those Shiftlock screws?.
I think i have like 10 worn out already, some even used for only 2 times. Horrible quality screws.

Not at all, are you sure you arent overtightening them? If i recall correctly, the shiftlock screws are m6? Even 10.9 grade steel bolts will start deforming at 16 Nm. Titanium needs even less. Torques like this arent that hard to reach even when you are just using the T-handle to tighten them.

larsdegroot said..
Not even tight yet and they start to wear out already.

Most of the times it happens with the camera mount

Cant speak for the camera mount, but the bolts for the boom still look good after more than a year of use. Could be that the tolerance of the cameramount is wrong putting more stress on the bolt than it can handle. You could try to find a matching A4 stainless steel 10.9 grade bolt. It'll handle almost double the torque a titanium bolt can.

jaka87 said..
So i got my hands on new DW820 compatible stabilizer and 65cm fuze. I tested it in multiple conditions, but i only did like 5 sessions. The first thing i notice is that it feels draggy. I had the same feeling with dw1400 but i got used to it. It seems even more apparent with this one. I did put mast more forward and it got a little better but i still sometimes feels like there is seaweed stuck at stabilizer. But i also got used to this filing in 30 min. It need only slightly more wind to foil than SF930 and it feels more towards HA wings. SF starts gradually, while DW820 is more abrupt and if not careful i "hammered" the board to water couple of times. But when up it i really difficult to fall from foil, it goes trough lulls like crazy. I also noticed the upwind angle seems amazing. I tried it on somewhat flat water and i try to push it a bit and it accelerates like crazy from 0-80% but then it gets a bit shaky. Maybe i dont know how to push it but it felt quite unstable at top end. I also couldnt reach my maximum speed which is about 18knots with sf930. I dont think it is a fast foil by any means. But none of what i wrote matter because this is not what i bought it. I bought it for glide and it really works amazing down the wave. The only negative thing i notice is agility. Not that it is bad but comparing how i was surprised about it in DW1400 i expected for DW820 to be more agile. But again the more sessions i make the better it feels all around. All together i feel quite happy about new purchase but im not ready to hangup my good old SF930. On flat water i still have more fun with it.

Regarding the 65cm fuze compared with 70 i haven notice to be significant difference in pitch stability but i feel like i consume less energy while pumping then with 70. I bought it so i can have both DW1400 and DW820 set up at the same time and i can take one or another depending on the conditions. I also think that these two wing cover whole wind range that i want to ride. When its nuking i will probably go for some smaller SF wing but for now it feels fine.

I did 8 sessions on DW820. For the last couple of days i haven't noticed that draggy feeling i was mentioned before. I didnt change anything i guess i just adjusted. But what i said about speed still stands. DW820 accelerates faster but top speed is about the same as SF930

sanflo21 said..

WingdingAndy said..
I'm a beginner 86kg- I can reliably get up on foil and ride with both feet forward, I can't gybe yet.

I've been using the dw1100 for the past few months. I have been enjoying it quite a bit. I can get going with it in sub 10knot conditions.

I wanted to try something smaller.

I gambled and bought the new sf530 wing. I can report that it's a very easy wing to ride. I expected to struggle with it, but that's not the case. It certainly takes a bit more wind to get out of the water than the dw1100, but not that much more. I would describe it as a comfy foil to ride. It is maneuverable, but not in a hard to control way.

I don't think that it's a very fast foil. Surprisingly I only hit about 19.5knot max speed with it. That could be due to the stabilizer I was using a s192 which isn't what North recommends on their rider's guide. I would like to try maybe the s122 or s145v2, but I don't feel like I need to rush out and make that change, maybe I will cut my s192 down as recommended by others.

Hello! thanks for sharing your experience.

I'm thinking about buying the SF530 and wanted to know your opinion on its speed. I'm coming from the HA range and really wanted to maintain a good level of speed.

If anyone else could share their experience with this SF530 foil, I would be grateful.
Thanks

I'm riding the SF530 with the S185 stab, it has better low-end than the MA600, more glide, and feels more locked in. It's a pure carving machine. Paired with the Midi board, it's my absolute favorite setup! Go for it

When I purchased my first North foil setup years ago I bought the whole kit which comes w an incredibly well thought out carrying case. It's been collecting dust in my garage till I recently decided to take a kit to Exuma. Wow, they really paid attention to details. I was able to not only get my foil assembly in there but my 5M Nova as well. I'm more inclined to bring a wing kit now on surf trips. Well done North !!!

larsdegroot said..
Is there actually anyone who does real freestyle/jumping ect on the SF series? I'm always on the MA850v2 but sometimes i miss the glide...

+1!

First post here, hi everyone! :)
I'm 70kg on MA850v2/S178/C600/HM85. SEEK 4'11(68ltr) and Nova Pro 4.8 / Nova 3.5. Love the gear!

However looking for more glide/pumpability. Doing some basic freestyle and jumping. 90% of sessions on a choppy, gusty lake but sometimes waveriding at the coast when the chance given (baltic sea, sweden).

Thinking SF830 for lightwind and 530 for highwind? Or DWXXX for lightwind?
Will the SF be a lot slower than MA850v2?

All input appreciated!

wavepope said..

larsdegroot said..
Is there actually anyone who does real freestyle/jumping ect on the SF series? I'm always on the MA850v2 but sometimes i miss the glide...

+1!

First post here, hi everyone! :)
I'm 70kg on MA850v2/S178/C600/HM85. SEEK 4'11(68ltr) and Nova Pro 4.8 / Nova 3.5. Love the gear!

However looking for more glide/pumpability. Doing some basic freestyle and jumping. 90% of sessions on a choppy, gusty lake but sometimes waveriding at the coast when the chance given (baltic sea, sweden).

Thinking SF830 for lightwind and 530 for highwind? Or DWXXX for lightwind?
Will the SF be a lot slower than MA850v2?

All input appreciated!

You won't be jumping the DW series, even my DW820 says "No Jumping". I do love my SF830, it's my 75% of the time foil, great pump, glide and carve but not the glide of DW's. It does allow me to connect bump and waves. Haven't ridden the MA but my SF830 cruises easily at 16-18 mph, I've pushed it to 21/22 mph w the 142 stab but it was red lining.

Fabrizio said..
Hello everyone,

After a long career as a windsurfer and kiter, I started wingfoiling this spring. I am really enjoying it and am thinking of selling my kite quiver. I can currently jibe on both sides. I am using a 90-litre board (I weigh 80 kg) and a SONAR CF with two front wings, the HA1450 first version and the MA1050 first version. I am very happy with the latter, I find it fast and fun. I am not as happy with the HA1450, I find it paradoxically more difficult to jibe, slow and with little glide.

What would you recommend as a front wing for light winds between: SF1230 - HA1450 (new) - DW1400

Thank you all for your replies.

Fabrizio

SF1230 or SF1080 would be my advice. Make sure to get the corresponding stab like s215. The low end of the SF is good for progressing into tracks and light wind.

Avoid DW1400 for winging. Suddenly you have no jibing skills with it. My least liked wing of the range, and actually according to the sonar catalogue not recommended for winging.

Of the HAs I only had the HA1050. Fun wing with lots of glide but limited range i.e. stronger conditions only. No experience with the HA1450 V2.

Anybody tried the DW750 yet? Which stabs works best and how does it compare to SF680/830?Thanks!

SlowlyButSurely said..
Anybody tried the DW750 yet? Which stabs works best and how does it compare to SF680/830?Thanks!

It depends what you want to use it for winging or down winding?

So what's next in the North pipeline? Personal wishlist is a 72UHM mast and an oval grip carbon boom like the Nova Pro for the Nova Regular. It'll be interesting to see what they bring to the Gorge Expo.

tvesurf said..

tvesurf said..
Pulled the gun on a complete upgrade from my old sonar AL and MAv2 set. Decided on the 85HM, 650 fuse, 1100dw, 830sf and 192 and 185 stabs.
Coming from the MAv2 i found the amount of glide a bit lackluster, so hoping this will be a big improvement! Hoping to improve on my carving tricks and get into waves a bit more.
I'll mostly be riding flat water lakes and the occasionally venture into waves if conditions allow. I'll try to update on my experiences for anyone interested!

Got my new setup today, cant wait for wind to arrive so i can try it. Ran into one problem when assembling to check if everything fits alright. I found that the rear bolt on the 192 stab bottoms out before the stab is tight, this can cause the stab to pivot. A quick fix was to add a 0.5 and -0.5 shim underneath. A more permanent fix would be to take 2 or 3mm off the rear most bolt.

Sure it's the right screw? My 192 fits perfect on the 650 fuse w the provided 16mm screws.

tvesurf said..

Shlogger said..

tvesurf said..

tvesurf said..
Pulled the gun on a complete upgrade from my old sonar AL and MAv2 set. Decided on the 85HM, 650 fuse, 1100dw, 830sf and 192 and 185 stabs.
Coming from the MAv2 i found the amount of glide a bit lackluster, so hoping this will be a big improvement! Hoping to improve on my carving tricks and get into waves a bit more.
I'll mostly be riding flat water lakes and the occasionally venture into waves if conditions allow. I'll try to update on my experiences for anyone interested!

Got my new setup today, cant wait for wind to arrive so i can try it. Ran into one problem when assembling to check if everything fits alright. I found that the rear bolt on the 192 stab bottoms out before the stab is tight, this can cause the stab to pivot. A quick fix was to add a 0.5 and -0.5 shim underneath. A more permanent fix would be to take 2 or 3mm off the rear most bolt.

Sure it's the right screw? My 192 fits perfect on the 650 fuse w the provided 16mm screws.

100% sure, i tried all m8x16mm screws i had on hand. 2 screwpacks from 2 different stabs and the problem kept persisting with all 4 screws i tried...

Maybe a production tolerance issue or they changed the production process slightly causing this issue. I'll make some pictures after work.

I tested the fuselage with the 185 tail and the rear screw also bottoms out before the stab is tight, but to a lesser extent. Seems it's an issue with the c650 fuselage, where the rear insert is too shallow. Picture shows both m8x16 bolts fully threaded into the fuselage.
For now i'll fix it by shortening one of the bolts by a couple mm to allow it to fully seat into the stab preventing any movement.