Tangur said..

Camarillo said..
Does anybody know when the SF780 is coming out?
The SF930 is great but too big when the waves are a bit bigger and faster and/or the wind is more than 20 knots.
I want to switch to Sonar SF but I need to know that smaller ones will come out in the foreseeable future...

AFAIK there won't be a SF780, but SF830 and SF680 coming out at the end of summer/early fall,

Please tell them to hurry

I did the quiz on their website and for downwind they recommend ha1250 for 85kg

northkb.com/pages/find-your-front-wing

finally, my North HA 1150 arrived, and today i could give it a first try.

on land:
looks great from a quality point of view.
the HA1150 is thin, a lot thinner than my Sabfoil 945
the Mast has the same thickness all over the length, but it is in the front more thick and the back is very thin.

Geolook works, but follow the instructions on how to do it.

The weight HA1150+S270+70C-Fuse+85CFMast is 3.6kg (so 650g lighter than my Sabfoil 945, 170er, 83erKraken with 703k Fuse and Alu plate)
This 650g less is really noticeable when carrying board and foil on land.


in the water:
today was very gusty and rotating wind, 8kn till 16kn, I used the 6 F-One CWC V1 wing as I don't have a 5 wing.
the foil starts flying very quickly, just a little chop and if you pump the wing the foil accelerates, if you have a good foil pumping technic you would immediately fly. As I don't, I needed a little stronger/longer gust. Compared to my Sab, it starts the same, with better technic I think earlier. With the S270 the foil was very stable a lot more than my sab with the 170 Stab. But you need to pump the Wing 1 or two times more after lifting to generate some speed. If you don't you land immediately.

Once flying, It feels like being on rails. Very good acceleration, and after some time I was very close to my personal top speed with 34kmh --> 21.1mph --> 18.3kn. (PB: 35km/h--> 21.7 mph ->18.9kn). The key difference: while I was at that speed, it feels very comfortable and under control and I wanted to go faster but there was no gust. (on sab at this speed, I feel kind of out of control)
Also compared to Sab, this is my light wind foil with the light wind stab and the really first session, compared to the Sab with the speed back-wing after plenty of sessions and already fine-tuned.

Also, you could feel that every gust that comes in could be transformed into forward acceleration. This foil is not a limiting factor, now it could be the wing.

So I think there is still a lot more potential, I think 40km/h should be possible with this combo.

As the wind was a little rotating, I couldn't say something about upwind potential.

The jibes also worked after I started adopting. On the first try, during the jibe the board felt a bit nervous, and sometime I jibed with more speed than wind and didn't lifted the wing enough so I sailed into. But after an 1h or so, I made more and more succesfull jibes.
Just need to turn a bit more like on rails and not like on ski. ( at least for my current level :D)

In case of lulls, the foils just glides.

So after the first session, i'm very happy with it. It is not harder for me to get on the foil (the Sab 945 is just an MA foil), its easy to start, have great acceleration, great speed, and the glide is awesome.
Wonder how much potential will be in there once I get used to it and become better.

And also how it changed once my HA850 and the S178 arrives.

GasHazard said..
The front wing fixing doesn't look too inspiring. Three bolts in a row and no socket.

Yes, but this works for a lot of brands...

GasHazard said..
The front wing fixing doesn't look too inspiring. Three bolts in a row and no socket.

Do you mean a socket inside the front wing?haven't seen that yet. I thought that all front wings just have holes and the sockets are in the fuse?besides Armstrong, whereas I know you have a socket on the bottom and the screw from the top.
Or what did you mean?

Anyone can compare northkb HA/MA/or SF to F-one Phantom(s), Eagle and 7seas?

Tangur said..

SaCdn said..
Thanks so much for the great info - I've been struggling to find a resource online specific to North feedback. I've been prone riding the 2022 1450 and 1250 + in very small conditions but I tend to favour the 1450 with S270 stab over the 1250. I do find myself struggling to pump the 1450 for more than 30 secs and although I'm sure my technique isn't perfect, I am wondering if there are better setups for me. The new SF1230 with the recommended tail may be better suited for me given what I've read on here. To make things even more complicated, I also just purchased an Armstrong Downwind board with the intention of using my North gear but I have no idea what would be recommended from the North Lineup for Downwinding (not ocean, just lake and bay runs). Any input would be greatly appreciated!

@SaCdn - hit up Dylan at www.instagram.com/kitepuertorico/ - he's started his DW journey on North gear. I think he started with the 2200R - then HA1450 (v2?) - now he seems to be on SF1230/S215. Ask him, pick his brain, he's very good about getting back to people.

Thank you!

ganeshka said..
I'm beginner with seek v2 5.1 / Fone cwc v3 8m / r2200 +320 stab. I'm looking for upgrade for light wind days. 8-15 knots. Which one is more suitable ma1200 / ha1250 / sf1250 ? Seems like sf is combination ma with ha = glide + Lower stall speed. I'm not sure but seems like r2200 has a lot of drag in light wind. As soon wind hit 13+ knots it's working pretty good. Definitely my level is low, but just curious about different options. Located in Miami so not a high wind zone.

Hands down SF1230 + S215It will be day and night vs your 2200R

Here's one more clip of the SF1230 in action.
If it performs this well dockstarting and wakefoiling behind such a small wake, I am not too worried about riding it winging even in light wind conditions and with heavier riders.

www.instagram.com/p/CtsL9sgPMtW/

MProject04 said..

Tangur said..
Here's one more clip of the SF1230 in action.
If it performs this well dockstarting and wakefoiling behind such a small wake, I am not too worried about riding it winging even in light wind conditions and with heavier riders.

www.instagram.com/p/CtsL9sgPMtW/

If someone is a **complete newbie** at dockstarting / pumpfoil is the SF the wing to go? 1230 seems too small for a beginners setup? Or is there some other magic to it?

I thought the same, but look at the board size, 4'1, it looks much bigger in the vid, the rider must be a super lightweight not your regular weight foiler.

Tangur said..
@airsail I'm 6' - 78 kg without a wetsuit on. So you're complimenting me by saying I'm super light weight ??

@MProject04 it's not a beginner dockstart wing, but it is doable to learn on it. I learned on a HA1450 V1 and it has a marginally lower stall speed than the SF1230.
However the SFs have a pretty thick foil section and that results in very low low end. I can dockstart the SF930 and wouldn't have thought it possible.
If you're below 85 kg, I say that the SF1230 can be your first foil to dockstart on given the current offering from North and if you want to stick with them for dockstarts. There will be a low aspect 1850cm and a 2100cm coming out at the end of the summer however.


www.instagram.com/reel/Cst4MG7uLkj/?igshid=MWQ1ZGUxMzBkMA==

Nice one Tangur, you definitely have great pumping talent. I'm guessing the SF range is similar to the Axis PNG range, thicker foils suitable for slower speeds. A mate has the 930 for winging but has found it unsuitable, too much lift at high speeds, changed to the HA850.

Best Stab for MA1350 and MA1050:
Hello there, as I'm getting more used to my MA Frontwings and I really do like them, I wonder, if I could improofe my speed by changing my stab from 210 to 208 or even 178. But they are developed for the HA Frontwings, so I 'm not sure if they fit...
Any experience?
Regards Axel

Acker said..

Yep SF1250 will get up the easiest. I have the SF1080 and can get it up in almost 8knots with 6.0 North Light Wind. It's got very low stall speed (u can just about stop) but I've still pushed it to 18knots and has velvety smooth pump n glide feel plus quite loose in turns. I run this for downwind swellride sessions (even in 30-40knots yesterday) but then use the MA1050 as fast versatile wing when I want speed, jumps and manoeuvres. I've now added the HA650 which had first proper go on today. Took me well powered 4.2 mode to get up (prob 20knots and I'm 85kg) and need a light and smooth technique with the feet (not heavy pumping) to build speed first. It then has incredibly exhilarating ride, very fast and nimble but have to keep power and speed up. Really good for building technique holding high speed all the time even in gybes and tacks. It then held speed very well into some pretty big lulls. Looking forward to trying this small ha650 some more.

@acker - now that you have the SF and HA wings, do you think you will still use the MA1050 or will you retire it?

I was wondering how the old HA1250 compares to the newer MA1200. Does anyone have any advice or comparison ?

I've started last year and thinking about replacing the 1250 with the MA1200. I'm relatively a beginner and can get up when there is a decent breeze, but would like to increase my lowend.
I'm 85 kg, on a 97 liters seek, with the 270 stabilizer (600 alu fuse and mast).

Anyone know which line up (HA or SF) would be better to learn dock starting and pumping?