Had my new 7m Echo out yesterday 8 - 13 knots (not quite whitecapping) for the first time. Really impressed with it, super solid overall, had heaps of power as soon as I was up and going.

You really feel the rigidity, especially when pumping. Had a 6m full inflatable out at the same time and the Echo was a lot more powerful (felt more than the 1m difference) and very efficient.

Control on the boom is great. Can fly one handed once you're up and cruising pretty easy.

I didn't find it caught the water too much, no more than my other wings (I'm about 5'10"). Could probably go an 8m I rekon

Did a little video on the first time setup:



Definitely want to keep an eye on that LE when setting up the first time, on the 7m it's huge! This one had a slight twist in it, pumped up a couple of time since though and no troubles.

Also had to extend the rope a little as it was a super tight squeeze. Put it on the bottom (canopy side) first time, you can see it in the video if you look close, but I actually shifted the extension to the top side attachment (when pumping) and it seemed to sit better like this. Might end up needing to remove it if the rope stretches a bit but it just seemed too tight out of the bag.

Took the 7m piece of monster cloth out for a spin today. Super impressed. My go-to light wind Wing has been the new Naish 6m. The 7m Echo felt waaay more powerful. Def a handful as the wing span is about a meter wider than the Naish 6m, but well worth it considering the extra wind range. Sam Parker styling as always in 6-8 knots

That's very smooth Dspace and nice boat BTW and that 7m AA looks so good .

DWF -- great video. Very helpful. Keep them coming!

Paddlezz said..

Dspace said..

AA said..
Took the 7m piece of monster cloth out for a spin today. Super impressed. My go-to light wind Wing has been the new Naish 6m. The 7m Echo felt waaay more powerful. Def a handful as the wing span is about a meter wider than the Naish 6m, but well worth it considering the extra wind range. Sam Parker styling as always in 6-8 knots

That thing just looks huge! But understandable for bigger riders or if light winds dominate your location. I limited myself to the 6m Echo as my light wind wing (I'm ~77kg). Much prefer to be on the 5 and 4m sizes. My Echo's tack nicely in both directions, though they always seem to need a helping hand in a heel to toeside tack (probably my poor technique). Way less "flop-back-into-your-face" when backwinded on a 360. The blue/grey is my 4m and yellow/blue is my 5m

Dspace, Gong XL pro a clickbait? See I a red Axis mast on the video?

Sorry, I missed this. No clickbait. I modified my Gong fuselage to work with the 19mm Axis masts. Way stiffer than those spongy Gong Al masts. Not quite ready to buy the Gong mono block carbon masts yet. Actually I've recently upgraded from my XL Pro to a Veloce XL as shown in the attached pic. It's a great wing but that's another topic

Paddlezz said..
Nice work, do you have a CNC machinery in your garage?
There is room for business. Can you sell me some Doodads :
Axis mast to Gong fuse and Axis mast to Moses fuse?

Sorry Paddlezz, no soft metal CNC machine in my shop (though I'd love to have one). Had a local prototyping machine shop do the work.

THaystead said..
I just got a 7M echo - very nice but that second 9bleed) valve keeps popping inside the sail when I pump it up - anyone else have that issue - not sure it was necessary anyway.

Mine was leaking, twisted and sitting side ways. The retailer pulled it out for me and reseated it (and ordered a replacement bladder), working fine now.

The wings are inflated at the factory. So they are not twisted when they leave the factory. They included a QC signed label saying so.

HUGE leading edges are prone to the HUGE lose bladder inside doing wonky things. Then most people install the boom FIRST, crumpling the leading edge up by doing this, then pumping the wing up with it all crumpled up, startIng the whole process, leading to the bladder inside not shaking out, falling free and lose inside so it can move around as it inflates and not get stuck, caught, and begin to twist.

So do this every time, now that you've got it straight. Boom goes after 75% inflation.

Think about why you don't see Ozone owners complaining......THEY HAVE NO BOOM CRUMPLING THE LEADING EDGE. So leave the boom off.

Here's a video of the 7 metre Echo in really, really low winds. This thing looks pretty big but it seems to work in next to nothing.

Had my new 6m Echo out yesterday in 12-15kts...

Thanks to DW your clear instructions on the vid for the boom mod were really good.

Just made my 5.0 boom with a 25/22 OD/ID carbon tube, same weave as the recommended one. The end piece was hellish difficult to get out of the old boom, I put a rope through the end and around the hook and tied it to a pole and twisted it out. Sanding it down took an age as well, ended up using a coarse file to start with then went down to fine, then sandpaper.

I thought the pop-rivets might not work so well in the inside of the carbon tube (despite the glued stiffener piece for the old boom) so I thought about adding an inner sleeve to rivet into but gave up on that idea and put a through bolt in instead; partly because I don't trust it won't leak and redrilling the rivets to let water out and redo the plug (that I put in with marine grade silicone) will ruin the plastic headpiece eventually. A bolt can be easily unscrewed.I found a can of spray foam as a sealant but it was truly dreadful; ended up getting rid of it and using the silicone.

I've replaced boom grip on Windsurfing booms before but DWs taping tips were great, made it even simpler. Had to bevel the edge myself though, difficult to get straight, you really need a long steel straight edge. All in all it looks good, hope I don't fall on it day one and bust in (man the tube is thin-walled!) and I hope it helps my wife get out on the wing, she was struggling a wee bit with the original boom (although to be fair it's probably more due to the 5.0 size than weight). Did the 4.0 and If willhave a crack at another one for my 6.0. A friend got me some 22/25 ID/OD 3K carbon tubes, works really well.


Thanks again.

I have a question:

Does anyone think (or has done it) I could reduce the plastic front boom weight further by drilling a few strategic holes in it without weakening it too much? I was thinking around 8 x 8mm holes in the curved front piece (4 each side, it can't be loaded that much, I'm a civil engineer, but not a mechanical one) and maybe a few in non stressed parts of the flat?

cheers

k

I tested the 7m in the snow, worked OK, but I will not use it on land whithout snow as i scraped the wing tips a coulple of times.

Awww, and I was gunna patent the term "Sideways D" Goofcat!

dejavu said..
DWF -- great video. Very helpful. Keep them coming!

Thank you. Glad I saw this video. What are your recommendations for hanging duotone echo's to dry? Can you hang them from the front - i hear this is a no-no for wings with center strut bladders as the bladder in the center strut can drop down. Not an issue with the echo I presume, but what about the leading edge bladder?