The range of the Mode wing is quite something.
A single Mode 5.5 could replace both (v1) Nova 4.2 + 6m . Was confirmed to me by a North rider.

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Alysum said..
What's concerning with North is after trying their North Nova 2 and Nova light wind, they are sub-par wings.
They seriously need to get the design right before rushing new materials to the market.
Just look at Fone, they are continuously refining their amazing Strike wings with 50+ prototypes to get the best design possible, before considering new materials. Not going to spend 3k on a new materials wing with a poor design, the wing needs to be excellent at flying first.

Just a correction on this.

First Protos with this shape were produced more than 1 year ago, since then a multitude of protos have been tested/refined until the final products.

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King Crash said..

JohnnyTsunami said..

King Crash said..
Can someone confirm if this is just Cuben Fibre ? Tuckers video is making me think that's all this is.. If it is.. That's 15 year old tech eeekk. I guess props to Ocean Rodeo for making the first 3Di raw wing. Beating Norths at their own game

Not sure what you mean - I don't see a single "3Di" wing on the market or at AWSI. North's 3di amazing sail tech actually makes sails already pre-shaped with the proper draft on a giant 3d mold. Some cool youtube factory tour videos if you're interested. No wing uses this tech.

There is dyneema, and x-ply, and that is all the exotic materials I know of in wings. Dyneema is a brand name for ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE).

Aluula is a brand name for coated dyneema by Ocean Rodeo. They also now make an uncoated/less coated version - the black material on their new wing tips that they say is less stiff - so the gold coating does add mechanical properties to the dyneema. Dyneema is "cuben fibre," which is a brand name.

This North stuff appears to be more basic dyneema - at least to my eye it looks like raw dyneema similar to the color of the raw dyneema lines.

The new OR canopy materials sure looks like "cuben fibre" /dyneema, but it's unclear through the jargon what it really is.

X-ply is clear mylar with strands of one of several materials: aramid/kevlar, polyester, dyneema, etc. laminate to the clear mylar.

Nearly my man - You are right, in no moulded wings. These hopefully aren't too far away given 49ers are on them and now windsurfing. 16's, 18's and now moths have been using them for a while. Only a matter of time.
Your list of cloth missed taffeta which the latest x-blend from PPC contains. Taffetas are much better for longevity than a straight x-ply. The x-ply you're noting is a CZ from Dimension Polyant, this would be technora and kevlar mix. Taffeta provides longevity and better laminar flow when you don't need a fold patch.
Given Norths sold the Cuben factory in 2015 as 3Di raw superseded it, I'd expect to see at least the 3Di Poly version used. Sort of disappointed that this isn't raw.

Other than the dihedral shape supplied by the leading edge (and perhaps a bit from the boom strut), it seems as if all of the "sail" material on wings is completely flat. Those with a sailing background know that while sailboat sails may look flat, most semi-modern sails have curve/draft induced by the shapes of the panels. The advent of the full size mold (1990's?) allowed designers to create very precise sails (3DL for example) with the draft in just the right place. I'd love to see this technology make it into our wings and would be happy to help test :) .

Anyone know the canopy material? I heard duotone (apparently trying to keep everything secret) has a better dacron, but no different canopy material. Same for the nova?

Gunnar making the 4.2 look really clean while loaded up. A little trailing edge flap here and there at higher speeds but better than my wings.



You should probably mute this one...

I noticed kitepower had some stock (also they confirmed they have them via chat), when my local is reporting end-nov and some other online stores end-oct. So I bought the 5.5m, hopefully can test before the end of the week!

I got to ride my Mode 5.5 on Thursday (Shout out to kitepower for getting it to me so quick on the west coast). Was about 14-20kn and was grinning the whole session.
My comments are heavily bias as I bought into the hype, and have only ridden soft handled Nova v1 4.2m and 2021 PPC 5.8. So I haven't really had much new wing experience since graduating from being a beginner and I'm not sure how much is just due to new fresh canopy and rigid handles.
+ around 2600g dry on scale.
+ Very quiet throughout the ride, even when depowering above head in windy conditions! Eery
+ Very rigid and responsive. Love the snap of the wing to its stable flagging position, when releasing rear hand in turns. The wing is stable one handed.
+ very smooth through tacks, lost less velocity and handles easy to grab. I got above 5 tacks in a row straight up which is unprecedented.
+ wing didn't feel much bigger than my 4.2m despite much more power. I was initially worried about the 5.5m size being like my 5.8m ppc which feels gigantic to me.

? Probably the advanced learning curve but found it hard to get the wing into race position when riding toeside. In general when above head the wing feels quite lifty and I was somtimes able to foil very very slow, supported from stalling by the wing. A conscious effort needed to get the wing into forward speed mode. Easily achieved my regular topspeed on my Axis HPS1050 though.
? another rider was testing the 7m. His sounded like it had some flutter when shaken and he said it wasn't as friendly as the other Novas, a narrower sweet spot and maybe some wing pressing down issues when tacking.
? Not convinced about how useful the windows are yet. I did try look through once while cruising and not very handy. I think they might be more suited for when wing is in full race position, and look forward to testing it some more.

Looking for update reviews now a bit of time has passed, thx

Had my first sesh yesterday on my mode 7.0 what a beast upwind was really nice
flagging out was sweet and tacking and gybing were both great and no flutter on the leach this sail sets perfect and feels perfect

Here's a video I found with both the 7 metre Mode and the Sab 1350 foil in action -- really light winds. The 7 metre Mode looks like a great light wind wing!

.be

That canopy tension looks really good. I know not to get too excited by watching a really good rider in light offshore winds, but this looks really promising, thanks for posting.

I've been pumping my 5.5m to 8psi as written on the wing, but all the websites say 5.5 should be 9psi. Will try get an answer from north.

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Powis said..

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I've been pumping my 5.5m to 8psi as written on the wing, but all the websites say 5.5 should be 9psi. Will try get an answer from north.

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I pump mine to 7psi which feels solid and perform ok.

First ride on the North Mode 5.5m yesterday,
Armstrong 85cm mast
CF v2 950, 232 stab 60cm fuse
I weigh 69kg
First thing I noticed is how light this wing feels, walking from the car to the water it was just floating
in not much wind at all, on the water it was a northeaster coming over the land then gusting across the lake where l go out, lulls of about 8kns peaking to around 18kns, getting up for my first run it was maybe 14kns and I got up so easily two or three pumps and I was on my way, the wing just felt so light and well behaved, when the stronger winds hit it still felt the same, I know 18kns is not strong but after about two hours it picked up to around 24kn peaks and this wing just felt so comfortable, I was playing around carving on little wavelets and thought I'd go directly down wind as I do with my flysurfer peaks and yes it just sat there in front of me and allowed me to do what ever I wanted to, it feels so comfortable and easy to use I'm really looking forward to finding out its limits, even with my light weight I feel mid to high twentys won't be a problem with this wing.
Congratulations to North you've done a top job with this wing and thanks to Ben from Unhooked Watersports for getting it for me.

Got to see how the North Mode 5.5m handles stronger winds yesterday afternoon, it was a gusty southerly occasionally coming from the south west on Lake Illawarra where l went out some lulls were as low as 16 knots but it was mostly in the mid to high twentys and sometimes peaking to the low thirties.
Setting up I was thinking I wonder how long I'll last before coming in and pumping my 4m wing. Getting up and going in these conditions is so easy you don't even have to pump, so I had a few runs in the mid to high twentys and this wing was so solid and well behaved, really comfortable, no flapping just smooth as, and when the stronger gusts hit it was still very controllable, I remember thinking to myself I may never need to use my 4m wing again.
Absolutely love this wing.

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elk said..
Got to see how the North Mode 5.5m handles stronger winds yesterday afternoon, it was a gusty southerly occasionally coming from the south west on Lake Illawarra where l went out some lulls were as low as 16 knots but it was mostly in the mid to high twentys and sometimes peaking to the low thirties.
Setting up I was thinking I wonder how long I'll last before coming in and pumping my 4m wing. Getting up and going in these conditions is so easy you don't even have to pump, so I had a few runs in the mid to high twentys and this wing was so solid and well behaved, really comfortable, no flapping just smooth as, and when the stronger gusts hit it was still very controllable, I remember thinking to myself I may never need to use my 4m wing again.
Absolutely love this wing.

You forgot to mention that you weigh 120 kg!

The post above Elk claims to be 69kg...wich is pretty light for an Elk!

Great news Mr Elk! I can't wait to get mine.. And then I'll happily eat your brother-in-law with Mashed potatoes and gravy.

Here's a very positive review of the Mode.

I tried omne last week, getting up and going, pretty good, upwind amazing but I,m spoiled with the stiff fronthandle from the Cabrinha,s and Units and can never go back to a soft one like on the mode.btw whil riding it has the tendency to flip over.

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Jeroensurf said..
I tried omne last week, getting up and going, pretty good, upwind amazing but I,m spoiled with the stiff fronthandle from the Cabrinha,s and Units and can never go back to a soft one like on the mode.btw whil riding it has the tendency to flip over.

The Mode has long hard solid handles -- maybe you rode last year's North Nova. Take a look at the video I posted and you'll see the handles and hear the reviewers discuss them.

I've ridden a 5.5 Mode for 6-7 sessions now, here's my Average Joe review.
Pro's
1) The posted range is legit, kinda blown away by it. It doesn't really get unstable, just generates more power.
2) Handles are super comfortable and directly responsive to input. Not sure they need the back handle extending so far back. Haven't had to reach back there yet.
3) It's light. It's feels light on the water as well.
4) Construction is top notch, seams all appear top notch. How the North Weave Struts age, only time will tell.
5) It's an upwind monster.
6) Flatter camber makes it great for freestyle and transitions.
7) Wrist leash is one of my favorites, cuff is perfect, length perfect and thank you for swivels !!! No more coiled nest after an hour of jibes and tacks.
Cons
1) Upright section of handle is exposed hard plastic. Only board dinger is the very front piece. When I stink bug I make an effort now to raise wing early so it doesn't hit the rails. I'll probably coat it with silicon.
2) Windows..I've tried to use them..not working for me, just too small, I'd rather see them go away or larger.
3) Love the soft cushy feeling of the flagging handle but too much slop or play if riding waves.
4) Rolling that wing up is not the most intuitive.

In summary..performs as advertised! The wing will appeal to racers and freestylers. It's direct powered feel would not make it ideal for beginners. It's a more technical wing. It's good in the waves but I personally prefer a softer feel and there's the flagging handle. The canopy material is nothing special but there's a lot of seams which should help w stretching over the long term. I'll use other wings for the surf but this one's a keeper for everything else.

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dejavu said..

Jeroensurf said..
I tried omne last week, getting up and going, pretty good, upwind amazing but I,m spoiled with the stiff fronthandle from the Cabrinha,s and Units and can never go back to a soft one like on the mode.btw whil riding it has the tendency to flip over.

The Mode has long hard solid handles -- maybe you rode last year's North Nova. Take a look at the video I posted and you'll see the handles and hear the reviewers discuss them.

No it was the Mode.
I meant the surf/flagging handle. That one is too soft and loose.
Once you tried a wing with a stiff /non twisting surfhandle you cant go back. An non-twisting surfhandle has imo huge benefits in wingcontrol in the surf and for me it is one of those details that can be a true dealbreaker. That said: if they fix that next year and ad some sizes it would be close to picture perfect.

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Jeroensurf said..

dejavu said..

Jeroensurf said..
I tried omne last week, getting up and going, pretty good, upwind amazing but I,m spoiled with the stiff fronthandle from the Cabrinha,s and Units and can never go back to a soft one like on the mode.btw whil riding it has the tendency to flip over.

The Mode has long hard solid handles -- maybe you rode last year's North Nova. Take a look at the video I posted and you'll see the handles and hear the reviewers discuss them.

No it was the Mode.
I meant the surf/flagging handle. That one is too soft and loose.
Once you tried a wing with a stiff /non twisting surfhandle you cant go back. An non-twisting surfhandle has imo huge benefits in wingcontrol in the surf and for me it is one of those details that can be a true dealbreaker. That said: if they fix that next year and ad some sizes it would be close to picture perfect.

Thanks for the reply. O.K., I now understand that your comment was about the single handle at the front of the LE strut used for holding the wing while riding a wave.

Any updates on durability of the canopy and resistance to bagging?

I've got a couple of pictures of a six week old 5.5 that is showing that the trailing edge has bagged a bit .
if some who can post pictures emails me I'll forward them on .

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Britfoil360 said..

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I've got a couple of pictures of a six week old 5.5 that is showing that the trailing edge has bagged a bit .

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if some who can post pictures emails me I'll forward them on .

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Hi, pleased explain a bit further, do you have a current warranty claim or what are you wanting the photos for to pass on?

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