Gusty wind today and a few times as a gust hit it felt like it was pushing the top of my wing down. One of my friends reckons this is a quirk of the duotone slick sales. Is that right or does it happen with other wings too?

This is backwinding, a lot of wings do it. The original duotone echos could backwind quite badly, the slicks not as much, an the new units hardly at all

Select to expand quote

Pacey said..
This is backwinding, a lot of wings do it. The original duotone echos could backwind quite badly, the slicks not as much, an the new units hardly at all

So does the new unit,.hard to control in heavy gusts,wants to power up,instead of releasing the gusts.

Also they always land upside down.

Select to expand quote

Fitzsup said..

Pacey said..
This is backwinding, a lot of wings do it. The original duotone echos could backwind quite badly, the slicks not as much, an the new units hardly at all

So does the new unit,.hard to control in heavy gusts,wants to power up,instead of releasing the gusts.

Also they always land upside down.

I have Duotone dlabs 4 and 5.5 never an issue.

Just means your approaching the upper end of the designs wind range, time to change down a size.

Select to expand quote

airsail said..
Just means your approaching the upper end of the designs wind range, time to change down a size.

Exactly. The only time I've ever noticed backwinding issues is when I was wildly overpowered, and so far my my 5m SLS Slick with its higher canopy tension handles the gusts even better than my standard 5m Slick (haven't even tried my 6 and 4m yet),..and I thought the standard Slicks were very good to start with. Even the Echo's were "livable". Some people make it sound like these hand wings have absolutely massive wind range, but riding wildly overpowered is a real challenge..imho

There is a trend in wing design towards tighter canopies, with more draft stability and way more performance. A move away from the flapping bed sheets of old. This trend will continue because right now foils are out performing wings, so wings need to become higher performance.

Sounds like some still prefer the flapping bed sheets.

Select to expand quote

airsail said..
Just means your approaching the upper end of the designs wind range, time to change down a size.

That's interesting my 5m slick does the same?.doesn't like gusts.

it's no where near its upper wind range.

Maybe all of the slick and unit owners I know hold their wings wrong???

Don't get me wrong I luv my duotone wings,but like all wings,foils ,boards they have nuances.

Select to expand quote

airsail said..
Just means your approaching the upper end of the designs wind range, time to change down a size.

A wing should ideally not backwind, even when overpowered. It means draft is moving backwards which is the opposite of what you want.

You should be able to sheet out and feather off gusts without getting backwinded.

Early windsurf sails used to do the same until they learned to design them right.

Select to expand quote

Fitzsup said..

airsail said..
Just means your approaching the upper end of the designs wind range, time to change down a size.

That's interesting my 5m slick does the same?.doesn't like gusts.

it's no where near its upper wind range.

Maybe all of the slick and unit owners I know hold their wings wrong???

Don't get me wrong I luv my duotone wings,but like all wings,foils ,boards they have nuances.

I'll repeat, I rode a 6, 5, and 4m Slick for a full year and never experienced the "doesn't like gusts" issue, and the Outer Banks is known for some pretty gusty conditions. I've posted plenty of videos of flinging those wings around, turning every 50 m. I guess we'll agree to disagree on that one. If you have any video of getting backwinded in gusts I'd luv to see it.

I used to have this problem with my 2021 Unit. Quite violent and sudden push when going upwind. With the Slick SLS i just get a subtle flapping in the trailing edge when pushing too hard upwind in powered conditions. It kind of acts as a warning that I have to sheet in on my back hand. I think it has to do with the tighter canopy.

i also experienced some backwinding on certain sizes of original slick (4m) and original Unit (6m). My Units 3.3 and 4m were much better in this aspect.

The v2 Units and Slick SLS have a much better upper wind range and I don't experience this backwinding anymore.