Just received a new 3m Starboard Nitro wing made with Hookipa fabric. Thought I'd weigh it before it got wet 1.3kg!

Hookipa material is BA, so pliable and light, yet super rigid.

I have only heard good things about these New Wings and look forward to trying them out

Hell yeeeaaah!! I am holding out on buying new wings till I can get one of these in Oz

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Youngbreezy said..
Hell yeeeaaah!! I am holding out on buying new wings till I can get one of these in Oz

You can .
Only one place in Australia that is selling them .
And currently has them in stock .

Two windy days in a row in Melbourne, absolutely loving the Nitro. Full disclaimer, been a Starboard ambassador for many years, up until now riding Smik wings (all three generations). Still love the Smik but wow, this Nitro is so rigid and light and stable. Video from today, just a couple of unedited minutes, it was 20 - 30 knots and I'm on a 4'9 Wingboard. Just felt effortless, I'm 63 and just a regular punter, usually pretty cynical about 'the latest' gear making much difference, but ..

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JonathanC said..
Two windy days in a row in Melbourne, absolutely loving the Nitro. Full disclaimer, been a Starboard ambassador for many years, up until now riding Smik wings (all three generations). Still love the Smik but wow, this Nitro is so rigid and light and stable. Video from today, just a couple of unedited minutes, it was 20 - 30 knots and I'm on a 4'9 Wingboard. Just felt effortless, I'm 63 and just a regular punter, usually pretty cynical about 'the latest' gear making much difference, but ..

I've had a couple of session of my new Nitro 6m. The handles felt horrible on the first session - sort of shiny and my hands kept sliding. But on the second session that felt much better and more grippy. Mine also had a slow leak from the strut bladder but that's been fixed by the dealer.

Definitely seems worth the money in the bigger size as it gets going easily and is so light. Wing span is small too.

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JonathanC said..
Two windy days in a row in Melbourne, absolutely loving the Nitro. Full disclaimer, been a Starboard ambassador for many years, up until now riding Smik wings (all three generations). Still love the Smik but wow, this Nitro is so rigid and light and stable. Video from today, just a couple of unedited minutes, it was 20 - 30 knots and I'm on a 4'9 Wingboard. Just felt effortless, I'm 63 and just a regular punter, usually pretty cynical about 'the latest' gear making much difference, but ..

Nice one.. Looks like Starboard have made a big improvement with their wings.. I like the handles.

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TAA said..

Youngbreezy said..
Hell yeeeaaah!! I am holding out on buying new wings till I can get one of these in Oz

You can .
Only one place in Australia that is selling them .
And currently has them in stock .

Ok cool, what place would that be?

Loving them........

I was thinking about some smaller sizes after using the 6m for a while. But I'll hold off until I see some reviews of the Pro wing. It has smaller leading edge tubes than the Nitro but a bit more weight because of the windows and xply canopy:

freewing.star-board.com/freewing-pro-race-wing/

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Youngbreezy said..

TAA said..

Youngbreezy said..
Hell yeeeaaah!! I am holding out on buying new wings till I can get one of these in Oz

You can .
Only one place in Australia that is selling them .
And currently has them in stock .

Ok cool, what place would that be?

Ocean Surf Co
Adelaide - South Australia

I heard the Nitro had one designer for the 6M and 5M and another for the smaller sizes.

It looks like "winging" is going in different directions. I believe Starboard has introduced a dedicated wing race board and now with the "FreeWing" Pro (more like the RaceWing Pro) it appears we're going to have equipment for different disciplines -- much like the evolution of windsurfing 35 years ago.

I suspect what we're now paying for equipment will look like a bargain in a few years. It will be interesting to see how this "evolution" will impact the sport and its growth or lack thereof over time.

I used to think that stiffer wings would give only advantages.

But there is a price to pay, strong and gusty conditions become a lot more tiring in my experience.A harness might become a must instead of optional with high perfo wings.

I very often under inflate my Takoon V2 wings by .5 PSI so they will feel closer to the V1 in handling gusts etc...and they are conventional,softie wings compared to all these new creations.

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mcrt said..
I used to think that stiffer wings would give only advantages.

But there is a price to pay, strong and gusty conditions become a lot more tiring in my experience.A harness might become a must instead of optional with high perfo wings.

I very often under inflate my Takoon V2 wings by .5 PSI so they will feel closer to the V1 in handling gusts etc...and they are conventional,softie wings compared to all these new creations.

My limited experience so far with the Nitro makes me think that I can use a smaller size than I would with a regular wing and still have the same power, maybe up to 1m smaller. That changes the whole dynamic. I've used the 3m in gusty conditions up to 35 knots and it was incredibly smooth and well behaved. I think the experience with the high inflation pressure and these new fabrics doesn't easily equate to the experience we all have with regular wings. Can't wait for my 4 and 5 to arrive to see how the Nitro's feel in more normal wind strengths, fascinating part of the whole winging and foiling journey. These wings feel as different to me as high aspect foils feel to regular foils.

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dejavu said..
I suspect what we're now paying for equipment will look like a bargain in a few years. It will be interesting to see how this "evolution" will impact the sport and its growth or lack thereof over time.

I can only hope that will not be the case. This (great) sport is already out of reach for too many..
And in principal, these new lighter and stiffer materials should become less expensive as production increases and gets optimized as well as when R&D has been amortized..
Personally, I do not see these 1000-1500$ wings which are very fragile (as I was reminded recently when contacting my foil front wing and stabiliser at once resulting in two simultaneous holes) and with a limited lifetime, as anything even remotely close to "a bargain".
So I prefer a scenario where in a few years I will feel having been "ripped off" during the first years of the sport

How is the 5m going?

I have a demo 5m on the way thanks to Mackite, looks awesome for wave riding.

I spent some time on the 5m. Really great wing. Only thing I don't like is the harness line mounts are in a terrible position and for a wing this pricey it should be perfect.

Riding small waves on Lake Ontario:

Great video and nice riding :) How close to the end of the middle strut did you attach your camera and would be great to know how did you attach it?

Thanks!

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omg said..
Great video and nice riding :) How close to the end of the middle strut did you attach your camera and would be great to know how did you attach it?

Thanks!

Thanks! It's mounted right at the end. Find details on the setup here: www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17885950910230132/