It's extremely rare that I get stuck swimming. If I do, I usually know it's coming and I get back to shore quick. After approximately 200 wingfoiling sessions of never having any kind of real swim, I got caught today. I ended up swimming about a mile (1.6 kilometers) in 39 degree fahrenheit (3.89 celcius) water while towing my kit behind me which is quite honestly a bummer. Here's the data:

Wind:
20-37 knots from the NE at a 70 degree angle.

Current and tide:
Outgoing tide and river current moving the same direction as the wind, essentially undercutting the recorded wind values.

Board and rider:
Sunova Carver 85l matched with 90kg rider plus wetsuit.

Foil:
Cloud IX fs700 with catalyst stab and 66cm mast.

Wing:
Ocean Rodeo Aluula Glide 3m with carbon handles.

How it played out:
When learning new gear there's always these questionable moments that you encounter where you know you are checking limitations on what the gear can and cannot handle. The Carver is a new board to me and using the fs700 as my everyday foil is also new, brought on by the efficiency of the Carver. My first few sessions on this combo have all been in lighter winds using a 4.2m Ho'okipa wing and I've had absolutely ZERO struggles at any point. Even in crazy low lulls nearing single digits. However, When I was rigging up today I had this odd feeling about the Ocean Rodeo because I knew that it had poor low end and I've had other bad experiences with it. I tallied my thoughts on the benefits of the Carver minus the penalty of the fs700 and thought I should be okay, but that I might hit a few soft spots here and there that would test me.

The session started out great. Incredible upwind angles, fantastic downwind swell rides, no problem with balance for water starts in wacky chop on the Carver. Then it went south, and it was such a hard cutoff that it was quite honestly shocking. I crashed mid river and went for my water start and simply couldn't get it. The wind was gusty enough that while I had no issue getting to my feet, once there, I'd feel the lull and couldn't stay standing while I waited for the next gust. The Carver is incredibly fast and it undoubtedly allows access to smaller foils. My fs700 is amazing in the air, but there is a clear need for more speed vs my fs850 on takeoff. The 3m Aluula Glide is unreal when on foil, but I need to get 3-4 solid pumps in order to activate the fs700. The low end is so poor on this wing that while I could commonly get 1-2 solid rips, I would then enter another hole in the wind pattern and wouldn't be able to complete my takeoff.

I got to thinking and analyzing my small wings which I've been really focused on this winter as I've reached up to 55 knots of peak wind speed and found noteworthy data points:

F-one Strike V3 2m (Awesome little wing but I need lulls of 35 knots or higher to use.)
Chord: 52.75"
Span: 77"
AR: 1.46
Flat dihedral

Ocean Rodeo Glide Aluula 2.5m (The more I test this wing, the more I realize it has almost the same low end as the 3m because it can be pumped so much better with the smaller span. This is my all time favorite small wing.)
Chord: 52.75"
Span: 88"
AR: 1.67
Medium dihedral

Ocean Rodeo Glide Aluula 3m (Twice now I have been caught with this wing in holes where I had to wait a LONG time to get back on foil. It's days are likely numbered in my quiver.)
Chord: 53"
Span: 108"
AR: 2.04
Medium dihedral

F-one Strike v3 3m (I despise this wing. F-one advertises it's wind range as 28-38 knots and that is perfectly dead on. If I go below or exceed that wind range I pay for it. I also cannot stop this thing from flipping over when flagged out. Sorry F-One, this is my all time least favorite wing. Maybe better for freestylers?)
Chord: 58.75"
Span: 101"
AR: 1.72
Flat dihedral

Cloud IX Wind Wing 3.5m (I feel invincible on this wing and can pump up in next to zero wind. However, it does not have the unlimited high end that the smaller wings have.)
Chord: 62"
Span: 104"
AR: 1.68
Low dihedral

First off, I found the chord interesting. The 3 smallest wings had nearly the exact same chord despite being quite different sizes. Most significant however, the 3m OR which has left me in a lurch several times now has an aspect ratio is significantly higher than any of the other wings in the mix here. The lack of chord and high AR doesn't give it much grunt when you go to pump it. Then the increased wingspan also can lead to tip strikes when pumping and occasionally when riding.

I'm just scratching the surface of what to do with this data and how to apply it. This write up is actually the first time I've looked at all of it side by side and now, I feel like a bit of a goof for even going out on the 3m Glide Aluula today. Comparing its AR to my other options I don't think I'll ever roll the dice on this wing again.

It would be awesome to hear dims and evaluations from other people on their wings since that is data that I almost never see published by manufacturers.

Well.... that's eye opening. My feeling about the low end was right on the 2.5 vs 3m OR. Their own chart actually states that the 2.5m actually has better low end. Crazy.

With all due respect, I think you're on the wrong track. Detail analysis of the performance of your gear is nothing compared to similar analysis of the weather you're sailing in.
Before venturing out I always analyse the latest weather report within a 125km of my location.
The weather bureau gives us 10 minutes update so I have an idea of what the wind is doing, how strong and which direction.
If it's a frontal system I want to know when it's going to arrive, how strong and what direction.
I check the local airport weather info NOTAM to arriving pilots which is deadly accurate.
No matter where I launch, I always sail upwind and stay upwind so I know if the wind dies, I can still limp home and avoid the walk of shame.
We are sailors after all.

Happy sailing.

I've decided I don't like high aspect small wings - tiny sweet spot and super easy to oversheet. You need a little back hand pressure to sheet and balance against. So lower aspect in the smaller sizes for me from now on

Select to expand quote

mikesids said..
I've decided I don't like high aspect small wings - tiny sweet spot and super easy to oversheet. You need a little back hand pressure to sheet and balance against. So lower aspect in the smaller sizes for me from now on

I think that's the big takeaway from this experience for sure. What wings do you like in the small sizes? I've been hunting all winter for something great but it definitely feels like the design of smaller wings brings in a whole host of amplified performance issues.

Select to expand quote

winddoc said..
With all due respect, I think you're on the wrong track. Detail analysis of the performance of your gear is nothing compared to similar analysis of the weather you're sailing in.
Before venturing out I always analyse the latest weather report within a 125km of my location.
The weather bureau gives us 10 minutes update so I have an idea of what the wind is doing, how strong and which direction.
If it's a frontal system I want to know when it's going to arrive, how strong and what direction.
I check the local airport weather info NOTAM to arriving pilots which is deadly accurate.
No matter where I launch, I always sail upwind and stay upwind so I know if the wind dies, I can still limp home and avoid the walk of shame.
We are sailors after all.

Happy sailing.

Not sure I understand your point? I knew the windspeeds, I knew the kit was testing its limits, I was upwind when I had my issue so I swam back to my put in spot. Winds were increasing but became thready on the water.

I track windspeed, river movement, air temp, and record all of that data after every session and chart it out so I have long term data to reference before every session. This was just the first day on a new board, foil, wing combo and it revealed a weakness. That's all.

Im very familiar with the OR 3m (HL) and I really like the wing. That said, I'm lucky enough to have a 4 and 5m (A series) as well, and I would never really use the 3m in conditions where I needed to pump. Honestly, I don't think I would use ANY 3m in conditions where I had to pump the wing to get up. Wings that size just aren't really effective when pumping and I find that any wing 3m or less needs to be powered to work well. Maybe I just like riding powered, but it seems more like you were underpowered with that setup vs underperformance of the wing.

Oh yeah I definitely aim for less power at all times. Strong preference for that. Unfortunately in these conditions there's a bit of a gap in my quiver. My 3.5m and 4.2m wings wouldn't have handled 37 knot gusts very well, which the OR Glide A can definitely do. I don't have a good technique for absorbing overpowered wind though. Optimal fun today probably would have required sizing up the foil and keeping the 3m in hand. Still, interesting to look at the data on those small wings and to see the aspect ratio shift on the OR. I've heard that the new AA has more pump to it, but I've yet to get my hands on one!