About three years ago I bought a Slingshot Infinity 84cm wing replacing an Slingshot H2. I purchased it for windfoiling in the lightwinds where I live. It's been good and I've had a ton of days on it, my only complaints are that it is slow and doesn't go upwind super well unless I'm really powered up. For the past couple of years I've also been using it for wingfoiling and it's been fine for that too, but my complaints are the same. Eventually I'll want to go with something that ideally has the same low-end flying wind minimum, but also goes considerably faster and allows me to point upwind more easily. Are my requirements too much to ask for in a high aspect wing? I'm interested in the Axis 1150 or possibly the Slingshot Quantum (still very little info out there about it). What are other people using as a do it all foil that gives them a good low-end, cruising speed and pointing ability? Thanks in advance!

I can't give much advice except that I learned on this wing. I miss it sometimes. I went to an axis hps 980 (1,300cm^2) which took many sessions to work out from the 84. Definitely smaller and harder to get going. That said, after a year winging you are more efficient and probably can survive on something with a bit less lift, especially since it will pump and glide better. Go with the largest wing in one of axis's higher aspect wing lines like the hps.
Don't expect your top end to be much higher but you will notice you're cruising speed increase significantly.
The 84 turns awesome and is a dream at near stalling speeds, and you will lose that with the bigger wingspans. Maybe stick to their BSC line.
Not sure that this would equal in other brands, but a 7 aspect ratio wing seems like a good blend of efficient and not too wide. The 84 has a 3.5 aspect ratio.
Sometimes the large high aspect wings are hard to get started, but they will glide much further than a larger fat wing so it's a trade off.

It's almost worth keeping the 84 around to let friends learn on.

Thanks Johnny, I appreciate your feedback.

I also started with the infinity 84. After a summer of the wake foiling and just starting the journey into winging I switched to Armstrong. The Armstrong 1850 is a really nice mid aspect wing with low stall speed and great turning. I also have the 1550 V2, slightly higher stall speed but much faster, as well as the 1250 (yet another step), and the 925 which is a high speed cruiser with great glide but much higher stall speed. Quite honestly I love every one of these wings, but if I were to pick only two they would be the 1550 and the 925. One of my biggest motivators was weight, there is just no comparison with the Armstrong versus weight of the slingshot line.

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radair said..
I also started with the infinity 84. After a summer of the wake foiling and just starting the journey into winging I switched to Armstrong. The Armstrong 1850 is a really nice mid aspect wing with low stall speed and great turning. I also have the 1550 V2, slightly higher stall speed but much faster, as well as the 1250 (yet another step), and the 925 which is a high speed cruiser with great glide but much higher stall speed. Quite honestly I love every one of these wings, but if I were to pick only two they would be the 1550 and the 925. One of my biggest motivators was weight, there is just no comparison with the Armstrong versus weight of the slingshot line.

Same here. Started on I84 with 48 stab, last year moved to Armstrong 1850 which is faster, easier to get up, going up wing much better. Recently added 1250 for windier days.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the suggestions about the Armstrong wings, I will look in to those!

I had the same set up, loved the i84 for windfoiling but realized I needed something better for Winging. I considered Armstrong but my dealer steered me to the Axis 1060 BSC and I was really happy with the wing's overall performance and ability to get up on foil in light winds. I found it a great step up from the i84. I also paired it with the 890 BSC which is a crazy fun experience when powered up.

I've also just bought the 1050 HPS to give me more speed in moderate wind conditions. I'm really happy with Axis and the wing options.

DC

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JohnnyTsunami said..
I can't give much advice except that I learned on this wing. I miss it sometimes. I went to an axis hps 980 (1,300cm^2) which took many sessions to work out from the 84. Definitely smaller and harder to get going. That said, after a year winging you are more efficient and probably can survive on something with a bit less lift, especially since it will pump and glide better. Go with the largest wing in one of axis's higher aspect wing lines like the hps.
Don't expect your top end to be much higher but you will notice you're cruising speed increase significantly.
The 84 turns awesome and is a dream at near stalling speeds, and you will lose that with the bigger wingspans. Maybe stick to their BSC line.
Not sure that this would equal in other brands, but a 7 aspect ratio wing seems like a good blend of efficient and not too wide. The 84 has a 3.5 aspect ratio.
Sometimes the large high aspect wings are hard to get started, but they will glide much further than a larger fat wing so it's a trade off.

It's almost worth keeping the 84 around to let friends learn on.

solid advice

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radair said..
I also started with the infinity 84. After a summer of the wake foiling and just starting the journey into winging I switched to Armstrong. The Armstrong 1850 is a really nice mid aspect wing with low stall speed and great turning. I also have the 1550 V2, slightly higher stall speed but much faster, as well as the 1250 (yet another step), and the 925 which is a high speed cruiser with great glide but much higher stall speed. Quite honestly I love every one of these wings, but if I were to pick only two they would be the 1550 and the 925. One of my biggest motivators was weight, there is just no comparison with the Armstrong versus weight of the slingshot line.

I agree; HS1550 v2 and HA925 with the 232 stab . On my larger board I use those with the 70cm fuse. HS1250 great, too and let's me enjoy the feeling of the 1550 on really big days in 30-40+ knts where the swell is moving with more energy and I am well powered.

From my investigations, the Axis Art series, Saab and Gofoil are all good bets. I design my own foils but my break through one's this year are aimed at low speed efficiency in waves. They aren't slouches, but the stall angle and breach resilience that I optimised them for do detract from top speed. My next experiments are to find a happy compromise position between low speed high performance and high speed. The closest performance to mine at the moment would be Gofoil who use a chopped down version of my technique.

I learned on an H2 / 84 combo too. Was a great starter, but I don't miss the 84 at all -- you will be stoked when you progress to other wings. I do miss the H2 sometimes though, as I haven't replaced it with an equivalently small wing ... in bigger waves, that locked in feeling, like being on roller coaster tracks. Mmm, haven't felt that in a while.

Anyways, I think Axis may still have the best value as an upgrade, for price/quality and for variation in options. Though so many options at some point gets to be a negative, becomes overwhelming. Armstrong is the BMW, best quality, high price. I moved from SS to Gofoil, at the time was the best overall option all carbon, and I liked their surf focus.

I'd place GF somewhere between Axis and Armstrong. They were slow to the HA race, first few iterations (GL, NL) have had mixed reviews, but their new lines this year (EZ, GT, RS) are getting rave reviews -- I have RS1150 and don't expect I'll be using my old ones any more. If you end up going GF, I'd recommend a Maliko200 as closest thing to 84: big and slow and fast lift and stall speed of close to zero. Lots available cheap now. You can get NL/GL pretty cheap too, as everyone's upgrading....but if $ is no object, go with the new ones, there's some kinda magic been added.

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Windbot said..
About three years ago I bought a Slingshot Infinity 84cm wing replacing an Slingshot H2. I purchased it for windfoiling in the lightwinds where I live. It's been good and I've had a ton of days on it, my only complaints are that it is slow and doesn't go upwind super well unless I'm really powered up. For the past couple of years I've also been using it for wingfoiling and it's been fine for that too, but my complaints are the same. Eventually I'll want to go with something that ideally has the same low-end flying wind minimum, but also goes considerably faster and allows me to point upwind more easily. Are my requirements too much to ask for in a high aspect wing? I'm interested in the Axis 1150 or possibly the Slingshot Quantum (still very little info out there about it). What are other people using as a do it all foil that gives them a good low-end, cruising speed and pointing ability? Thanks in advance!

Low-end, plus speed and rocketing upwind... I can't say too much about other brands... but I feel the the new Axis ART series may fit the bill for your demands.

At 86kg, I ride the 999, 899 and 799... and I love them for their speed (I consistently dust my mates riding other brands), they rip upwind, and have incredibly low stall speed, particularly for their small surface area (I don't know Armstrong, but hear they are great wings too, but much higher stall speeds in the HA wings).

I get up and foiling on the 999 in 11-12knots on a 5.5m Duotone Slick. It did take some adjusting technique to get up on foil in light winds (HA foils of this magnitude Aspect ratio close to 10:1 need a much lower angle of attack), but once mastered, I get up super easily.... and because it is such a fast wing (being very thin and narrow chord), it glides through lulls incredibly so low end is very good. Even my little 799 (at 730 sq cms) is amazing how it stays up and foiling and has a relatively low stall speed.

Another thing that might be part of the consideration when looking for a wing with lighter wind speed - I find that the ART series never seem to lift too much to the point of breaching at high speed... they just keep going faster. Whereas, once you get into lighter wind, bigger foils, you get a lot of lift that leads to breaching sensitivity. I had the PnG 1010 originally (next size down from the 1150 - it was a great wing.. but I felt it was really my learning wing - I outgrew it in a couple of months - great wing, stable, good speed, etc... but I didn't need as much lift (which could get a bit much to handle if I was in waves and had speed) and I wanted more speed and more capacity to push it hard through turns and on waves. When you carve a wing, you generate lift, so the bigger liftier wings tend to breach more easily on a hard carve... So yeah... Axis ART = high speed, upwind ability, low end, can carve insanely hard and stays in the water... these are my criteria ;)

I will emphasise... the ART series are not beginner wings by any stretch. They are high performance wings that take some getting used to (I have seen several people give up on them after a few sessions because they hadn't figured them out), but they pay you back in spades once you learn the nuances. So fast, so good upwind, great to push hard in turns and the low end glide is amazing.

I haven't tried the 1099 yet... but I imagine it is the ultimate for light wind glide and speed (although you lose some carving ability at that width) - it would be a very fast light wind wing that will truck upwind, but is a super high performer. (Although... I would still say that for me the 999 is plenty for my biggest wing). If you are looking for much easier, more forgiving wings, then yeah... the other Axis series will have some good options for you.

Good luck!