The speed of the black wing is impressive...will be good to see where racing goes over here in Oz.

I would like to see Upwind/Downwind races instead of slalom.I think it would help develop gear more suited to what i do when i wing.

But maybe it does not matter, probably the biggest factor in top speed is foil size,aspect ratio and profile thickness.And Aluula wings will probably be the standard in races soon.

IMHO race winning foils will become very close to kite foils and require lots of skill to get up on foil with a wing.

I think Gong's designer son won a wing race in France using a foil from their kite range.Of course he is super skilled and lightweight.

I would like to see an upwind/downwind race as well. The ability to tack on the foil and pump dead downwind would make for a very interesting format.

how are those duck jibes from the guy in the front!

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greg87foil said..
how are those duck jibes from the guy in the front!

They seem to use this duckjibe variation a lot in races,instead of pivoting the wing on the back hand they pivot on the front.Sometimes they switch feet first,sometimes after.

I have pulled a couple but the timing is tricky for me,i screw them up most times :)

Johny Heineken does them beautifully.

I guess it depends on the speed you carry through the gybe. When most of us us mere mortals gybe we go through with near zero apparent breeze. He's really hooking into it so it's feasible that the apparent wind is actually coming from in front of him. It's actually an apparent wind tack even though it's a true wind gybe?

Switching feet just as they enter the jibe.

I'm pretty sure that is Johnny Heineken at the front, he has a definite speed edge. It would be very interesting to look at his foil setup. he probably has multiple options depending on whether it is with or against tide, and slalom versus course racing.

I enquired about Mike's Lab wing foils about a year ago.

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...We offer a 90 cm 1000 cm2 wingfoil, with a 95cm or 108cm mast. Our foils are very efficient. 3300 USD including covers. Our foils are a mix of intermediate and high modulus carbon fiber. Wait time is a couple months right now. ...

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Jethrow said..
I guess it depends on the speed you carry through the gybe. When most of us us mere mortals gybe we go through with near zero apparent breeze. He's really hooking into it so it's feasible that the apparent wind is actually coming from in front of him. It's actually an apparent wind tack even though it's a true wind gybe?

Yeah it looks like he has so much speed going into the Jibe that the apparent wind comes from his front. I tried it yesterday, doable, but timing and enough speed are key. Johnny's are beautifully executed.

Nice "trick" to work on

This is a nice video showing Johnny Heineken's transitions in slo-mo:

that is an amazing video, thanks for sharing. such effortless style