Turns out the Gong foil arrived Wed, so only a week for delivery. Surprisingly fast! I wasn't home, so I had to wait till Thursday to pick it up from the post office... It came in a really nice carrying case, everything fits easily inside and is padded nicely. Though because of the wing size it's a little too long to be able to bring on plane as a carry-on, but with a smaller wing (M) it would probably be doable.. Total cost was $545 for the XL foil with 65cm mast, an extra 40cm kite stab, and shipping to Hawaii. (I had read that the foil is much faster and turns better with the kite stab(which is now on sale as well)). I could have had them swap the tails for no extra cost, but without trying them, I figured it would be better to have both tails.
Hdip, I thought about getting a second wing, but couldn't justify when I would use it. At 165lbs, the XXL is probably too big of a wing for me and would be of no use here in Hawaii. The M is about the same size as the wing I have now, and the L would probably be fun, but I just couldn't justify getting it now.
I can't give a good review yet, as the surf yesterday was pretty abysmal. Though I did take it out twice, so I'll give a little feedback now, and a little more after this weekend, as we are getting a little swell now... The first thing I noticed is that there seems to be a lot of play in the system. Mast to adapter and mast to fuselage both have more play than expected, also the mast is pretty flexible. The mast on the chinese foil I have now is also flexible, but with the extra big wing on this foil it is quite noticeable. I'm going to try add some tape to the mast on either end to tighten the connection a bit. And since I only weigh 165lbs and use a small prone board, I don't think the mast flex will be too much of an issue. But for a bigger guy on a standup board it might be a bit much. I was hoping the gong mast would be interchangeably with the mast I already have, but although they are almost identical in size, they dont quite fit and the screw holes don't line up.
First session, the surf was tiny, it was howling side shore, and I wouldn't have gone out if I hadn't just picked up a brand new foil. I used the surf stab. Nothing felt right. Ever drive an old car where when you step on the gas it feels like the car tries to stall before it takes off? Felt a little like that... Just a lot of play in the system and the tail whistled like a train trying to brake. But in all fairness the conditions were super bad. I got a few rides, but it wasn't anything at all like I expected. Left the water a little disappointed. (got home and tightened all screws, and was able to give a few an extra quarter turn)
Second session, less wind, but still almost no waves. Kite stab. No whistle, and the rides I got felt much better. Though I fell a lot. Not sure if it was from mast flex or the flat stab sliding out or both, but I def fell much more on take-offs than usual. I'd get up and start to go, then would just lose control. My guess is its because the kite stab is perfectly flat, so the tail just slides out, but it also felt like the mast would flex and build up energy when I first stood up, then snap back. Though if I could stay up after that initial instability, I'd get a good ride out of it. All in all it was a much better session than the first one, but like I said both sessions had really meager surf... Though my last wave in felt really good and fast, and I was able to easily link the outside section to the inside section, so I think I'll be stoked on the wing once I get used to it and have some better conditions.
