righto,
working mans review of the takuma-LOL 1600.
i've had probably 60-70 hours plus of sessions on the takuma-LOL 1600 alu/carbon foil now, from knee high burgers to a foot overhead and hectic.
this was all prone foiling on a 4'8"
the good,
it looks fvcking amazing for a start, the white paintwork has a band of gloss and then matt white along with the exposed carbon, real foil porn, the thin front edge and the curves all over the foil are insane to look at and fondle.
it rides REALLY well,
really stable gentle lift at low speeds, makes takeoffs easier on bigger waves, never wants to buck you off or lurch up like my gong could do, you go nose down and it stays nose down, no funny business.
top end speed is fvcking crazy for a wing of the size, i've had some scarily fast speed runs in some pretty average little waves, it can get a bit frisky on bigger waves but it comes with tail shims to reign it in on bigger stuff, personally the shims felt like dragging seaweed so i just move the mast back a hair in bigger waves and buckle up.
it turns really nicely, full rail carves feel epic, you can really lean into it and it just drives through the turn without loading up a ton of extra lift, so good, i've had the ends of the wings out through the turns regularly and it doesn’t let go at all.
it can get to be a handful for turns over chest high for me at my lightweight (147lbs).
pumps really well in my limited experience, couldn’t do 2 for 1's before but can do em every session now, doesn’t need to be worked too heavily to pump back out, super stoked with that.
the rest,
Firstly, the bag it comes in is shït, single lined, compared to a gong bag which you'd be happy to throw on a plane for a trip, the takuma-lol one is a single layer of average feeling canvas, small point maybe but fvcking hell boys, pretty naff for the price point.
no covers for the wings once it's put together, with the shape of the front wing it'd really benefit from some protection on the way to the beach.
the mast is kind of flexy, basic aluminium box section, pretty standard stuff, although it is factory sealed at both ends with some metallic mesh type tape,
baseplate is the same generic aluminium as many other brands but has open ended slots on the screw holes for quick removal,
the baseplate and fuselage ends of the mast needed shimming with packing tape the same as all the other brands in this construction style,
it came with the wrong length bolts to mount to the board, needed 3-4 mm ground off the length to fit properly.
my mast also came with a few dinks in it on the edges which was pretty sloppy on takuma's part.
the backs of the wings are insanely sharp, kick the rear stab and you'll regret it, deffo a case for some light 1200 grit adjustment.
Durability,
if you’re foiling reefs and snagging the bottom sitting in the lineups, or you're slinging it in the back of the van/truck with other gear unprotected you're going to chew this thing up pretty quickly, the hot coat chips quite easily on the leading edge of the front wing, not great.
the white paint is going to look like crap if you’re reef rashing it, looks badass out of the box but maybe not super practical especially on the ends of the wing, i understand there may be a reason for the gloss paint etc but the lips where they pulled the masking tape on the gloss stripe were pretty high, very noticeable.
i have had a front wingtip split and delaminate and suck in a ton of water after hitting the reef paddling out on my second session so toughness is definitely not a strong point, still leaking after the repair as it's proving hard to get it totally dryed out first:bawling:
i'm baking it in the back of the van to get it dry so will get it water tight over the weekend.
but, if you're a sand bottomed, deep water foiler and are super careful with it you should have no problems.