Best foil for you.

grendel95

Billy Hamilton status
Nov 1, 2005
1,604
325
83
SJC
Lately I've been foiling with the Signature 165 with a chop flat stab (15''). I have to say it is very technical, for the first 10 waves I coudn't control it.
My Albatross 175 is definitely a lot harder to control than my 210, especially when pumping out the back. Difficult to maintain balance on all axis' and keep the speed up on the smaller wing.

I adjusted a Naish Jet 320 stabilizer to fit and that added a lot of stability to the Hi aspect wings. Made my 175 pumping a lot more successful. It slows the foil down a bit, even makes it a little difficult to escape whitewater at times.
 
Mar 22, 2020
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My Albatross 175 is definitely a lot harder to control than my 210, especially when pumping out the back. Difficult to maintain balance on all axis' and keep the speed up on the smaller wing.

I adjusted a Naish Jet 320 stabilizer to fit and that added a lot of stability to the Hi aspect wings. Made my 175 pumping a lot more successful. It slows the foil down a bit, even makes it a little difficult to escape whitewater at times.
Lately I've been using quite a lot the 165, I shimed under the front screw of the back wing (flat stab cut down to 15"). It works way better, more control, easier to pump.
 
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Mar 20, 2019
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Just witnessed John John on the new lift HA, think he was on 200, as that was what he was on last night. No joke I think he was riding non-stop for 20 min. Just pumping out effortlessly. I was quite a ways down the beach but he was just doing circles around everyone. Riding in, pumping out, he just kept going and going. It was quite impressive!
 
Mar 27, 2016
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Lately I've been using quite a lot the 165, I shimed under the front screw of the back wing (flat stab cut down to 15"). It works way better, more control, easier to pump.
This way you get some more downforce, do you? And some more drag I suppose.
Did you use one of the 3D shims? If so, which one ? 1 ,1.5 , 2 , 2.5 or 3?

I have a Unifoil Hyper 250 and am trying to find the right setup for my sup to catch mini waves and pump.
 
Mar 22, 2020
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This way you get some more downforce, do you? And some more drag I suppose.
Did you use one of the 3D shims? If so, which one ? 1 ,1.5 , 2 , 2.5 or 3?

I have a Unifoil Hyper 250 and am trying to find the right setup for my sup to catch mini waves and pump.
I used a piece of plastic (Credit card !)
 
Mar 27, 2016
3
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Which stab do you use with your 250 ?
The 18 inch flat stab but I also have the 16 inch Carver stab and the 20 inch Signature Apex stab.

With the 18" flat stab and no shim the Unifoil Hyper 250 takes a little more effort to get flying on very small waves than my Axis S1020 and it is more sensitive for little mistakes but it's getting easier each session.

Next time I will shim the 18" flat stab to give a little more downforce to try make pumping a bit better
 

Hdip

Michael Peterson status
Apr 23, 2005
3,331
788
113
Malibu, CA
Selling my wing setup. Duotone 5m $325. Easy foiler 1750cm $350. Both for $600. See craigslist thread.

Ultimately I'd need a larger board and I'm not spending anymore money on it so I want it gone before I get tempted to spend more money on it.

 
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juandesooka

OTF status
Jan 12, 2009
346
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Selling my wing setup. Duotone 5m $325. Easy foiler 1750cm $350. Both for $600. See craigslist thread.

Ultimately I'd need a larger board and I'm not spending anymore money on it so I want it gone before I get tempted to spend more money on it.

Damn that's a good deal! Sorry to hear you're leaving wind chasing behind. I have found the wind is a cruel mistress, even more fickle and hard to catch than surfing. As a surfer, it always seems blown out; then as a beginner kiter, you realize most of those days are actually not windy enough to kite, just enough to wreck the surf but you can't use it for wind fun. Winging is worse, as you need even more wind than kiting for it to work well.

It's easy if you live in Maui or other places with consistent strong winds, you can get away with simple gear -- a 1-kite, 1-wing, 1-foil quiver -- as you can just go when it's good and do something else when it's marginal. But when you live somewhere with more fickle conditions, you may end up chasing highly variable conditions to get your fix, which means throwing money at the problem, so you have the gear you need for whatever conditions you find when you show up at the beach. Then you need a sprinter van to hold it all: sup foil, surf foil, kite foil, 2 wings, 6 kites (2 bars, harness), kitesurf board, kite twintip, oh yeah and a surfboard just in case it's perfect waves. :)

My impression of SoCal is light winds, iffy kiting, and probably iffy winging too. The dog has its day, I'm sure, but if you have an abundance of foilable waves, you can probably give up the wind without losing your fun quotient.
 
Mar 22, 2020
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Damn that's a good deal! Sorry to hear you're leaving wind chasing behind. I have found the wind is a cruel mistress, even more fickle and hard to catch than surfing. As a surfer, it always seems blown out; then as a beginner kiter, you realize most of those days are actually not windy enough to kite, just enough to wreck the surf but you can't use it for wind fun. Winging is worse, as you need even more wind than kiting for it to work well.

It's easy if you live in Maui or other places with consistent strong winds, you can get away with simple gear -- a 1-kite, 1-wing, 1-foil quiver -- as you can just go when it's good and do something else when it's marginal. But when you live somewhere with more fickle conditions, you may end up chasing highly variable conditions to get your fix, which means throwing money at the problem, so you have the gear you need for whatever conditions you find when you show up at the beach. Then you need a sprinter van to hold it all: sup foil, surf foil, kite foil, 2 wings, 6 kites (2 bars, harness), kitesurf board, kite twintip, oh yeah and a surfboard just in case it's perfect waves. :)

My impression of SoCal is light winds, iffy kiting, and probably iffy winging too. The dog has its day, I'm sure, but if you have an abundance of foilable waves, you can probably give up the wind without losing your fun quotient.
I think Malibu area gets pretty windy, I used to do many dw on a sup foil and it was really good.

Hdip, winging is not hard to learn, but definetly different than surfing especially without sailing background. 5m Duotone shoule be enough but you need a big board (something you can stand up without struggling), so yes that means you would need to buy a board.

Actually I didn't keep up with the winging thing, I tried several times, struggled a lot (feeling like kook of the day), I had the duotone 4m and it was too small to learn I think. Then I went on a strong wind day and was able to fly upwind.
I realized than winging is not my thing, when it is light medium wind I'd rather foil surf and when it is windy I go dw foiling with my friends (oc1 and sup racer).
 
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juandesooka

OTF status
Jan 12, 2009
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I think Malibu area gets pretty windy, I used to do many dw on a sup foil and it was really good.

Hdip, winging is not hard to learn, but definetly different than surfing especially without sailing background. 5m Duotone shoule be enough but you need a big board (something you can stand up without struggling), so yes that means you would need to buy a board.

Actually I didn't keep up with the winging thing, I tried several times, struggled a lot (feeling like kook of the day), I had the duotone 4m and it was too small to learn I think. Then I went on a strong wind day and was able to fly upwind.
I realized than winging is not my thing, when it is light medium wind I'd rather foil surf and when it is windy I go dw foiling with my friends (oc1 and sup racer).
Kooking out on wings...check. The start was humbling, but now got the basics down -- and the people who have arrived after me have had their learning curve shortened with 3 pieces of advice: 1) it takes more wind than you think (especially for people who already kite/windsurf), so unless it is consistently 20-25+ you want a big wing (5m or above); 2) you want the biggest foil you can get as far forward as you can place it to maximize lift....less than 2000cm2 is advanced; 3) you want a big stable board to start (100L plus).

Jury is still out on how this will fit in the quiver. Without waves, kiting is probably better in most situations. But with waves, the winging is magic, if you like sup foiling ... all the waves, without the paddling (though with the limitations of big foils and big boards....that next-level performance aspect remains to be seen). Right now I am in training mode...doing it as much as I can, so that when the right day comes I'll be ready to put it through its paces fully and be able to judge if it's a real improvement or not.

I have never downwind sup foiled, but I have heard that it's hard work -- and I've read lots of reports on how winging is the same feeling, just without that work. I am dying to get going on the downwind winging, this covid thing has got in the way, with the logistics of sharing rides.
 
Aug 14, 2019
60
29
18
Australia
Quite a few of my mates tried to get into wingdinging, most have given up & gone back to kites or just prone/sup foil.
I have not tried it but it looks like hard work to me, or maybe it's our local conditions that are no good.
 

grendel95

Billy Hamilton status
Nov 1, 2005
1,604
325
83
SJC
Selling my wing setup. Duotone 5m $325. Easy foiler 1750cm $350. Both for $600. See craigslist thread.
Already sold?! NICE!

You gonna get a Lift H.A. wing?

Finally got back on my MFC Hydros after shortening the mast, forgot how nice and smooth it rides. Quickly missed the glide of the 210 though.
 

Hdip

Michael Peterson status
Apr 23, 2005
3,331
788
113
Malibu, CA
Already sold?! NICE!

You gonna get a Lift H.A. wing?
Yup, sold in 2 days. Basically $25 rental fee for me to try it out. Pretty decent deal and well worth it. As much as I want to do downwinders. We just don't have maui conditions here. Plus I don't have people to do them with.

Lift HA is definitely on the list for when my 200 classic breaks. Last session I noticed a little wobble side to side of the wing even when the screws are tight. I'm wondering if my fuselage is starting to weaken. I might try shimming it with some aluminum tape.
 
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Mar 20, 2019
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Just picked up an Albatross 210. Wasn't planning on getting it, but it was a great deal! I know most of the Signature and Unifoil wings are the same, are the masts interchangeable? Can I throw Uni wings on my Signature mast?

Is the uni hyper 170 and Sig albatross 165 the same? I know the 210's are, but thought it was weird the numbers were different for the smaller version. Anyone try both? What's the difference?

FrenchFoiler, you get the Axis 910 yet? I've heard really good things about it. I'd rather get that than the 210 I just got, but I want something for summer...
 
Mar 22, 2020
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Just picked up an Albatross 210. Wasn't planning on getting it, but it was a great deal! I know most of the Signature and Unifoil wings are the same, are the masts interchangeable? Can I throw Uni wings on my Signature mast?

Is the uni hyper 170 and Sig albatross 165 the same? I know the 210's are, but thought it was weird the numbers were different for the smaller version. Anyone try both? What's the difference?

FrenchFoiler, you get the Axis 910 yet? I've heard really good things about it. I'd rather get that than the 210 I just got, but I want something for summer...
Seems that Uni 170 is a little bigger but not that much than Sig 165, those two are pretty close.

Axis 910 has more lift than the 900, it is more forgiving at low speed, easier to pump and hold better the turns.
The good point about Axis is it is super strong, super tight and stiff.
I also tried the 16mm alu mast (still waiting for the carbon mast), it is stiff and a little bit lighter, so at the end the all set up is quite light (probably the lightest alu foil of the market).
 

grendel95

Billy Hamilton status
Nov 1, 2005
1,604
325
83
SJC
Just picked up an Albatross 210. Wasn't planning on getting it, but it was a great deal! I know most of the Signature and Unifoil wings are the same, are the masts interchangeable? Can I throw Uni wings on my Signature mast?
I have both Sig and Uni as well, masts are interchangeable. I like the Uni mast a bit better, plate mount is smaller than my Sig (supposedly less stress on the boxes).

I have the 210 and the old 175 Albatross. The 210 is pure magic and will fly as long as your legs hold out. The 175 has no speed limit (I've caught myself curling my toes to hang on a couple times) but stalls pretty quickly if you lose speed.
 
Mar 20, 2019
126
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Grendel or anyone else, any tips for the 210? It's got great glide, but never felt much lift from it. And the mast feels like a noodle compared to my axis. I ended up sliding it almost to the front of the box trying to get more lift. I've got a 16"apex stab that's been cut to 14". Should I shim it? If so how?

I'm around 170lbs, so I know my weight isn't an issue.
 
Mar 22, 2020
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Grendel or anyone else, any tips for the 210? It's got great glide, but never felt much lift from it. And the mast feels like a noodle compared to my axis. I ended up sliding it almost to the front of the box trying to get more lift. I've got a 16"apex stab that's been cut to 14". Should I shim it? If so how?

I'm around 170lbs, so I know my weight isn't an issue.
You should get a flat stab with a shim under the front screw.
 

grendel95

Billy Hamilton status
Nov 1, 2005
1,604
325
83
SJC

I've had a lot of success increasing lift by shimming the mast and the above kit works the best because the hardware included is designed for shimming. Be wary of the included wrench, it can easily put too much torque on your boxes resulting in cracks.

To shim the stabilizer, Kane de Wilde mentioned that old credit/gift cards work best because they are thin, easy to trim and don't take on water.