Pics: Oli Lane-Peirce, Mike Pringuer, Jonny Williams.
With wing foiling continuing its rise in popularity, and seemingly companies pedaling wingsurfing kit popping up overnight, we wanted to check out what some of these not so well known brands offer.
Info regarding the likes of Duotone, Fanatic, Naish, Starboard and so on is readily available. But there’s a raft of ‘fringe’ brands as it were that offer sometimes as good a performance in a more boutique package.
With the help of our friends from Foilshop UK (see video above to find out more about who they are) we put the microscope on the following wing foil equipment to further understand the market.
Below we look at Hyde Sails Blast wings, AXIS PNG foils, F4 Foils Lightwid 2000cm2 foil, Fly McConks Go Fly wings, FusionX X-Wing wings, Vayuu VVing wings, Ftero Surf Dome wings, Loco Fly Air inflatable foil board and Blade 2000cm2 foil and Ullman Wingsurfing wings.
Hyde Sails Blast wings.
The south coast (UK) based sail making company are no stranger to this type of wind driven sport having been one of the original windsurfing sail producers back in the day. Of late they’ve provided highly regarded kitesurfing kites and more recently have moved into the wing market.
For us, the Hyde Blast wings are our wing foiling wings of choice. Offering superb bottom end power the push riders up on foil efficiently, drift great through moves and waves and are manufactured from durable high grade materials. The Blast’s top end isn’t as good as others but this means you change down to a smaller size quicker. Lovely bits of gear and kind on the wallet too!
Info: https://foilshop.co.uk/product/hyde-sails-blast-wing-foil-wing-surfing-wing-3m-4m-5m-6m-7m-8m/
AXIS PNG (pump ‘n’ glide) foils.
OK, whilst not being as under the radar as some wing foil brands Axis still evade the attentions of many. Yet with superb engineering (not many other foils come close on this point), amazing performance and terrific versatility Axis are certainly worth a look.
The PNG (pump ‘n’ glide) wings are, for us, a must have for wingin’. The 1150 in particular is a great choice for light winds and/or heavier riders. We also partnered this with the 900 for when it gets breezier. Both do exactly what they say on the tin. As high aspect wings they pump amazing and glide sooo well. Think wing foil gybing, where the glide carries riders through the turn, and you get the idea. The other wings in the Axis PNG range are also loved by many…
Info: https://foilshop.co.uk/product/axis-foils-s-series-glide-1150mm-front-carbon-hydrofoil-wing/
F4 Foils Lightwind 2000cm2.
Windsurfers who windfoil may already be aware of F4 Foils. For a while they provided expertise to other brands but recently went out solely on their own. We’ve used F4’s Lightwind 2000cm2 extensively and found it to be a worthy contender for your main low wind foil.
It gets us up and flying in 10knts with a pokey 6m wing, has a fairly good pump, stays uber stable through moves and if wave riding and doesn’t do too bad a job on the jumping front either. For a low aspect foil the F4 Lightwind 2000cm2 is as good as they come.
Fly McConks Go Fly wings.
Family SUP brand Fly McConks also do foiling! Alongside the brand’s eFoil boards the Fly McConks Go Fly range of wings are featherlight and offer awesome top end. Their 6m Go Fly, for instance, easily copes with 25knts yet (with pumping) can fly riders in sub-15 knots.
Quality manufacturing ensures good build quality – in particular, the Go Fly handles are rigid and dependable. And while many brands choose to delete multiple handholds Fly McConks keep a good selection place that inspires confidence and fine tuning of hand placement.
Info: https://foilshop.co.uk/product/fly-mcconks-go-fly-wing-foil-wing-1-5m-4m-5m-6m/
FusionX X-Wing wings.
Very similar to Hyde’s Blast wing in feel FusionX’s X-Wing range is a supremely grunty ‘machine that reacts to the merest sniff of breeze and power riders up onto foil super quickly and efficiently.
Exemplary build quality makes it durable whilst the overall design lends itself to freeride (primarily) but also a touch of freestyle and drift surfing when waves appear. Its distinct black, stealth look makes a bold statement and you’ll be sure to stand out on the water!
Info: https://foilshop.co.uk/product/fusionx-xwing-wingsurfing-wing-foiling-wing-3m-4m-5m-6m-7m/
Vayuu VVing wings.
Vayuu’s VVing comes to market with its clever integrated, split boom and middle strut design. Instantly attention grabbing the VVing has the dependability of being a boom wing yet the additional rigidity of a preloaded strut wing.
In use the Vayuu is efficient and as light as can be. The boom doesn’t overweight the VVing so it drifts pretty good. Freeriders and carving transition specialists will certainly find favour with the Vayuu VVing.
Info: contact https://foilshop.co.uk/contact/ for more info.
Ftero Surf Dome wings.
Having promoted themselves extensively on social media as the most affordable wing foiling wing around (you may have been chased by their Facebook advert) we were keen to see how the Ftero Surf Dome wing stacked up.
And we can confirm it’s comparable! For some riders it could be on the softer side, feel wise, but this also translates to pumpability. The Dome’s materials used to manufacture are high end with durability and versatility built in. Ftero Surf tell us their V2 Dome wing will have a much more rigid leading edge which should translate to greater rigidity and efficiency. Stay tuned for that…
Info: contact https://foilshop.co.uk/contact/ for more info.
Loco Fly Air inflatable foil board and Blade 2000cm2 foil.
Inflatable foil boards do have an audience; many newbies look to air filled boards as a platform for learning whilst those with limited space and/or who travel in smaller vehicles like the idea of compact air filled sleds.
Loco (a long time NE UK SUP brand) enter the wing market with their Fly Air. And we have to say it’s not a bad ‘un. Using the same technology as their iSUP range the Fly Air 5’7 is super rigid and stable. Fitting the brand’s Blade 2000cm2 alloy/carbon hybrid foil will give riders wing foil gear to learn and progress on. We’re watching with interest for Loco’s evolved range of wing gear coming soon.
Info: contact https://foilshop.co.uk/contact/ for more info.
Ullman wingsurfing wings.
South African based Ullman Sailing is a much revered in the sail making world. The brand’s Flacon II and Osprey wings have found favour with many since inception.
Ullman has now condensed their Ullman Wingsurfing range to just the Osprey. A handle only wing it’s a freeride machine that isn’t dissimilar in performance to the Falcon II – albeit without a boom, obviously.
For our money it’d be nice to see a return of an Ullman boomed wing to give a wider choice of riding styles. But we’ll have to wait and see on that.
Info: contact https://foilshop.co.uk/contact/ for more info.
Stay tuned for more along the same lines as we seek to obtain as much hands on experience as we can regarding this rapidly evolving new and exciting sport.
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