OK, so I now have six sessions on this wonderstick, which doesn't make me an authority but perhaps some early impressions will be useful. I've sailed it on sails ranging from overpowered 3.9 to lightly powered 8.5, exclusively on my Taaroa foils - 80cm mast/95cm fuse and two mid-aspect wings, the 1250 which has a span of 80cm, and the monster 1 meter wide 2000. I'm 100kg and at 67 my most athletic sailing is probably behind me. I value early planing, ease of use and especially range, since my budget doesn't allow a different board for every condition. My main ride until two weeks ago was a custom 232/91cm Tillo foil/slalom convertible - similar in shape to boards like the JP Superlightwind and the Starboard 147.
The Alien 155 is 215/85cm and right out of the box weighed 9.7kg with straps and nose protector, so fairly close to the nominal 8.7kg weight. It's a LOT lighter than my Tillo. The deck is a muted grey but the underhull is a bright orange/cerise - much more vivid than any picture would show (just in case you're thinking of sneaking it into the house past the budget manager - you can't!). The long mast track is set pretty far forward by current standards - much further forward than on the similarly sized Starboard FoilX for instance.
I had tried the Alien 145 with the Axis foil, which had the smoothest, most passive rise of any board I've ever been on - basically hook in, get in the front strap and lean back. The 155 likes a slightly more physical approach. If I'm fully powered I can hook in and just pump with the back hand but if the wind is more marginal a full-body pump works better for me. That said, it rises REALLY early. I've always been one of the last to foil up, even on bigger sails than most care to use. Not anymore. Today in 8-11 I was on a 7.0 where I would formerly have been on 8.5, and foiling up earlier than anyone except the most skilled of the wingers. This is partly the weight and low swing weight, partly the really well-placed straps, and partly some magic in the rockerline. It responds much better to pumping the foil than the Tillo does. I have the front straps way out on the rail but the back straps inboard for more comfort off the wind - upwind I tend to just plant my arch on the rail anyway, which on this board is very comfortable.
It has very good manners in the air - very easy to adjust ride height, very amenable to being railed to windward hiked out and just as happy to be ridden upright over the board. My jibes are a work in progress but it's definitely easier to carve around than the Tillo, and more stable than the Alien 145. It's deceptively fast. On the 1250 wing and an 8.5 I was keeping up with well-sailed IQFoils when reaching, although of course I couldn't hang with them upwind or deep downwind. It's much more effortless to sail than the IQ, at least for me. I think I'll like it best on big sails but it certainly adapted better than the big Tillo to being out in real wind, and powered on the both 3.9 and a 5.2 I found myself flying through strap jibes with a lot more ease than on anything else I've tried.
As you can probably tell I'm very happy with the thing, and eager to try it on a racier higher aspect front wing, once the budget recovers a little from this purchase.
You were definitely flying very early on that setup with the big wing. I was on a 6.3 and a <1300cm2 wing and was barely able to pump up a few times, but you were really quickly scooting up onto the foil. Seems like a really great combo you have now.
