Axis ART899

I think these foils deserve a thread.....


Picked up my 899 yesterday and here she is meeting her sister 880..
I wasn't 100% convinced by the 999 when i tried it but retrospectively there were things i really did like (its glide and ability to handle speed without over lifting) . My 67kg's was probably a little light..

Adrian Roper advised that i needed a shorter fuze and progressive tail to loosen it up so I've picked up an ultrashort and 400/65..

I'm pretty excited to try it.. It really is a thing of beauty and quite unlike anything I've seen before. Have a hand injury at present but aim to be back in water this weekend ..

I also handled a 799.. Amazing - Will try and snag a go on one too asap..

Anyone else??!

I'm back after 2 weeks in the Canaries of using nothing but my 899 with ultrashort fuse and 400 progressive tail, followed by 3 weeks of surfing, wave riding and downwinding it in Ireland.

I gotta say that in the short period windswell of Tenerife with strong 2-3.1m (Mantis) wing weather it goes incredibly well.. Especially for downwinding in waisthigh + wind waves. I just couldn't fault it except maybe that i had to adjust my pumping technique a little to be more back foot biased and light footed in general.. It handled as much speed as i could generate and also went so slow I could almost stop, before being picked up by a following swell.. I thought I'd found my 1 foil for all solution....

Then I got back to Ireland and went winging in 18 second overhead waves with a 4m.. I'm not sure what changed really but i couldn't get it to do what my 880HPS or 740 BSC would do in similar conditions. I was struggling to pump or keep up with the ground swell.. and when i kicked off a wave it would come up towards my face (taco?) .. Ended up stabbing my wing and going home with tail between my legs..

Next day was glassy so i paddled out on it.. Easy take off, really fast and carvey but same taco issue kicking out of the wave at the high speed needed to keep the pump going.. I've since learned this could be the 19mm mast acting like a foil .. but it was unnerving and needed me to reassess my exit strategy.. Never had these issues with an 880 HPS or 890 BSC.. Think it worked better going into the flats and coming back at the wave to exit..

Few days later our downwinder track switched on and we did a few hectic runs on 2m wings in 40knots.. Back to joy with 100% satisfaction.. Just couldn't do anything wrong.. So good..

So I'm pretty sold on it.. I've got to do some glassing on my 880's LE before I can go back and compare .. I'm pretty sure my 880 would've handled everything in the last 6 weeks just as well except some of the really windy downwinding days. 880 would probably have pumped a little better but breached earlier.. I feel like the improvements in top end speed and bottom end stall speed are worth learning the subtleties of the 899 for, in a similar way it was worth stepping off a BSC890 onto a HPS 880..

I don't think I'll ever be able to dock start an 899 whilst it think i'd manage it on an 880 with a little more practice.. So all in all i think if i had to buy 1 wing that does all from AXIS i'm still on the 880 train, but I do keep finding myself choosing the 899 over everything else most of the time, just in an attempt to get good enough to use it to its full potential.. I definitely prefer both 899 and 880 over the 999 but being sub 70 kg inc 6mm rubber thats not a surprise..

I hope some 1st hand real world info is useful.. FYI - I'm 45, 67kg, been on foils for 1 year + 1 week total.. frothing..

Great review of the 899! Thank you for helping me to save a little money and stick with my 880 for a few more months! If I didn't already own it I'd be all over the ART but I guess I'll spend my cash on an alula wing instead for now.. Lol

Thanks all

Any thoughts on the wind range for the ART 999 vs HPS 980, 930, 880 for 90kg intermediate using a 6m and 4m - looking to get more control in swell and waves over my 910png (not downwinding - just riding)
Would this be about right?
980 10-18kt
930 - 14-22kt
880 16-24kt
But where would the 999 fit in?

i tried a 930 last week on short fuse and my 420 and felt almost immediately at home (ie can gybe etc) but was not sure of the approproate wind range as it was 10 mins in very very flukey winds with a friends 4m (mine in repair shop)

I have a 1150 for the Summer also so essentially looking at complementing this.

Oskar is 68kg i think - his observations of the 880 and 899 reflect my experiences very closely..


999 review:

Has anyone experienced this with the 899. I'm foiling at cruising speed with balanced feet, then I go faster, around 20mph+. It wants to dive down and I need to lean BACK fairly hard to stay flying.
I got to a point on a reach where I could sheet in and experience this and sheet out and be balanced.
This didn't happen with my 999. I use the 375 progressive rear tail on a short fuse and 96cm carbon mast.

This would explain why I usually fall by touching down when I'm going fast.

Is it the tail/foil or is it me or my board?

I've found that the ART series are incredibly sensitive to tail setup. They match really well with the progressive tails, especially 350/375. But they are a dog with anything bigger.

How did the stab change feel? They have a 300 on the site now as well.

Easier to control pitch or harder?

I just took my new 325 stab out on crazyshort with 1099 on the ding. The 1099 now turns like the 999 but with all the extra glide. I highly recommend taking the 1099 out in big wind if you have one. It is not just for light days. It's a good reminder that your body is a sail when your wing is flagged. I guess this is what efoiling feels like minus the 80lb board.