Select to expand quotemotogon said..
Can anybody comment on performance of 2022 Sky Wing boards (5'4, 5'6) with Armstrong foils?
I can now answer my own question: it works great. ;-)
Hi Motogon. I have a Armstrong Foil for kiting and I'm thinking of giving Winging a go. I was thinking maybe of a Fanatic 5'4 board at 95l (I'm 88kgs, but thinking of just getting a board I might struggle with at the start, but will keep longer). Is this close to what works great?
If you are running the new Armstrong HA wings the Fanatic boxes are just too far back especially for 5-6 and up the shorter boards not as bad . They might feel like they work back but for optimum performance, they need to be forward otherwise you are riding full back foot most of the time where you want to be opposite to that, especially in waves. HA wings need front foot pressure to accelerate, pushing on your back foot to get lift is what stalls the foil in light wind. Get a tape measure out and compare to an Army board the difference is massive and that's for a reason.
Oh - I was thinking for learning just using either the HS 1550 or 1850. Alternatively maybe I'll get the JP X-Wing board as the boxes r super long. I like the look of the Armstrong boards - but wow. The price tag is not so likeable!
I'm using 5'4" with 1850 and 1250. Yes, foil mounted all way forward, but feels nicely balanced to me - my front foot standing where front footstraps supposed to be.Select to expand quoteJonny316 said..
Hi Motogon. I have a Armstrong Foil for kiting and I'm thinking of giving Winging a go. I was thinking maybe of a Fanatic 5'4 board at 95l (I'm 88kgs, but thinking of just getting a board I might struggle with at the start, but will keep longer). Is this close to what works great?
You may struggle to get up with 5'4", kiting and winging start quite different.
Select to expand quoteJonny316 said..
Oh - I was thinking for learning just using either the HS 1550 or 1850. Alternatively maybe I'll get the JP X-Wing board as the boxes r super long. I like the look of the Armstrong boards - but wow. The price tag is not so likeable!
Learning to gybe. HS1550 inch from front of box on 5'4" 2022 and feet middle of straps. 85jg
Select to expand quoteJonny316 said..
Hi Motogon. I have a Armstrong Foil for kiting and I'm thinking of giving Winging a go. I was thinking maybe of a Fanatic 5'4 board at 95l (I'm 88kgs, but thinking of just getting a board I might struggle with at the start, but will keep longer). Is this close to what works great?
Hi, did you get to try winging, coming from kiting? The biggest issue I've found, specially with smaller boards, is that with a kite you ALWAYS waterstart. So, much like behind a boat, you can ride anything... even stuff that barely floats. However, winging, while some guys waterstart, I haven't had enough wind to try something like that. I can waterstart on a windsurfer on a 6.0 even in 10-15 knots. Same with kiting. But winging it seems you always need to get somewhat over the board before powering the wing. I tried to learn on a 2022 Sky Wing 5'2", at 80kg. And while I got up a few times - meaning eventually I would get it, I figured it was too much work and not worth the hassle, so I sourced a 110L board.
Haven't started winging yet as I spent last season kite foiling. This is the season though. I've already geared up with a 5.0m Duotone Slick and a Armstrong 1550 foil. Haven't got the board yet as I'm still procrastinating about what size (95l or 105l at 88kgs) and brand. Maybe new boards will be released in the next few months? Should be fun though!! 
Select to expand quotekobo said..
You want the mast 90 degrees to the board deck, or the mastplate parallel to the deck.If the board has tail rocker like the fanatic it won't be.The effect is the mast is raked back as you say , and when you start moving forward to try and get up on foil ,the foil will be pointing down and not producing the maximum lift it can and making it hard to lift off. Once up on foil it doesn't really matter except the board rides nose high and doesn't pump as well.There is one advantage to the tail rocker board ,they're better at steeper late takeoffs without boosting you off.
My solution
