Select to expand quoteczareka said..SlowlyButSurely said..kook123 said..kook123 said..Fishdude said..
Cloud 9 new board looks to have lowered the weight of their inflatable to under 10 Lbs which is impressive.
Wish Cloud IX would includes specs on those boards besides length and weight
A bit to be found on the Cloud IX Stratus Air here:
hey dude thanks so much for sharing this. this looks v cool. finally another manufacturer who understood the demand for midlength inflatables.
I think the price of the Cloud 9 board increased by about 150? today. Maybe it's because of this thread?
Czareka,
I know you have ridden a lot of boards I'm interested in. Air Escape, the new Duotone inflatable, and the new Naish Hover DW inflatable, and maybe more . I'd be interested in your opinion comparing your 7'9" Naish vs your 6'6" Takoon?
I have a 7'2" Air Escape but I also want a shorter easier board mid length board. I'm torn between getting a discounted Hipe Gong Diamond, or waiting for the Kauper-XT Hybrid 108 that you reviewed (or waiting for the smaller version). I'm not a hard board fan, but that Kauper-XT 108 looks like no other board I've ever seen, and could be the perfect board this old man has been waiting for.
I know you mentioned the Naish inflatable being stable but I imagine it can't be as stable as the Hybrid 108 or even the Gong Hipe Diamond .
The problem for me with that Hybrid 108 is figuring out how to get it shipped to the US with a private shipper.
I hope someone here will review the new 2025 Diamond HIPE soon. Got some traveling to do this summer!
Found this Gong 4-6 Hype for sale second hand. Gold Coast Qld
estore.efoilgc.com/shop/wingfoil-board-gong-46-hype-pro-used/
Select to expand quotemarc5 said..
I hope someone here will review the new 2025 Diamond HIPE soon. Got some traveling to do this summer!
really depends which foils you using. If you have Armstrong foil or foils which need to be placed far forward, dont even bother...
I'm revisiting this thread to answer my own question from last spring. I eventually bought a Gong Hipe Diamond 5'-10" 105L for my travel board--eight days in Gorge most summers. I got tired of driving from Ohio for 36 hours so I needed an airline board. I was lucky to purchase the board just before tariffs hit and it was a very good bargin.
I'm an intermediate winger--decent jiber but still learning to tack. I ride small waves reasonably well. I ride the Gong strapless with Axis HPS foils which seems like a good pair. No issues with foil placement. The board seems light and lively, and gets off the water plenty early.--pIenty stiff. i find myself using sort of a bounce method to pump the board. My other boards are an AK Nomad mid and my first board, a Fanatic Sky Wing. For the upcoming season I just got a Skybrid.
Overall I'm very happy with it--a good travel compromise. It packs down well into a Ride Engine "golf" bag with plenty of other gear including wings and a foil. And of course I never worry about dings.
The problem with this board arises when you install full straps. The foilbox placement, particularly on larger sizes it's badly placed to the point that even Gong users reported issues with it and had to install spacers. The problem compounds if use other brands such as Armstrong, KT and Code which typically require placement far forward in the foil box. Then the only solution is to utilize appropriate shims on the tail wing to generate enough front foot pressure. Then you might be left with the nose pointing down when on foil, which you can solve by the use of mast shims.
if you use Armstrong foils, I recommend using 1 degree mast shim and -1deg or -2deg tail shims, which are not supplied by Armstrong and needed to be 3-D printed. Obviously, with a negative shim, there will be tons of drag, which will make the board rather slow.
The Duotone Skybrid Air is a bit better;
The only one which actually works and has the foil box placed correctly is the Takoon Glide Midlength or Escape Air.
Obviously the North Seek Air works as well, although it has a more traditional old style shape.
Last, I recommend to inflate the Gong to 18psi instead of 15. The ride quality increases significantly
I ride my garbage zetti midlength at 22 instead of the recomended 15-20. Sometimes I'll even pump up, put the bord in the water for a bit while I do everything else then top it off in case the cold cost me some pressure. Every PSI makes a world of difference. If someone could make a 30psi board it would be a game Changer - probably be a hardboard replacement for all but competition.
I didn't buy the Gong inflatable as I have Armstrong foils and reading online it didn't look like they would work together.
My old Duotone 5'4" 103 litre inflatable board worked but not with my feet where the strap plugs were. I ride unstrapped anyway and had to stand on the footstrap mounting bumps. The foil was as far forward as it would go on the board.
I now have the Duotone Downwind Air 6'10" 105l and it works OK for wing and parawing. Gets going easily and only weighs 5kg.
It has no footstraps so suits me and there is much more freedom in where I place my feet. The foil is still slammed to the front of the boxes and I had to cut down a set of M7 screws for the HP Mast. Also DT made the bag much lighter so its an excellent option for airline travel. Works very well on the water, but there is always a slightly 'damped' feeling through your feet.
