I'm quite happy with my Ozone V2 wings but looking at the North wings I really find them more and more attractive, especially as i would like to try a boomed wing and Ozone kept the soft handles on their V3.
North attracts me as I think they are on par with Ozone regarding top notch design and construction. Subjective, I know, but that's my thinking.
Btw. The Duotone Unit may be a good boomed wing designwise too, but I don't trust their construction regarding the handles. Also subjective, I know.
Anyone has an opinion on the North wings?
Or can even compare them to the Ozone or Unit?
Alex
I've got a couple of smaller size Nova v2's - 2.9 and 2.5. So far there is nothing I dislike about them , and they are particularly good in the following areas:
- wind range - they have good low end power but somehow also very good high end , particularly good gust handling behaviour. I took the 2.5 well into the mid 40kt range this past week, it was a wild day and the Nova coped very well indeed. I've always found the smaller sizes a good test of the overall design quality , some brands just don't do good small sizes at all. I had a v2 Wasp and I found it quite back handy in the gusts ( which I hate) , the Nova v2 is way more draft stable by comparison
- handles - the longer handles give a lot of versatility for hand position, plus it is nice to hold the front handle by its upright when flagging out sometimes
- balanced pressure between the hands. Just right
- flags out very well off the leading edge handle, very stable and doesn't rock around . I'm 80kg and have been winging for a couple of years now. Very much into upwind sailing then riding swell back downwind, use a harness for the upwind part ( just to give you some context to my comments above). I have tried a LOT of wings now so have a good basis of comparison. I think North have done a nice job with this latest version, it is a well behaved and rangey wing that does everything I need. To your point about construction quality, they do feel very solid and stable. Highly recommend.
They don't have the most outright grunt and acceleration like let's say Ensis, but they are very stable, as in super stable. The handles of the v1 are mm perfect. Honestly took me some time to understand them but once I did it made total sense, and when you find that sweet spot holding the wing becomes effortless (hold with 3 fingers) Upwind ability is pretty good. One of the best bits is the wing bag, nice long, and the strap has a foil assist patch which I always use.
Some comments out there about the weight of the wings. This is only a problem for the larger sizes like 6m and in super marginal conditions. When almost no wind and just some gusts, you need a proper sustained gust to make it work (with a lifty foil). If you need to make it work with near continuous pumping.. then better fire up the bbq. There may be some lighter wings out there that make pumping less painful.
Overall North have done a really fine job on v1.
Select to expand quoteMProject04 said..
the strap has a foil assist patch which I always use.
I noticed but what can you do with it?
