Transition to Armstrong - where to go?

i don't know anything about the FOne Gravity 1800, but it sounds like you just need more time winging. I've been on Armstrong gear for years, but I've rarely found getting the latest and greatest gear suddenly made me a better winger. Only practice does. That said, I'm 90 kgs and use the Armstrong HA 1180 for most of my winging, especially light wind (which in my area is what we mostly get). The new HAs (and MAs) would be my advice over the HS's. The newer HAs are very easy to ride. Have tried the new MA as well, and feel you cannot go wrong with those either. I'd stick with 60 fuselage, and at your weight, probably 980/990 front wings for lighter wind, or maybe even in the 800 range. I use HA 780 for stronger winds. For stabilizer you have so many options with Armstrong, but I use 232 mostly. Many prefer the 180.

@beached57 I hear you. I completely agree with you that I do need more time and that my skill is not there. I intend to keep practicing on this foil for at least another 10-15 sessions. The problem right now is my stamina. Due to wing pulling me so hard when I'm on foil; it takes a lot of energy to just keep foiling and I get tired in about 1-2h.

The main reason why I'm considering other gear is because:

1. I can get on foil easy - absolutely no issue there. I'm capable of dealing with much higher wind - been doing 25kn with the 5m wing.

2. The top speed is low and the glide is not great. This forces me to do quick gybes which I just cannot do and I fall.

I had a similar feeling that something is off with my previous board. That board was inflatable and had fixed mast position. The 1800 was just giving too much lift on that board forcing me to move almost 15cm forward every time it starts lifting. As I was complete beginner I would lose balance when doing such drastic movement and fall. I tried powering though it but it was clear to me something wasn't right. I had about 15 session on it but still getting on foil was very hard. After getting a rigid board of even smaller volume, I went on foil the first day. I'm getting a similar feeling now. The gybe is not easy, but it also feels like it shouldn't be this hard.

3. When the wind dies down, other people around me tend to stay on foil while I land on taxi.

From what I could tell all of them are heavier and visibly bigger than me, but have the same wing. They usually also have waaaay smaller foils than mine. This reinforced my thinking explained under item 2).

i wasn't suggesting that you NOT change gear, but rather don't expect new gear to be a cure-all. if you feel the 1800 is too slow and not glidey enough, then sure, change it up. for a good while i was only on my HS 1850 while winging, and i felt it, too, was too slow. so i went to the HA 1180, which has the same amount of lift but much smoother, faster, and better glide. so this new gear did help me, but like you, i still often find i'm struggling while others are cruising around me. THIS is what i mean by practice rather than gear being the factor.

That foil is definitely going to be slow and not focused on glide. Aspect ratio is 4.6. You don't need to change brands at all to get to where you are wanting to be with glide through gybes. The largest sk8 sizes or the smallest seven seas sizes would be a huge change for you at an aspect ratio of 8 vs that gravity.

Down the road a shorter mast will help too. Try to get to 80cm on your next mast if you can.

Ask a question get loads of answers. From my foiling on early low aspect gear I would say you could benefit enormously by using a 6m wing in the lighter conditions. Also a smaller tail and a plate shim may get you the light wind experience you are looking for. I (65kgs) can foil a GFM200 in 6-8knts without any swell but only with a 6m wing, totally useless with a 5m and I have tried, the difference is radical and the difference between wing brands is big too! Like you I am also looking to move to newer gear but I believe you should be able to enjoy the large slow foil much more, sounds like you are underpowered wing wise, those are my thoughts from my experience.

Shaping3263, I rode Armstrong extensively for the first three years of my wing foiling journey (I'm about 5 years in with tons of time on the water, recently completed the M2O). For the last two years, I've been on Mikeslab. I owned HS, HA v1, MA v1, HA v2 and a bunch of different tails.

The simple fact of the matter is that the stage of foiling you are in is one where you will quickly outgrow the equipment you need at any given moment. I think I went through 5 boards in my first 8 months and probably 10 foils in my first two years.

I'm in Hawaii, our typical trades on Oahu are around 10-20 mph. I'm heavier than you (80kg) and yes, that 8kg makes a huge difference, but here's some thoughts...

1. If your Fone mast is compatible with the newer Fone foils, there is ZERO reason to switch to Armstrong. The newer FOne stuff is amazing, finding the right foil and size requires talking to someone who knows their line up. No matter what the brand an 1800 foil at your weight will be a total dog, BUT, if you can't gybe that, its most likely NOT the fault of the foil. You might be too aggressive in your turn and/or not timing it right with bumps in the water, gusts, and/or how you maneuver the wing.

2. If you do switch to Armstrong, the newer HA definitely do not have twice the lift. Whoever is telling you that is mistaken and I'm sure there are others on this site who would agree. What they do have in terms of both lift and stability is that it is comparable to 1-2 sizes up compared to the V1 foils. So a v2 680 feels more like a v1 925, but is a far superior foil. The 680 is way more forgiving than the 925 especially when it comes to recovery from breach and is definitely more surfy. That said, 680 is probably a little further down the line in your journey. If you went Armstrong, a 780 or 880 would be ambitious, but could be doable, but it will make things more challenging while learning transitions. I would not spend money on the older HA stuff, the next generation are so much more user friendly.

3. Unless you're planning on prone surfing, I also would not get a shorter mast. If anything, you would likely be better off with a 93cm. In Hawaii, easily 80-90% of the wingers consider that as the "go to" standard. The exception is riding 75-85cm if you ride consistently in shallow reef breaks or over 100cm if you're racing and doing a lot of down winding in open ocean.

4. Tails on Armstrong, the 180 was always my favorite. It was more stable than the 195 and much faster than the 232.

If I were in your shoes, I would start by finding someone you trust who knows about your options with FOne. I hope this helps a little.

Demo some different foils. If they turn you into Kai Lenny you have the answer. Or as suggested above more time on the water will improve your technique.

@martyj4 I got no problem with the wing size. The 5m is ok at my 175cm (5'9). Larger one would start dragging a bit in taxi. However I do not really go out if it's less than 12kn.

I honestly want to practice toeside and I need I should. However when I practice I'm not on the foil so I feel FOMO. Do you think it's critical to learn toeside first before getting into gybes?

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@Oahuwaterwalker These are great tips. If I had more time and money I'd definitely try out more. I know first hand how staying with one setup hand hinder progress as I had a wrong board when I started. I'm not joking when I say that after changing the board I made more progress in 2 session than a year with the old one. And the only thing that was wrong on the board was fixed mast position. So even small things can make huge impact.

Try switching feet first and gybing toeside

What do you mean by "trimmed"?

i plan to ask my partner to record me so I can review it slowly and see if I'm making any obvious mistakes.
thanks for the reply, I definitely agree with you. I had a good practice day yesterday. Even managed to complete one gybe correctly!

Ya Kook foil that is right. I think another problem the OP will have is that these thick slow early lift foils need to be powered up or they just stop really quickly, that is they dont actually hold much glide, (draggy) so when you gybe if you arent powered up all the time, which is hard at the transition point, you just come off foil or slow down and compromise balance. This is why people move to the HA foils (some are now AR 12!) because once powered they keep a lot of glide even when the power is off. In the end it's the same thing.