I have acquired a number of wings over the last year and have been trying to get a wing as big as I feel I can handle comfortably in light winds. I think I've found the right one, but it took a lot of time and a bit of expense.
The Duotone 4m Echo I started with was good, but not powerful enough to get me going in lighter winds. Followed up with a 5m Echo and it's been great but I occasionally catch the tips of the wing when pumping it. Looked at the Duotone Slick and bought a 5.5m. I found it to be more powerful, but I also keep catching the tips when pumping. Bought a 5m Slick and it's perfect. Very rare that I catch the tips at all. 5m Slick gets me going as early as any of the other wings I have. One of the things that was being pushed on a number of forums was if you want to get going in lighter conditions get a bigger wing. Wing area is obviously important, but your ability to use it efficiently is vital. Area was the metric that seemed to get pushed but not the wingspan, which I think could be a big factor in getting the right size for your capability. Please keep in mind this is not the only factor that will determine how 'usable' a wing is, but I hope that it might help others in getting the right wing for them?
I am 174cm tall (5'10"). 70kgs.
I measured up all the wingspans of the wings so others can hopefully use that info to assist them in comparing with a wing they have already used before buying another one.
Wing Wingspan (tip to tip) Apex to tip Chord
Slick 5.5m 325 cm 234 cm 208 cm
Slick 5m 309 225 199
Echo 5m 344 229 192
Echo 4m 300 204 188
Nova 2.9m 270 179 147
The Apex to tip is another measure I added which gives an idea of what the distance is from near your front hand to the wingtip.
So for me it seems a wingspan around 310cm is about as big as I can happily cope with. The Apex (middle of the leading edge of the wing) to tip measure is one that probably isn't as important as wingspan.
All wings were fully inflated when measured.
Id be interested to hear others take on this.
Good stuff!!!
Widest wingspan can get caught in the water..Sic.
My 6.0 Naish loves dragging the down tip, but lack of skill is also a problem. Sub 7 breeze.
I actually use dragging a down wingtip, braced against the downwind nose of my board to windsail slightly upwind in sub 5 breeze.
Also makes a useable paddle, of course.
