let's go big: F-one strike CWC 8 m?

Our 'old' F-one swing 6m? vs F-one strike CWC 8 m? ...

No contest. CWC 8m is amazing. Surprisingly light in your hands. Shockingly the tips dont touch as much on the CWC 8m as they do on the old Swing 6m.

Amazing low end. And surprising high end as well. Relatively taut canopy.

Super smooth to pump. Doesnt take much. That is its best feature I think.

When there is very little wind it is actually easy to knee start by sticking the trailing edge of the wing in the water as a lever to get up and get going.

Surprisingly well built too... Mine has rolled in the shorebreak with a high aspect foil trying to poke through. No damage. I also accidentally tried to put my knee through it in a full speed wipeout. No damage.

The 8m CWC is an amazing creation.

Cons?

I tried the 6m CWC. I did not think it had amazing low end for a 6. Maybe average low end. It did feel like a 5 in your hands though. So easy to throw around.

So if you are buying a CWC for low end use, dont be afraid to go 1m bigger than you think. They handle really easily.

More cons? Yeah the wrist leash is too small, particularly when wearing a wetsuit. Not 100% sold on the handles... I think I would like them a bit more rigid.

But those are small things.

This thing is a breakthrough wing in my opinion.

I'm 100kg+. Handles on the new F-Ones have no relation to the old Swings.

The old Swing handles were useless to me. The rearmost handle needsd to be farther back, and the shape of the handles was small.

The CWC 8m handles are good, not amazing. They are much longer than the old ones, and they are in the right spot. They are not super rigid is all.

I agree on the 6m CWC vs a strong 5.5. I have an Armstrong 5.5 that would likely pull as hard if not harder than the 6.0 CWC.

But surprisingly I would rather ride the 8m Strike over any 6 for ultra low end. The big deal is the 8 feels like a 6 in your hands. It even looks small for its size on the beach.

It is super smooth. It pumps great. The design somehow really delivers smooth pull. Hard to describe the difference.

Once you get above 5.5 most wings feel floppy and super inefficient to pump. These things don't. I havent tried the 7m CWC. The 6m felt great but it wasnt super powerful, which confirms your experience.

I bought an 8 basically because it was available, and it feels so small for its size I think it was actually the right call for low end for a big guy like me. I even use it in the surf.

Basically it is less floppy with better low end and better pumping than anything else above 6m, I think.

I rode the V1 Airush 7m for over a year. Was excellent at the time. Huge wind range for such a big beast for us big guys. I taught people on it as well in light wind. User friendly for its size at the time.

Having said that, the 8m CWC completely dominates it in every way.

The biggest way is the direct feel of the 8m. None of the feeling like you are opening a new garbage bag on every pump. This translates to excellent pulling / low end. And the next biggest benefit is weight... a great light feel overall on the 8m, which is imprtant in light wind.

I bought a 8 metre Strike a short while ago -- things are freezing over now where I am so I only got to use it twice. This is THE light wind wing IMO. I also have the 7 metre Slick, which I love but when in doubt go big or go home so that's where the 8 metre comes in handy. I have a "boom system" I use with it, which works great so I can't really comment on the handles. This thing is a powerhouse and I really doubt I'll look at anything else for those days I would have considered as too light. I weigh about 71 kg. so if I can't get on foil with the 8 metre it's time for an e-foil. I'm using a Kijura 1440 foil with it on fresh water -- if the winds get to the point where I see a few white caps I'm thinking I'm going to be overpowered at my weight but it seems to be able to handle "big winds" of around 12 knots. For me, its usable range are winds gusting from 5 to 12 knots. If it's a little more I'm on the 7 metre. The 8 metre is huge but handles well for its size. If you're frustrated by too many 5 to 8 knot days then this one is definitely worth a look. More power to the guys who can get on foil with 4 metre wings in 6 knots of wind -- I can't, so this 8 metre will give me many more days having fun -- and for me that's what it's all about.

Stoked that DejaVu can fly it in such light winds. Dont expect miracles though for big guys....

At my size (solid 100kg+) I think I need about 12 to get it going. Maybe less with a ton of pumping. Then functional flying range might be 9 to 20.

Sweet spot where you nail everything is probably 14-ish (not the sweet spot for everyone. Just for my big azz). Below that it takes some finesse to not let it fall out of the sky from outrunning the wind 3/4 of the way through a jibe and stay on foil.

Still amazed that at my size I can fly in those light winds.

6m is now officially my medium size wing :-) Maybe my skill level will increase in the future.

To people used the bigger CWCs longer, have you found the canopy bagging? It was talked about somewhere but I wonder was it legit?

I have the 6m strike, and my feeling is that I get up on the foil in 10-knot winds. but I'm just 70kg.
I couldn't believe you can get up in even less wind. I thought the 8m is more for the 100kg people.