AWSI 2022! New gear, test rides and take away.
In September we traveled up to Hood River, OR for the annual show and tell from the major industry manufacturers. It's one of the best opportunities to test out the new designs in similar conditions from various leaders in the industry to make sure that we're bringing in the right gear for you. We've been working on our video series with direct interviews with MFG to help better differentiate the variables for you. Major takeaways seem to be that we still like the offerings from F-One and Duotone. There are some interesting developments coming from Ocean Rodeo, North, Naish, Slingshot and Core. Fortunately for everyone, competition is alive and well, and while we might feel there is better value in one product or another, there weren't any significant duds in the field.
F-One has done a great job of foil, wing and board design, that offer reasonable prices for gear and forgiving product functionality through advanced performance. Variations and expenses are clearly laid out and they have something for just about everyone... I'd like to see some hard handle offerings in their wings, but the weight penalty argument still seems to hold up. This year the owners came out to talk about the brand and have some candid conversations about the development process. F-One and their gear company, Manera are family owned and operated. Developers are building and developing gear that they use. There are a lot of hours and versions that go into the development process, and when riding the gear, it shows. I'm a big fan of their "economy" line that takes the foil and board design elements from the higher tier products and adjusts them just slightly for a more mass produced approach. Significant cost savings come in and functional differences are hard to discern. Obviously not as versatile with fewer options... but if you want the high end options, the choice is there for some $$$.
Duotone/ Fanatic has done a better job of differentiating their products based on some more traditional terminology. Their board and wing lines are sorting into the freestyle, freeride, and surf categories and much like F-One, seem to do their jobs well. We're not as stoked on foil performance, but their wings and boards are top end. The D-Lab and Team offerings take good wing and boards shapes and take them to the next level with Aluula Fabric for the wings and Carbon for the boards. Duotone does a good job of producing product for the demand and releasing updated designs in moderate increments, rather than overproducing and pushing old inventory a few generations behind.
The brand does a great job of differentiating the offering. They have the Unit model with stiff small handles. The handles feature an oval shape that is similar to some windsurf boom offerings that make grip very easy. The wings feature a nice dihedral shape that floats well and generates fantastic power. The tight canopy makes pumping easy and facilitates easy control with minimal finger engagement, so you can focus on riding rather than grip. The Slick SLS features a fractional boom that allows you to fly the wing with a single hand as desired. The wing rides a little differently, but still has a nice stiff shape. They've done a nice job of creating a line of inflatable boards with nice track systems and tail that makes for some hardboard feel.
Ocean Rodeo was the first brand to bring out some of the new fabrics for their kites years ago, and in similar fashion, have brought out new wing handle configurations. Riders can choose boom, hard handles or soft handles, that are easily swapped when the wing is deflated.
North has a new Mono wing that is joining the pack with tighter canopy and nice dihedral for good float and better power to wing size relationship.
Naish has come out with some better foil designs and improved wing shapes. They've got a new race windboard that looks to have borrowed a some shape from kitefoil league race board designs. We're not at a level to test that out properly, but will keep an eye on it! Naish has also got some super stiff, lightweight inflatable wing board options too. We've been seeing a rise in demand as people utilize the inflatable boards for travel.
Across the board, we're seeing stronger materials being used, either thicker fabrics or more high tech materials to handle the high loads of wingfoiling. We're still liking the F-One CWC 6,7 and 8m wings for light wind. The soft handles aren't as direct of a feel, but the light weight and fantastic float make for a wing that will get you up and riding with other are swimming or sitting on the beach. The Duotone Unit V3 and Unit V3 D-Lab wings are making some minor improvements on the V2, to keep a place at the forefront of wing shape. The Slik SLS wings are stiff and durable with enough upswept wing tips to stay out of the water, but generate some great power. The new line of Eagle High aspect foils from F-One are coming out as a leader for freeriders. Amazing speed! 8m CWC wing with 1090 eagle regularly means we ride in single digit wind speeds!
Check out our youtube videos for Murrays Brand Meets. There is some good stuff from F-one and coming soon Fanatic and Ride Engine chats.