jondrums said..
Trying to make the sport easier through foil design - probably a fairly practical decision, but pretty limiting from a marketing perspective. Pretty much confirms my suspicion that Armstrong doesn't have the best gear for high end riders. Seems to me that a successful brand should have the best performant gear to hang their hat on, but make their money on the gear that everyone can access. I love the quality and the mechanical engineering in the system - just wish they had better wings.
Windsurfing went down the road of super high perfo, very specialized gear.Did not work that well, then kiting happened of course.
I think a big part of the recent (10years?) boom in surfing comes from the shapers finally understanding that the market for 25l potato chip shortboards is microscopic.
Add 5 to 10l and make them fun in crappy waves and the market becomes huge.
I agree with Armie, this race for HIAspect, thin foils is a dead end IMHO.