Has anyone tried the Mantafoil Supfoil Easyflight wing and could give an opinion?
Maybe in comparison to Gofoil, Naish etc. Supfoiling?
I have a Mantafoil windfoil and i'm thinking of ordering their supfoil wing instead of buying a complete new supfoil.
But i'm curious about the Mantafoil wing since their wing has not a sweep in the wing like Gofoil etc.
But i also don't know why all the supfoils have sweeped wings while many windfoils are flat or only have sweeped tip ends.
Alex

If you mean that the tips are not in the horizontal plane, I cannot help you on other brands I haven't tested, but as always it is a compromise.

To take as example of the Gong line I know,

The old kite foil is curved or sweeped:



The new kile foil is flat:



The SUP / Surf one is flat:



It is a compromise: the downward curve helps avoiding piercing the surface when the mast is heavily tilted, which is the normal state of a Kite foil, but not really for SUPing and surfing. But once the wing pierce the surface, a curved tip is harder to manage than a flat wing. Basically, curved wings add stability (if turned up), lateral traction, and directional stability for the stabiliser, but flat wings are saner, smoother, a more consistent feel and easier to get back in control when things go wrong. Plus curved wings are significantly less efficient (drag).

For instance, for the Gong Kite foil, it was felt that for the typical Gong customer, the benefits of a flat wing outweighted the advantages...

But I cannot think you can judge a foil by its looks on paper. Many design features hard to see contribute to its performance as a whole. Yaw stability for instance can be contributed by a high and narrow fuselage, etc...

AlexF said..
Does onyone out there use a Mantafoil Easyflight for SUPfoiling?
Is it any good?

Since nobody is answering, this is what I can tell without having ever seen a Manta foil:
- the brand is well established in the kitefoil world.
- the design seems sound, with plenty of adjustable parts (be careful to always tighten all screws before each session: foils vibrate and every screw can unscrew itself over time, this is true for all brands)
- the option to have the wing farther from the mast could be interesting: it would allow to set the mast farther back from the feet position, lessening the row effect while paddling for the same paddling position, and the yaw once airborne. But it will be more stressful to the board, at least doubling the torque on the fittings to the hull.
- the small rudder should help control it

- the only unknown is the G10 construction. G10 is very heavy, and a thick solid main wing as used in SUPing would weight a ton (but it makes great Kitefoil wings). A heavy foil is not really a problem for learning (other than carrying the board), I am just afraid that they could have reduced the wing thickness in order to keep the weight down, making the wing less adapted to the SUP foiling speeds, and maybe with more dangerous thin edges. You should try to check with them about this.

- ask them also their support policy: what happens for instance if you bend the mast, will they change it without hassle, or ask to see it first and change it only if they see evidence of a factory defect? The issue with new foil productions is that they may have not yet reached the proper strength to weight/cost ratio (in other words: the first batch may have reliability issues). This is not a problem if they change the breaking ones quickly and without hassle. But otherwise...

A good solution for people on a budget may be begin with a cheap foil like the ones made by clearwater foils
www.clearwaterfoils.com/ to learn on, waiting for the major production foils to come down in price?

Piros said..
My advice is to cut your losses and buy a foil you know will work 100% like the Kai GoFoil or Naish Thrust both around $1,700 Aus$ you can't go wrong and to prove my point watch this video on both those Sup foils on shortboards on the same wave.

Well, I would like to add a bit to these points.
- The major foil brands are introducing new foil designs. If you are on a budget, it may be better to wait a bit to either buy the new model or the older one at a discount. (the 2018 Naish foil for instance is very different from the 2017: it has a flat wing, and a rudder). But if you can afford it, get on a (good) foil as soon as possible, you want as much time on (and above) the water as possible.
- Rider technique makes such a difference that I cannot imagine judging a foil quality based only on videos. But perhaps it is only me...

But I agree totally with Piros that the sport is so young that buying brands totally new to SUP/Surf foiling is kind of a wild bet.

PS: if you do not use straps, never buy a foil with sharp edges. You will fall on it. And if you use straps, the risk is less but not zero, if only just by kicking in the whitewater... and the risk to others is always there.

Piros said..
I fly into Noumea tomorrow for 10 days kiting and hopefully will come across a Gong as it is French territory

I don't think you will find a lot of Gong gear there. Shipping from France is expensive, plus French territories have a special import tax (l'Octroi de mer) even on goods coming from France. Most people there tend to buy their sports gear from Asia or ... Australia.

Thanx Piros and Colas,
leasson learned.
I'll quit the idea using the mantafoil and look for a Naish, Slingshot or Takuma (plate Mount).
Alex