Aluula is much lighter

warwickl said..
Aluula is much lighter

Ummm no it's not! My 3m Nitro weighs exactly 1.30kg

JonathanC said..

warwickl said..
Aluula is much lighter

Ummm no it's not! My 3m Nitro weighs exactly 1.30kg

I am only referring to the specific material as per the question, not a full product.

Aluula is a laminated product. I've personally seen 3 wings with delamnination at our beach.

DWF said..
Aluula is a laminated product. I've personally seen 3 wings with delamnination at our beach.

I've been in direct contact, via email, with Aluula as I've owned and now own dlabs.
Aluula advise that the initial issues have been resolved.

martyman said..
Just for the record-Allula is not a laminated product. The yellow material that came off some of the early wings was just UV protectant and fancy looks-i asked the designer.

According to Allula, it is a laminated product and the lamination of the film to the core fiber is key to its multi-directional stiffness. Which is I guess one reason why the DLABs and Ocean Rodeo wings feel so firm+good. See aluula.com/gold/

Hookipa is not laminated. It's a tight weave of a Dyneema-like fiber. It's incredibly soft and durable. So I guess the tubes made out it it will perform like-new for a very long time. But it lacks stiffness along the paths at 45 deg to the 0-90 fibers, so the leading edge can torsionally strain under torque from the wing tips. Also despite the fiber being water-resistant, the weave can allow water to seep thru, so if you allow the sail to sit in the water for too long, a film of water ends up between the fabric and the bladder. Which means the wet-weight can be very heavy. So I treated my Ensis LE wings with some 303 Marine Fabric Guard, and (after two tests) that product seems to work very well to keep the wet weight much closer to the dry weight. Considering long term use, I'm currently thinking the Hookipa wings will provide very good performance longevity. ie. not degrade quickly when rolled up and creased/crushed, and exceptional resistance to puncture and tearing.

Aluula is a family ofproducts. The Gold is what you all know from Ocean Rodeo, DuoTone andRRD.
Other products are Graflyte, Atom and Aeries X

The latest prototype wing I've tried from ocean rodeo, AX series (I think it was changed since) was made
out of these materials. 74gsm (I believe it's lighter now) for the airframe or 13% lither than the Gold.

This 5M wing was 2lbs, with a canopy material that has no detectable stretch, and if you put a hole in it with a knife
you wouldn't be able to tear it apart with bare hands ( I tried together with another dude without success).
You'd think that with all the listed advantages this canopy material would be as heavy as X-Ply when in reality it's 40% lighter! than your standard Dacron.

It was slightly less stiffer than the Gold but the handling was of a fabric rather than a piece of cardboard like the Gold. Really Science Fiction stuff. The only thing about these new wings I do not wish to learn is the price tag.

I had an early A series glide that had some delamination (the gold material began peeling). OR said that it wasn't normal and covered it under warranty. They were very flexible and very easy to deal with. The important takeaway is that you pay a premium for the product, but it performs like a premium product and the customer service and warranty are also consistent with a premium product.

shi thouse said..
In the event of damage occuring to your Allula or Hookipa material, just how easy is it for a local repairer to stitch/patch up? From what I have been told these new materials present big challenges to repair compared to the dacron/ripstop commonly used.

Aluula have authorised repairers and require more.
So if you are a repairer contact Aluula.

Youngbreezy said..

burchas said..
Aluula is a family ofproducts. The Gold is what you all know from Ocean Rodeo, DuoTone andRRD.
Other products are Graflyte, Atom and Aeries X

The latest prototype wing I've tried from ocean rodeo, AX series (I think it was changed since) was made
out of these materials. 74gsm (I believe it's lighter now) for the airframe or 13% lither than the Gold.

This 5M wing was 2lbs, with a canopy material that has no detectable stretch, and if you put a hole in it with a knife
you wouldn't be able to tear it apart with bare hands ( I tried together with another dude without success).
You'd think that with all the listed advantages this canopy material would be as heavy as X-Ply when in reality it's 40% lighter! than your standard Dacron.

It was slightly less stiffer than the Gold but the handling was of a fabric rather than a piece of cardboard like the Gold. Really Science Fiction stuff. The only thing about these new wings I do not wish to learn is the price tag.

Yeah this really is what dreams are made of!!

If the claims are true about the new canopy material then this will be a true game changer in performance,weight and durability.

Buy one expensive wing with fancy materials to last 3 years, or an up to date Dacron wing every year.