TooMuchEpoxy said..





Only if you ever disassemble your foil...I find the bolt torque i need to get a foil where i want it in terms of connection stiffness is so high taking apart a foil isn't practical. My foil goes together with a torque wrench and marine sealant when i buy it and comes apart when i sell it.

For me, riding prone in alot of challenging conditions, i find stiffness to be super critical. We've thankly solved the mast stiffness side of things but connection stiffness and fuse stiffness are still areas for improvement. The socket connection specifically, with a carbon molded mast component(not an aluminum adapter for corroion reasons) in a metal fuse socket (stainless or aluminum) is FANTASTIC. I'm running absolutely 0 connection movement right now with some HIGHLY loaded testing - testing that would make you very unhappy if i handled your foil like that - and thats just my on the beach about to grab a session want to feel my foil to make sure its OK testing.

I don't think what i'm running is the best for everyone but its the best for me - North SF 930 front, aluminum fuse(kicks the carbon fuses ass), and a broken high end mast that i custom fit to the fuse(made stainelsshardware inserts and poured thickend epoxy around the mast in the fuse cavity). I've got about $700 total invested in the setup and the stiffness is incredible. One clever thing that north did for the front wing connection thats really clever is the fuse has a concave surface and the wing is flat at the connection so the fasteners are flexing the wing at the connection and pre-loading the fibers which seems like it makes for a super stiff front wing conneciton despite being a rather simplistic design.

Same mast fuse socket design in carbon is garbage. Not stiff for use and/or crack in agressive use. Carbon is just not as good for that socket connection. Maybe the connections like the AFS are better in carbon than the socket but i find even independent of the connection movement there is a noticable increase in stiffness of the aluminum fuse vs the carbon.

For me, there's some subjective measures on wing shape etc. but i think those are up for opinion and, frankly, alot of brands are making a GOOD wing and having a good wing that hits the nail on the head in terms of size, AR, span, etc beats having the best wing design and its not the right size so don't be afraid to get a brand that suits you. To answer the original question if money were no object i'd be riding an omen 850. Metal fuse, tight socket, stiff mast, wings look good, carbon rear fuse (bonus - metal where you need it carbon where you don't)

Honestly thought i think the real answer is Mikes Lab mostly because this is the winging forum and having a nice foil only matters in winging when your racing! I wing on my surf foil these days only because i'm too lazy to switch my winging rig onto my prone board and not carrying it around saves room in my car. All things being equal i'd be winging on this piece of garbage Uni Vyper 150 ($150) on a 80cm scratched cedrus aluminum ($150) just to save wear and tear on my "nice" surf foil.

Also out of all the connection systems Armstrong is the worst!

Faff said..




All foils where the mast is inserted into the fuse suffer from carbon wear. And the fewer connections the better. Only a few brands have this right.

martyman said..Omen have the mast tapered with space at the bottom of the fuselage, this way as it wears it just fits tighter.

hilly said..




you must have deep pockets to ride Omen. US$5.5k plus tax and shipping

KyleT said..





that can't be right. You can get a Mikeslab mast + 2 wingsets for less than that price, and still leave you will $700 to put towards a board.

...which is what you should do.

BWalnut said..Omen is pricey, but not that pricey.

$3500 USD.

Haven't tried them though.

TooMuchEpoxy said..

For winging any old foil is absolutely fine. A great foil can really shine prone or DW but winging doesn't matter nearly as much. I actually really hate the way my nice surf foil feels on wing and much prefer some old piece of crap.